Women’s Forum SIngapore September 12-14
Women's Forum SIngapore September 12-14
Starting tomorrow, September 12, the First “Women's Forum Singapore” will start discussions on several globally and regionally relevant topics while promoting female perspectives. According to a Straitstimes article form September 11, this is initiated by the Women's Forum for the Economy and Society and this year’s edition has the theme “bridging worlds for inclusive innovation”. It will include several speakers, sessions and topics range from business over ecological challenges to technological advancements. The Forum brings together representatives from all over the world, but as the first Forum in the ASEAN region, the article implies a hope to focus on regional developments and perspectives as well.
Interestingly enough, I had not heard about the Forum at all before, which – since I am quite interested and informed in institutions promoting gender equality – surprised me, as the article made it sound rather important. Doing a quick internet search, however, revealed that I had known about other initiatives of the Forum and just never connected it with the name.
But what surprised me more about the article was that, although both the forum and the article clearly emphasise the relevance of female perspectives and “bridging the gender gap”, it did not elaborate on the gender gap in Singapore or explained why or how female perspectives can impact policies and decision making. I am not sure if this is because it is not seen as that relevant, or assumed that this is known and does not need to be explained, but it did make me wonder how much attention is paid to gender inequalities. Additionally, I noticed none of the topics named in the article are in the fields of social sciences or humanities, which is conform to a general trend I have noticed. Often, in gender-connected events, an emphasis is put on areas where women are disadvantaged (for obvious reasons). But in an event that emphasises the need for different perspectives, does this make sense?
Source: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/womens-forum-singapore-to-focus-on-social-and-economic-issues
For more information on the Forum: http://www.womens-forum.com/