The African Women’s Development Fund Chief Executive Officer Theo Sowa attended a gender summit convened by FHI 360 in Washington, DC, on June 11th 2015. This was the second annual summit hosted by the nonprofit human development organization.

The event brought together gender and development experts and researchers, donors and national and international policymakers to participate in discussions around gender equality.

This year’s focus was on achieving gender equality through “harmonizing female empowerment and male engagement strategies, exploring the evidence base both for successful practices and lessons learned, and examining the role of donors in advancing gender integration.”

She was a participant in a panel discussion on the topic ‘What role do donors play in advancing the gender equality agenda?’ alongside other notable experts in the field of gender and development:

• Ritu Sharma, Sharma Solutions and author of Teach a Woman to Fish
• Susan Markham, U.S. Agency for International Development
• Sally Gear, U.K. Department for International Development
• Andrew Morrison, Inter-American Development Bank
• Joan Libby-Hawk, United Nations Women & United Nations Global Compact:
• Emily Esplen, Development Assistance Committee, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

View the discussion below (video 7/7):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3oTdVIdNJg&index=8&list=PLvjdLDUSAyf6BXcG-Dj_UCD93oWOyFuzM