The Coalition were delighted to partner with Conservative Young Women to discuss the role the UK can play in ensuring equal rights for women and girls.

Ryan Henson, CEO of Coalition for Global Prosperity, opened the event and told guests about the Coalition for Global Prosperity and why it’s so important the UK is a global leader for gender equality.

“Gender inequality in the economy costs women in developing countries $9 trillion a year – a sum which would not only give new spending power to women and benefit their families and communities, but would also provide a massive boost to the economy as a whole.”

Ella Robertson, Chair of Conservative Young Women, chaired the panel discussion. Ella asked the panel why gender equality was such an important element of foreign policy.

Nimco Ali said poverty existed because of gender inequality, she said. If you had 50 percent of your population out of work then the economy will be impacted.

Charlotte Leslie said gender equality was often seen as a niche issue but stressed that anyone looking long term has to look at how you unleash the potential of that 50 percent.

The audience then heard from Theo Clarke MP who said the Women and Equality Committee was doing a big inquiry about the gendered impact of Covid, and said it was clear that women took on additional responsibilities at home which meant they had to step back from their day job.

“The UK has a major opportunity with the G7 and COP26, and a unique opportunity to put gender equality on the agenda”

Charlotte Leslie spoke about female representation in leadership positions, stating that Covid had been the “great revealer” and shown that the UK needed to be humble with where they were with gender equality.

“It is very easy to see inequality through one lens, but they often cross over. People find it difficult to state when something is wrong, regardless of culture or religion.”

Finally, the audience heard from Nimco who said girls in Africa were still seen as commodities and the only economic system they could exist within was marriage. Nimco went on to say educating women did not happen in a vacuum and said that women were still massively at risk of being subjected to violence in schools, and that this needed to be addressed.

“It’s important to have a conversation with men about their role and behaviour. The VAWG strategy was looking at how to rehabilitate men, and they had to be able to get to a position where men can be part of the solution”