Dear Members, Dear Colleagues

I hope that despite the difficult situation we are facing with the pandemic and its financial consequences, you and your beloved ones are doing well.

It is my pleasure to announce our next IAWMH webinar which will be held virtually in September. It will be coordinated by our President Elect Professor Prabha Chandra (India) with Professor Gihan El Nahas (Egypt) in collaboration, for the first time, with colleagues from Africa and the Middle East.

Our next World Congress will be held in Maastricht (the Netherlands) in 6-9 November 2022. The call for symposia, oral communication and posters will open soon at: www.iawmh2022.org.

According to the Spotlight Initiative Global Annual Report, violence in women increased 83 per cent from 2019 to 2020, while cases reported to the police grew by 64 per cent. Compared to men, women are 24 per cent more likely to lose their jobs and can expect their income to fall by 50 percent more. after the crisis. 

During the last week of June, the Generation Equality Forum has been held in Paris and hosted by the French President E. Macron in collaboration with the United Nations (UN). Its main aim was "to fast-track the road to gender equality". During the meeting, US Vice President K. Harris said that "gender equality was paramount to strengthening democracy". Melinda Gates told that “women should not only have a seat at the table, they should be in every single room where policy and decisions are being made". Furthermore, UN Women’s Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka pointed out that "this forum was intented to tackling and funding all areas where women have been “short-changed” –forced marriage, gender-based violence, leaving school, experiencing the devastating impacts of climate change, trying to crack glass ceilings, losing out on innovation and technology, and ensuring their sexual and reproductive rights and health–". The Forum responded to the fact that the COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated gender inequalities and reinforced the urgency to act in order to accelerate progress.
 
As the world begins to rebuild, we must put gender equality at the heart of our recovery efforts and the IAWMH will do its upmost to help acheiving these goals.

With my best personal regards,

Professor Florence Thibaut, University of Paris, France
IAWMH President