Attaining the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: Major Obstacles for Women and How Attorneys Can Help

Sponsoring Association Committee: United Nations Committee, Michael D. Cooper, Chair

Description: 
In September 2015, UN Member States adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a comprehensive set of goals and targets intended not just for low-income countries, but for all countries. Indeed, the underlying premise of the SDGs is that we should “leave no one behind.” Marking the 60th anniversary of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW60), this event examines four key obstacles to achieving the “global goals”: violence against women, modern day slavery, denial of adequate healthcare and reproductive rights, and entrenched political inequality. Speakers will focus on the role of attorneys and political activists in overcoming such obstacles.

MODERATOR:
Cynthia Rollings, Esq., Partner, Beldock Levine & Hoffman LLP

PANELISTS:
Janet Benshoof, President, Global Justice Center
Karen Hanrahan, Chief Program Officer, Center for Reproductive Rights and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
Shazia Z. Rafi, former Secretary-General of Parliamentarians for Global Action and Advisor to United Nations Democracy Fund
Vidya Sri, Human Rights Policy Associate at the Carr Center, Harvard Kennedy School. Ms. Sri leads the Initiative on Violence Against Women, Co-Founder of the Everywoman, Everywhere Coalition, Founder of Gangashakti