Power Up conference 2019
About the Conference
New research from EIGE examines how structures, budgets and the status allocated to gender equality and gender mainstreaming work have changed over the past 10 years. As a new European Parliament and Commission get ready to begin their mandate and the EU's seven-year budget nears finalisation, we believe it is time to talk about how to secure a renewed commitment for gender equality.
Together with Member States, the European Commission, European Parliament, civil society, social partners and academia, we want to discuss how the EU can fulfil its legal and political commitments to gender equality.
If you need additional information regarding the conference, please contact powerupconference@eige.europa.eu
Conference live (EN)
Morning session 9:00-13:00 CET
Afternoon session 14:15-16:30 CET
Agenda
Conference moderators:
- Florence Ranson, EU affairs strategist, spokesperson, media relations specialist
08:15–09:00 Registration
09:00–09:20 Welcome and introduction
- Reijo Kemppinen, Director-General Communication and Information, General Secretariat of the Council
- Virginija Langbakk, Director, European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE)
09:20–10:50 Session 1: The future of gender equality: what are the goals and challenges for gender mainstreaming?
Keynote:
Irena Moozova, Director for Equality and Union Citizenship, European Commission.
Panel:
- Evelyn Regner, Chair of the Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee (FEMM), European Parliament
-
Mara Marinaki, Ambassador, EEAS Principal Advisor on Gender and Women, Peace and Security
- Dagmar Schumacher, Director, UN Women Brussels Office
- Maria Stratigaki, Researcher, Gender Equality Expert, Politician
10:50–11:15 Tea/Coffee break
11:15–13:00 Session 2: Mainstreaming gender in all policy areas: how to effectively integrate gender equality into the post-2020 EU strategy?
Keynote:
Rosa Monteiro, Secretary of State of Citizenship and Equality, Portugal
Panel:
- Alexandra Geese, Member of Committee on Budgets (BUDG), European Parliament
- Katarina Ivanković-Knežević, Director for Social Affairs, European Commission
- Esther Lynch, Deputy General Secretary, ETUC
- Eugenia Migliori, Principal Policy Adviser, CBI
13:00–14:15 Lunch
14:15–16:00 Session 3: What is the impact of changing budgets and structures for gender equality?
Keynote:
Barbara Limanowska, Programme Coordinator - Gender Mainstreaming, EIGE
Panel:
- Saila Ruuth, State Secretary to the Minister of Social Affairs and Health, Finland
- Anne Gaspard, Executive Director, Equinet
- Ana Sofia Fernandes, Vice-President, European Women’s Lobby
16:00–16:30 Closing remarks
-
Saila Ruuth, State Secretary to the Minister of Social Affairs and Health, Finland
-
Maruša Gortnar, Head of Operations, EIGE
Moderator
Florence Ranson
EU affairs strategist, spokesperson, media relations specialist
Based in Brussels, Florence Ranson founded REDComms in 2018 to become an independent communications adviser, trainer and event moderator.
Florence has been active in European communications circles for some 30 years. She started her career as Project Manager for the European Commission, then worked as Secretary General and Director of Communications in various European organisations, including in the advertising, banking and agri-food sectors. She is specialised in advocacy in relation to the European institutions and works in both English and French.
Florence is Chair of the Jury of the European Excellence Awards and a founding member of the European Association of Communication Directors (EACD), where she was Managing VP for 10 years. She was awarded a 2018 ProPR Award for her contribution to the communication profession. She regularly speaks at events, moderates numerous international conferences and is a mentor to young professionals.
Speakers
Reijo Kemppinen
Director-General of Communication and Information in the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union
Mr Kemppinen joined the European Commission in 2000 as a spokesman in external relations working for Commissioners Pascal Lamy and Chris Patten. In 2004 he was appointed the principal Spokesperson of the Commission as well as the Spokesman of the President Romano Prodi.
Before joining the Commission, Mr Kemppinen worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland as a Commercial Counsellor and from 1995 as the Press Counsellor and Spokesman of the Permanent Representation in the EU. He was the press officer of the Delegation that negotiated Finland's entry to the EU. Mr Kemppinen started his career as a journalist working for the MTV 10 O'Clock News in Finland and later on for the daily newspaper Uusi Suomi as the News Editor. He set up and managed the newspaper's office in Brussels from 1990 to 1992 also acting as a correspondent for BBC News in Finnish.
Mr Kemppinen is Knight, First Class, of the Order of the Lion of Finland and has published several books about the European Union, European Monetary Union and Belgium.
Virginija Langbakk
Director, EIGE
Previously, Ms Langbakk worked as Deputy Director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sweden. In her capacity as a gender expert, she has been involved in bringing the gender perspective into the public sector at local, regional and national levels in numerous countries worldwide. At the helm of the European Institute for Gender Equality since 2009, she is responsible for the management of both the administrative and operational structures. Her leading role includes developing and implementing the Institute's strategic programmes of activities and budgets. She aims at positioning the Institute as the most important knowledge centre for gender equality in the EU.
Irena Moozova
Director for Equality and Union Citizenship, European Commission
Between May 2010 and April 2017 she was heading the Unit in charge of supporting the Commission Representations in the Directorate-General for Communication (DG COMM). From 1991 till 2006 she worked at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the Czech and Slovak/Czech Republic in various management positions, such as Head of the Department of Internal Administration (1993-1995), Deputy Director of the Department of the Human Rights (1999-2000) and as a team coordinator at the NATO Summit (2002). She has served as Czech Deputy Ambassador in Madrid (1995-1998), Deputy Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the OSCE in Vienna (2000-2004), and as Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to the UNESCO in Paris (2004-2006).
Ms Moozova graduated at the Prague Charles University Faculty of Law and has completed postgraduate studies at the Diplomatic Academy in Madrid. She is married and has two daughters.
Evelyn Regner
Chair of the Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee (FEMM), European Parliament
As trade unionist and feminist, Evelyn Regner's main focus has always been on labour- and women’s-related affairs. She is the voice of workers and taxpayers when it comes to regulation of companies and financial markets, and is standing up for women's rights and gender equality.
In her current mandate, she was elected chair of the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM) and is a member of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON).
Mara Marinaki
Ambassador, EEAS Principal Advisor on Gender and Women, Peace and Security
Previously she served as the Greek Permanent Representative to the OSCE. Her diplomatic experience includes stints as MFA Director on Justice/Home Affairs and Migration Issues, Deputy Director at the MFA Balkans Department, and the Diplomatic Office of the Greek Prime Minister. She also served at the Greek Embassy in Washington DC and as Consul General in Berlin.
A law graduate of the University of Athens, she holds an LL.M in International Law from the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, and a joint MA Degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, the JF Kennedy School of Government, and the Harvard Law School.
Dagmar Schumacher
Director, UN Women Brussels Office
Prior to joining UN Women, Ms. Schumacher worked at the Headquarters of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme in Bonn as Chief of the Partnerships Section. From 1998 – 2002 she was working with UNDP in Hanoi, heading the Poverty and Social Development Unit. Prior to that she was working with the United Nations in Latin America and New York.
Ms. Schumacher is a German citizen. She holds a Master Degree from Kiel University
Maria Stratigaki
Researcher, Gender Equality Expert, Politician
She served as the Secretary General for Gender Equality at the Hellenic Ministry of Interior (2009-2012). From 1991 to 1999 she worked at the European Commission’s Unit for Equal Opportunities between Women and Men.
She has been Director of the Research Centre of Gender Equality- KETHI (1999-2002) and the Centre for Gender Studies at Panteion University (2004-2009). She has coordinated two European research projects (FP7): GeMIC (Gender, migration and intercultural interaction in the South East Europe) and MIG@NET (Migration, Gender and Digital Networks).
Rosa Monteiro
Secretary of State of Citizenship and Equality, Portugal
Previously she was a councilwoman in the City Council of Viseu (2013-2017) and advisor on gender equality and citizenship in the Office of the Deputy Minister (2015-2017). She is an expert on gender equality and was vice-president of the Portuguese Women's Studies Association between 2012 and 2015.
She holds a PhD in State Sociology, Law and Administration from the Faculty of Economics of the University of Coimbra and the Center for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra, as well as a Master's degree in Families and Social Systems from the Miguel Torga Institute.
Alexandra Geese
Member of Committee on Budgets (BUDG), European Parliament
Her political priorities are digital policy, non-discrimination of women and minorities in artificial intelligence, as well as gender budgeting.
Katarina Ivanković-Knežević
Director for Social Affairs, European Commission
Before joining the European Commission she was a State Secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Pensions System of the Republic of Croatia, where she was responsible for the implementation of the European Social Fund and other EU instruments.
For the last 20 years her professional interests have been human rights, gender equality, social policy and employment.
Esther Lynch
Deputy General Secretary, ETUC
Esther’s responsibilities as Deputy General Secretary include social dialogue, collective bargaining and wage policy, trade union rights, gender equality and Brexit.
As Confederal Secretary she ran a successful EU-wide online campaign ‘Social Rights First’ that mobilised support for the European Pillar of Social Rights, led ETUC lobbying actions aimed at improving workers' rights in legislative initiatives such as the Transparent and Predicable Working Conditions Directive and the Whistleblowing Directive, spearheaded ETUC’s ‘Europe Needs a Pay Rise’ campaign, and helped secure the EU’s adoption of legally binding occupational exposure limits to protect workers from exposure to carcinogens.
Eugenia Migliori
Principal Policy Adviser, CBI
She leads the Diversity and Inclusion campaign and supports UK businesses to be more diverse and inclusive. She leads CBI’s pay policy. Before joining the CBI, Eugenia was as a consultant at the UN IN New York.
She has extensive experience in the public sector drafting and implementing policies in Latin America. She is a Commissioner of the Gender-Equal Economy Commission. Eugenia has been one of the Fulbright Young Leaders and obtained the Chevening Scholarship to study a Master in Public Administration and Management in the UK (UCL).
Barbara Limanowska
Programme Coordinator - Gender Mainstreaming, EIGE
Prior to this she was Regional Gender Adviser at the Regional UNDP Office in Bratislava.
In the past she has served as the Director of The National Women’s Information Center in Warsaw, as a consultant on anti-trafficking for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNOHCHR) in Bosnia Herzegovina, and as a senior anti-trafficking adviser to several UN and international agencies, including UNICEF, OSCE and UNDP.
Saila Ruuth
State Secretary to the Minister of Social Affairs and Health, Finland
Before her appointment as State Secretary, she worked in the Finnish Industrial Union as an expert in social affairs and working environment. Her other previous workplaces include the Ministry of Education and Culture, employment pension company Ilmarinen, and the unemployment fund of the Finnish Food Workers’ Union.
Ruuth holds a Master’s degree in Social Sciences. She has served as the Chair of the Left Women in Finland, Member of the Executive Board of the European Left, and as a Member of the Board of Directors of the Left Alliance.
Anne Gaspard
Executive Director, Equinet Secretariat
Starting with the campaign of the European Year against Racism in 1997 for the European Parliament and a subsequent traineeship within the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) at the Council of Europe, Anne later managed the UK-based secretariat of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) to support its Chair from 1998 to 2000.
Anne was responsible for the implementation of various European anti-discrimination and equality projects while leading the European office of Focus Consultancy in Brussels for seven years.
Ana Sofia Fernandes
Vice-President, European Women’s Lobby
Ms. Fernandes is also President of the Portuguese Platform for Women’s Rights and Advisor to the Portuguese Economic and Social Council. She is now a member of the Civil Society Gender Equality Reference Group (GRG) for the Spotlight Initiative, an EU-UN joint initiative to eliminate gender-based violence. Between 2010 and 2015, she worked at the European Institute for Gender Equality as Stakeholders’ Coordinator and Resource & Documentation Centre Officer. Her civic engagement dates from 2000, when she co-founded and was the first President of the Portuguese Network of Young People for Gender Equality.
A certified gender equality trainer, she has been a member of the consultative council of the Commission for Equality and Women’s Rights, a member of the General Assembly of the European Women’s Lobby and of the Board of the Association of Women from Meridional Europe. She majored in international relations and cooperation for development.
Maruša Gortnar
Head of Operations, EIGE
Her areas of expertise include the following: management and organisation of the department’s work, project management; national gender equality policymaking including gender mainstreaming; coordination of work and cooperation with EU and international organisations in the area of gender equality; and management and cooperation at the national, EU and international level in expert project groups.
She was a member of the European Commission Advisory Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, the European Commission High-Level Group on Gender Mainstreaming, and the Slovenian Government’s Expert Council on Gender Equality and its Interministerial Working Group for Human Rights.
Practical Information
The conference will take place on 19 November from 09:00–16:30 in the Europa Building, Rue de la Loi 155, 1000 Brussels.View the map.
Please be aware that to access the building, there is a tight security check. For a smooth start, you are encouraged to arrive at the venue at 8:15 am for registration.