Bringing Florence
to the forefront of change. Contributing to the contemporary public policy
debate for the most urgent questions facing the United
States and Europe.
Building a strong network of academics, politicians, and business leaders.
These are the goals of New York University’s
La Pietra Policy Dialogues, which opens this year with a ground-breaking
conference on the status of women worldwide.
Progress and Imperatives: An International Town Hall
on the Status of Women will take place on November 2 at 5pm in the
Salone de’ Cinquecento in Palazzo Vecchio. Panelists include some of the
world’s most prominent women, convening in Florence
to work towards greater equality, development and peace for women. Among the
panellists are Tina Brown, editor-in-chief of the Daily Beast and former
editor of Vanity Fair and the New Yorker; Emma Bonino, vice
president of the Italian Senate and human rights activist; Ngozi Okonjo Iweala,
managing director of the World Bank; and Noeleen Heyzer, undersecretary general
of the United Nations.
The meeting is part of the conference on the status of
women, which will be held at Villa La Pietra from October 31 to November 3. The
four-day conference is an effort to address the ‘unfinished business’ of an international
conference in Beijing held 15 years ago, focused on the most important issues
facing women around the world. Although the status of women worldwide has
advanced in the years since the conference, much progress still needs to be
made. Participants hail from Afghanistan, Argentina, Cambodia, Canada, Guatemala, India, Italy, Kenya, Kuwait, New
Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Senegal, Singapore, South
Africa, Swaziland
and the United
States.
In anticipation of the United Nations’ 15-year review
of the Beijing
conference, scheduled for March 2010, the 40 diverse individuals invited to Florence
will specifically address how to provide support to and help women worldwide
develop skills to improve their economic, political and social status. From
increasing women’s political participation in Latin
America to promoting entrepreneurship among women in the
Middle East, the conference
focuses on ways to develop new leaders and bring fresh ideas to the movement
for women’s empowerment.
Recognizing the need for creative thinking in the
public policy arena, the La Pietra Policy Dialogues brings some of the world’s
best and brightest to Florence.
The dialogues are not, however, debate among ivory tower intellectuals. La
Pietra brings a wide range of thinkers and activists together. Director of the
Policy Dialogues, Ellyn Toscano, notes, ‘The combined experiences and expertise
of American and European scholars, policy makers and practitioners can
contribute to developing more creative policy approaches moving forward.’
Perhaps most importantly, by encouraging members of the local community to
participate, the Policy Dialogues make Florence a
platform for international change.
It is with the goal of inviting local participation
that the Policy Dialogues, in partnership with Mayor Renzi and the Vital Voices
Global Partnership, brings the Progress and Imperatives town hall meeting to
Palazzo Vecchio. Students and community members are invited to join the
discussion among the panelists.
For more information or to reserve a place, contact New
York University,
Villa La Pietra at 055/5007210 or email lapietra.reply@nyu.edu
