(Communicated by the MFA Spokesperson)

The 28th International Women Leaders’ Conference, which will be held from November 3-8, 2013 will focus on the subject of the centrality of gender equality and women’s empowerment in formulating the next sustainable development goals agenda of the U.N.

The 50 participants from throughout the world will include government ministers (from Burkina Faso, Costa Rica, Romania, Papua New Guinea, and Samoa), members of parliament, scholars and senior representatives of U.N. agencies and international aid organizations.

The Conference will be held in cooperation with UN Women and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and will provide a forum for meeting and dialogue among worldwide colleagues on global issues on today's agenda in the area of international development, with special focus on gender equality and women's empowerment.

The Conference will open on Sunday, November 3, at the Krieger Center for Arts in Haifa in a festive ceremony with the participation of the Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Israel Minister of Culture and Sport Livnat, and the Mayor of Haifa.

This, the 28th conference of its kind, is sponsored by the Golda Meir Mount Carmel International Training Center (MCTC), the oldest extension institution of MASHAV - Israel's Agency for International Development Cooperation at the Foreign Ministry.