Agenda for the High-Level Conference “Promoting Gender Mainstreaming: From Gender Sensitive Policies to Impact” to be held in Bahrain on the 8-10 December 2015. Jointly organised by the Supreme Council for Women in the Kingdom of Bahrain and the MENA-OECD Governance Programme.

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Promoting Gender Mainstreaming:
From Gender Sensitive Policies to Impact
The High-Level Conference “Promoting Gender Mainstreaming1
: From Gender
Sensitive Policies to Impact” is jointly organised by the Supreme Council for
Women in the Kingdom of Bahrain and the MENA-OECD Governance
Programme.
The focus of the conference is on promoting gender mainstreaming in public and
private life for inclusive growth. It will aim to move the debate from focus on
strategies to achieving impacts. This conference will take stock on the progress
in implementing the regional recommendations to strengthen gender equality in
public life included in the OECD-CAWTAR report “Women in Public Life: Gender,
Law and Policy in the Middle East and North Africa”.
In this context, the high-level conference will gather leading policy-makers,
senior government officials, parliamentarians, partner international
organisations, representatives from non-governmental organisations, civil
society and the private sector to review the legal settings, policies, conditions
and institutional capacities for gender mainstreaming in the MENA and OECD
region.
1 Gender mainstreaming refers throughout this document to mainstreaming of gender considerations into development and
policies and practices in the public and private sectors.

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Day 1: 08th
December 2015
0 9 : 0 0 - 1 0 : 00 Registration and Welcome Reception
1 0 :0 0 - 1 1 :3 0 Opening Session
 Ms. Mari Kiviniemi, Deputy Secretary General, Organisation for Economic Co-
operation and Development
 H.E. Mr. Mohammed Al-Mutawa, Minister of Follow-up Affairs, Kingdom of Bahrain
 H.E. Ms. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Under-Secretary General and Executive
Director, UNWomen
1 1 :3 0 - 1 2 :0 0 Break
1 2 : 0 0 - 1 4 : 0 0 Session 1: Gender mainstreaming in public life for inclusive economic
policies
The session will explore country practices and highlight progress in closing gender gaps in
public life and promoting gender mainstreaming. In particular, it will focus on:
 Women’s access to public leadership positions and strengthening their voice
 Incorporating gender considerations into budgets, policies and programmes
 Impact of gender mainstreaming and women’s participation in public life on inclusive
growth and socio-economic development
Chair:
o H.E. Shaikh Ahmedbin Mohammed Al Khalifa, Minister of Finance, Kingdom of
Bahrain
Speakers:
o Dr. Rima Khalaf, Executive Secretary for United Nations Economic and Social
Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA)
o Mr. Mohamed Moubdi, Minister for Civil Service and Modernisation of
Administration, Morocco, Chair of the MENA-OECD Governance Initiative
o Ms. Hayfaa F. H. AlAga, Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Palestinian Authority (TBC)
o Ms. Mary Hanafin, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation (former), Ireland
o Mr. Gonzalo Robles, Director of the Spanish Agency for International Development
Cooperation, AECID
1 4 : 0 0 - 1 5 : 0 0 Lunch

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Day 2: 09th December 2015
0 9 : 3 0 - 1 1 : 3 0 Session 2: Mainstreaming gender in the private sector
This session will highlight country approaches, progress and remaining barriers to integrating
gender considerations in the private sector, including:
 Integrating gender mainstreaming principles in the private and corporate sector practices
 The remaining institutional challenges and barriers for closing the gender gap in the
private sector and corporate boards
 Impact of gender mainstreaming on organisational performance in the private sector and
broader economy
 Public-private collaboration for promoting gender mainstreaming
Chair:
o H.E. Rasheed Al Maraj, Governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain
Speakers:
o Mrs. Sabah Al Moayad, Managing Partner, Intellect Resource Management, Bahrain
o Mr. Frank Hagemann, Acting Regional Director/DWT Director Arab States,
International Labor Organization
o Nicola Ehlermann-Cache, Head of MENA Investment Programme, Global Relations
Secretariat, OECD
o Ms. Tracy Clarke, Group Director Compliance, Peopleand Communications, Standard
Chartered Bank (TBD)
1 1 :3 0 - 1 2 :0 0 Break
1 2 : 0 0 - 1 4 : 0 0 Session 3: Leveraging civil society to advance gender mainstreaming
This session will focus on exploring country practices with regard to the role of civil society
in promoting gender mainstreaming. In particular, it aims to highlight:
 Role and achievements of civil society in advancing gender mainstreaming, including in
the law-making process
 Capacity of civil society organisations to promote gender mainstreaming practices
 Opportunities and challenges for strengthening civil society engagement in gender
mainstreaming policies and practices in the region
Chair:
o Dr. Sameera Maziad Al-Tuwaijri, Senior Advisor, Health Policy Nutrition and
Population, World Bank
Speakers:
o H.E. Dr. Fatima Al Balooshi, Former Minster of Social Development, Kingdom of
Bahrain
o Ms. Sameera Biccard, L’Association Démocratique des Femmes du Maroc
o Mr. Amer Bany Amer, Founder and Director, Al Hayat Center, Jordan
o Dr. Amani Kandil, Chief Executive of theArab NGO Network, Egypt
o Ms. Soukaina Bouraoui, Chair, MENA – OECD Women in Government Platform,
Executive Director, Centre for Arab Women Training and Research, Tunisia
o Mr. Joseph Essex, Foreign Affairs Officer, Office of the Middle East Partnership
Initiative (MEPI), U.S. Department of State
1 4 : 0 0 - 1 5 : 0 0 Lunch

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Day 3: 10th December 2015
0 9 : 3 0 - 1 1 : 3 0 Session 4: Gender mainstreaming in parliamentary practices
The session will focus on exploring country approaches to mainstreaming gender
considerations into parliamentary practices. In particular, it aims to highlight:
 Good practices in MENA and OECD member countries in mainstreaming gender
considerations in legislation and policies
 Remaining challenges and opportunities for building gender-sensitive parliaments in the
region, including women’s access to politics
 Examples of effective national and international collaborations to promote gender
mainstreaming within the legislative branch
Chair:
o Mr. Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Jarwan, President of Arab Parliament
Speakers:
o H.E. Mrs. Dalal Al Zayed, Member of Shura Council, Bahrain
o Mrs. Hind Al-Fayez, Deputy in the Jordanian Parliament, General Manager - Sama
Amman, Jawaher Media Agency, Sakher Ground Handling Services, Jordan
o H.E. Ms. Bouchra Boulhaj Alhoumidy, Member of the Assembly, Tunisia
o Ms. Silvana Koch-Mehrin, Founder and Chairperson, Women in Parliaments Global
Forum
o Mr. Larbi Tabit, Secretary General, Ministry for Solidarity, Women, Family and Social
Development, Morocco
1 1 : 3 0 - 1 2 : 0 0 Break
1 2 : 0 0 - 1 4 : 0 0 Session 5: Gender mainstreaming and building accountability – from
strategy to impact
The session will focus on exploring country approaches to building effective accountability
mechanisms to ensure implementation of gender mainstreaming initiatives. In particular, it
aims to highlight:
 Role of accountability mechanisms in promoting sustainability of gender mainstreaming
in the public and private sectors
 Practices in MENA and OECD countries to develop effective accountability policies for
gender mainstreaming
 Mechanisms to measure and monitor progress towards gender equality and ensure
transparency of reporting results

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Chair:
o Mrs. Nahla Haidar, Committee Member of the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
Speakers:
o Mr. Mohamed Al Naciri, UN Women Regional Director for Arab States
o Ms. Laura Huang Ching Lin, Head of Singapore Council for Women's Organizations,
Singapore
o Prof. Pauline Rankin, Full Professor and Interim Associate Vice-President, Carleton
University, Canada (TBD)
o Dr. Haifa Abu Ghazaleh, Assistant Secretary General, League of Arab States
o Prof. Louise Morley, Professor of Education and Director of the Centre for Higher
Education and Equity Research, University of Sussex, UK
1 4 : 0 0 - 1 4 : 3 0 Closing session
o H.E. Hala Al Ansari, Minister, Secretary General of the Supreme Council for Women,
Bahrain
o Mr. Carlos Conde, Head of Middle East and Africa Division
o Mr. José Ignacio Wert, Spanish Ambassador to the OECD and Co- Chair of the MENA-
OECD Governance Initiative (TBC)
o Ambassador Enas Sayd Makkawi, Director of Women, Family and Children's
Department, League of Arab States
1 4 : 3 0 Lunch