IDRC at the Generation Equality Forum
IDRC is taking part in the Generation Equality Forum, a UN Women-convened global meeting, to promote an inclusive vision of artificial intelligence, care work, and decent employment in the formal and informal economies.
Panel on feminist artificial intelligence
On July 2, 2021 from 4:00 to 4:45 p.m. (CET), our partner, the <A+> Alliance, will host one of the forum’s online panels. Moderated by Dominique Charron, IDRC vice-president, Programs and Partnerships, this panel will launch the IDRC-supported Feminist Artificial Intelligence Research Network. Join network hub leaders who will discuss efforts to harness the efficiencies of artificial intelligence and automated decision-making in the provision of health, education, justice, and social services in the Global South, without perpetuating the bias and historical inequities that are buried in data and algorithms.
Registration for the online Generation Equality Forum is free. Register here before June 27, 2021, 11:59 p.m. (GMT+2).
Commitment and action for equality
The Generation Equality Forum represents a vital moment for activists, feminists, youth, and allies to achieve transformative change for generations to come. Its objective is to reinvigorate commitments to advance gender equality made in 1995 in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and in the 2000 Women, Peace and Security Agenda.
As part of this process, IDRC is committing to invest CA$3 million in a research initiative that will support scalable and market-based approaches to reduce, redistribute, and reward women’s care work. In collaboration with GenderSmart Investing and other partners, IDRC seeks to transform the care economy through impact investments in emerging markets.
Gender equality and inclusion are central to IDRC’s mandate. We invest to generate research and evidence on what works to foster the structural reforms needed to realize equal opportunity, rights, and access to services.
IDRC and our research partner, Self Employed Women’s Association Bharat, took part in the Asia-Pacific Regional Journey to Generation Equality to share recommendations on creating decent work in both the formal and informal economies. Contributions included how to measure company performance in gender equality, provide social protection to women informal workers, and expand access to the digital economy and digital skills.
Some of IDRC’s most recent contributions to knowledge to advance gender equality include:
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Evidence review of the global childcare crisis and the road for post-COVID-19 recovery and resilience, supported in part by the Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women – East Africa initiative
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Changing gender norms to improve maternal and child health, through the Innovating for Maternal and Child Health in Africa initiative
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Knowledge Briefs on Gender and Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS), published by the Centre of Excellence for CRVS Systems.