BUSINESSMED was invited to participate in the third webinar of the Arab International Women's Forum 2020 Annual Programme held on September 9, under the theme "Building Resilience to Counter Unexpected Shocks".

The session was moderated by AIWF Founder and Chairman, Mrs Haifa Al Kaylani, who welcomed Mr Carlos Conde, Head of the Division MENA for the OECD, to discuss the findings of the report "COVID-19: Gender Impact and Policy Responses" published by the OECD in June 2020.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on gender equality in the region and the measures and initiatives taken by governments, the private sector and civil society to mitigate the impact of the crisis on women were at the heart of this webinar's exchanges.

Speakers stressed that both AIWF and OECD are guided by the principle that it is essential to enable women to compete in today's global economy by facilitating women's access to employment in the private sector, opening up access to finance, innovation and technology, and eliminating stereotypes that are quite common in male-dominated sectors.