Experts from SADC, 40 African Countries Underscore Gender Data Financing as Crucial for Development

Media representatives are invited to attend the Africa Gender Statistics Forum 2024 to be held from Monday 8^th July to Friday 12^th July as a hybrid forum to be hosted virtually and in-person in Gaborone, Botswana.

More than 130 senior public sector officials from 40 African countries and senior representatives from SADC, the African Union Commission (AUC) and regional and international development agencies including the African Development Bank (AfDB), UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), and UN Women will convene to take stock of Africa's progress and gender perceptions in the Addis Ababa Declaration on Population and Development, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, and the 3^rd Africa Program on Gender Statistics.

Held under the theme Pooling Together for Gender Statistics: Financing the Numbers that Make Women and Girls Count, the 6^th AGSF is also aimed at linking gender statistics financing for accelerated progress towards gender equality and women's empowerment (GEWE) to the upcoming 4th International Conference on Financing for Development in 2025 as well as a follow up to the Addis Ababa action agenda. It further aims to make better use of limited resources and time through sharing best practices and developing common strategies to rationalize, harmonize, and improve the measurement and use of gender statistics in Africa.

When: Monday, 8^th July to Friday, 12^th July

Time: 8:30am - 4.30pm each day

Where: Online via Zoom (bit.ly/AGSF24Registration) and at Avani Hotel in Gaborone, Botswana

Who:

• Bridget John, Permanent Secretary Ministry of Youth, Gender, Sport, and Culture, Government of Botswana
• Botho Kebabonye Bayendi, Ag. Executive Director, STATAFRIC - African Union Commission
• Phemelo Maiketso, Head of Gender, Southern African Development Community (SADC) Secretariat
• William Muhwava, African Centre for Statistics,UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)
• Papa Seck, Chief Research and Data, UN Women
• Dr. Maxime Houinato, Regional Director, UN Women ESA Regional Director, a.i. West and Central Africa
• Kouakou, Koffi Marc, Principal Gender Statistician-Economist, African Development Bank (AfDB)

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