The Programme of the on-going WIPO Conference on IP and Public Policy Issues is quite astonishing in one respect. Its gender Insensitivity! Among the 31 speakers and moderators for the two day conference there are only three (3) women one of which is the head of a UN agency. In some sense you can think of it as a conference of 28 men and 3 women. It reminds you of another recent major event, the G20 London summit which was a summit of 18 men and 2 women. For the WIPO Conference, gender is particularly important when you consider the key issues under discussion - climate change; public health; and food security. In my earlier post on the conference, I mentioned that the programme could have been better. The gender issue is probably the most glaring.
Archive for July 13th, 2009
WIPO Public Policy Issues Conference - 28 Men and 3 Women
Monday, July 13th, 2009The WIPO Conference on IP & Public Policy Issues - A Preview
Monday, July 13th, 2009The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is to hold, today and tomorrow (13th and 14th July 2009), a major international conference on intellectual property and public policy issues. It promises to be quite an event, a first in many ways. According to the initial list of participants, more than 600 people are registered for the conference with approximately 192 of these being government officials, 38 being representatives of intergovernmental organisations and 82 from NGOs, civil society and industry groups that are observers to WIPO. (more…)
