This year’s European Development Days (EDD) forum will focus on the theme of “Women and girls at the forefront of sustainable development: protect, empower, invest”.
This year’s European Development Days is to be held in Brussels on 5 and 6 June. Now in its twelfth year, the event is Europe’s leading forum on international co-operation and development. Each year, the event gathers over 6,000 participants from more than 140 countries, representing some 1,200 organisations in the development sector.
Under the broader theme of “Women and girls at the forefront of sustainable development: protect, empower, invest”, European Development Days 2018 will focus on equality and empowerment of women and girls across a number of specific themes, concentrating on areas where particular efforts are needed to catalyse change. These include:
- Ensuring physical and psychological integrity of girls and women, including women’s health and combating gender-based violence;
- Promoting economic and social rights, including developing gender equality in education and employment; and
- Strengthening girls’ and women’s voices and participation, including emphasising the need for women in decision-making roles and safeguarding human rights.
EDD 2018 will also offer an opportunity to reflect on a major global initiative launched by the EU, in conjunction with the UN, in 2017, designed to combat all forms of violence against women and girls. This also included an investment of €500m, to which the EU was the main contributor.
The Young Leaders Programme
One aspect of this year’s EDD will be the Young Leaders Programme, under which some 15 young people – between the ages of 21 and 26 – are invited to visit European institutions, meet and debate with development policy-makers, and participate in workshops around the conference theme.
Welcoming the opportunity for young people to participate in EDD 2018, European Commissioner Neven Mimica emphasised that empowerment of women and girls can only be achieved with the participation of people of all ages.
He said: “With more than half of the world’s population today under the age of 30, I firmly believe that it’s not just about building a better future for the younger generation. We need to build it with young people. The Young Leaders are armed with outstanding ideas and initiatives. They inject a fresh perspective into our discussions on the way we do development and I look forward to listening to them at the 2018 EDD.”
Registration to participate in European Development Days 2018 will be open in early April.
