What if…Gender equality could change the face of poverty? – Sarah Hendriks (Director, Gender Equality, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation)

At the 2018 Gates Cambridge Annual Lecture, Sarah Hendriks will explore the data and evidence behind gender equality and women's economic empowerment, as a driver to lift poor households out of poverty.

In too many countries, women and girls face differential barriers to their health and development because of the ways that poverty and inequality are inter-twined. This interconnection is evident across multiple levels in terms of: a) how women in low-income households’ experience poverty; b) the way power is brokered in communities; and c) the engrained biases in systems and structures that often exclude women (such as economic, agricultural, financial or market systems).   

Development theorists and economists alike have argued that the global development goals will be harder to achieve if half the world’s population is left behind, and unless there is systematic attention to address gender inequalities and meet the specific needs of women and girls. This lecture will explore the data and evidence behind gender equality and women's economic empowerment, as a driver to lift poor households out of poverty.   

About the Speaker   

Sarah Hendriks, Director, Gender Equality, leads the foundation’s efforts to achieve substantive and sustainable results in promoting gender equality and unlocking the empowerment of women and girls. She is responsible for working across the foundation and with our external partners to develop and drive a strategic vision on gender equality, build organizational commitment, and establish technical processes that shape the foundation’s current and future work in the area.   

Prior to joining the Foundation, Sarah worked as the Director of Gender Equality and Social Inclusion for Plan International. In this role, she provided global strategic leadership of Plan’s cross-cutting work on gender equality and inclusion, served as the chair of the editorial board and as the lead gender advisor for a multi-year global research and policy report entitled ‘Because I am a Girl: the State of the World’s Girls’ and led the development of the ‘Global Girls Innovation Program’, a $500 million portfolio of innovation and results-driven initiatives on adolescent girls.   

Before joining Plan International, Sarah worked with Women and the Law in Southern Africa (WLSA) Malawi and has worked extensively as a gender equality consultant in areas such as Gender-Based Violence (CIDA), Women's Access to Justice (GTZ), HIV & AIDS, and the design of gender equality strategies.   

 

Please find further information and register here.