Outcome of the third Eurasian Women's Forum

The Third Eurasian Women’s Forum took place on 13–15 October 2021 in the city of St. Petersburg under the auspices of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and the Interparliamentary Assembly of Member Nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

The Third Eurasian Women’s Forum was attended by over 2,500 participants from 111 countries. Around 3 million people joined the Forum events in real time online. A total of 10 million people took part in the Forum’s events including the Russian Regional Week.

The high profile of the Forum was confirmed by the participation of President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.

Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres addressed the Forum’s participants with a video message.

The Forum events were attended by:

• representatives of 23 international organizations;

• high-level executives and major political and public figures.

Foreign participants included:

• the President of Finland (2000–2012);

• the vice presidents of three countries;

• thirteen speakers and nine deputy speakers of parliaments (or houses of parliament);

• ten ministers of foreign governments;

• the President of the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN);

• the Secretary General of the Council of Europe;

• the Vice-President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe;

• the Deputy Director-General of the World Health Organization;

• the Executive Director of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation;

• the spouses of leaders of two countries;

• nine ambassadors extraordinary and plenipotentiary of foreign states.

Forum participants from the Russian side included:

• senators of the Russian Federation, including deputy speakers of the Federation Council;

• two deputy prime ministers of the Russian Federation;

• federal ministers.

Other participants at the Forum included women in parliament, representatives of government agencies, international organizations, global corporations, business, the scientific community and non-profit organizations, heads of charitable projects and leading figures in the international women’s movement.

Around 600 presentations were given at the Forum. A total of 48 people spoke (including two presentations via video link and five recorded video messages) at the three Forum plenary sessions alone, not including a thematic plenary session.

Held regularly since 2015, the Forum is a major international platform bringing together representatives of every continent to discuss the role of women in the modern world and develop shared solutions to global problems.

While preserving continuity, the Third Eurasian Women’s Forum is guided by ideas of promoting integration and developing cooperation in order to strengthen the role of women in pursuing sustainable development goals and outlining new approaches to solving global challenges brought about by political, economic, technological, social and environmental changes.

In light of the new challenges and threats the whole world is facing at the turn of the third millennium, the theme of the Third Eurasian Women’s Forum is ‘Women: A Global Mission in a New Reality’.

Key discussions at the Forum revolved around the new role and mission of women in securing global peace, social progress, the transition to new economic growth models and the preservation of the health of the planet and future generations, taking a balanced approach in the context of ubiquitous digitalization, and solving global environmental and climate-related problems.

The Council of the Eurasian Women's Forum presented its projects at the Forum.

There were 90 events including three plenary sessions, strategic sessions, expert and discussion platforms, public–private and business dialogues, foresight sessions, business breakfasts and motivational public lectures led by opinion leaders on the business programme of the main part of the Forum, which took place on 13–15 October. A total of over 300 events were held at the Forum. These included guest lounges, pre-forums, competitions, marathons and video broadcasts. A unique regional week also took place at the Forum.

Joint sessions with international organizations and associations were also organized at the Forum. These included a session with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), a guest session of the Women’s 20, a World Bank session, and a session of the BRIСS Women Business Alliance.

The first session of the international club of winners and participants of the APEC BEST Award was held on the sidelines of the Forum. Its outcomes included proposals for rolling out the competition in the APEC nations, the launch of new international projects (starting with a Russian–South Korean project), and support for children’s projects in the APEC countries.

An open session of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency international working group on improving the gender balance in the nuclear sector took place for the first time on the sidelines of the Forum. The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency international working group on improving the gender balance in the nuclear sector, which is represented by 13 countries including Russia, presented its approved mandate.

The outcomes of seven competitions held in the run up to the Forum were also presented on its sidelines. These included competitions for environmental startups, research projects combating climate change, ‘Women Innovators’ and women’s leadership programmes within state and commercial organizations, as well as a marathon of women’s initiatives to develop the territories.

Twenty Russian and international speakers, including successful entrepreneurs, leaders from the digital industry and representing international companies, and representatives of government agencies and SME support institutions used the Forum’s digital platform to present tools for digitalizing women’s business and talked about their own personal experiences. The best women’s projects in IT were presented, and a video conference with representatives from five countries also took place. The events on the digital platform attracted an audience of over 1.5 million people.

An exhibition of export projects created by women entrepreneurs was organized on the sidelines of the Forum along with a number of bilateral business dialogues with the international women’s business community to develop international cooperation between women and promote new areas for cooperation.

Six agreements were signed on the sidelines of the Forum:

• a cooperation agreement between the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous District and the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry;

• a cooperation agreement between the Kuzbass State Agricultural Academy and the Centre for Health Promotion;

• a cooperation agreement between the Kuzbass State Agricultural Academy, the OPORA RUSSIA Women's Entrepreneurship Development Committee and IPR MEDIA;

• a strategic partnership agreement between the Filatov International Foundation for the Development of Biomedical Technologies, the Japanese Society of Placental Clinical Medicine and the Japan Anti-Ageing Medicine Association;

• an agreement to develop and strengthen international ties between SMEs in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous District, the BRICS countries, Southeast Asia and Latin America.

The Eurasian Kids Society and the UCMAS (Universal Concept of Mental Arithmetic System) academy held a STEM championship in St. Petersburg. There were 100 participants aged between 10 and 15 from Russia, the USA, Kazakhstan and the UK. They were grouped into 12 teams via video link and tasked with calculating the coordinates of the Columba constellation. The unique initiative of the Eurasian Kids Society aimed to develop children’s diplomatic and intercultural communication skills. The ‘Children: The Future of the World’ international kids’ video conference was also held as part of the Forum. Fifty children from different countries were joined by senators, scientists and experts to discuss the UN Sustainable Development Goals on health and education, the environment and the fight against climate change. An important outcome of the international video conference was a digital message from children to the participants of the Third Eurasian Women’s Forum, in which they expressed their views on these issues.

A Festival of Health and Beauty, where Forum participants could attend lectures and masterclasses and see exhibitions of Russian health technologies, was held at the Forum. A medical office of the future was presented for the first time at the Forum, offering a virtual overview of the latest achievements in medicine and presenting cutting-edge genetic check-up technologies.

Around 500 people participated in a women’s run, which took place for the first time at the Forum.

The business dialogue on ‘The Role of Women in the Integrated Development of the African Continent’ marked another first for the Forum. The participants discussed the breakthrough results that have been achieved in this particular region in terms of elevating women’s position within society. According to the United Nations, the proportion of women in parliament across 11 African nations is around 30%. The level of business activity among African women is 61.9%.

On the closing day of the Forum, the Eurasian Women’s Forum Public Recognition prize was awarded to outstanding women for their achievements in various sectors and contributions to the sustainable development of society.

Participants were given the opportunity to participate in cultural events and humanitarian exchanges outside of the official programme.

A media studio, fashion shows from Russian designers and photo exhibitions were also in operation at the venue.

The media audience for reporting about the Eurasian Women’s Forum (TV, radio, print media, news agencies and online resources) was almost 300 million.

A resolution was adopted in the aftermath of the Forum containing a number of specific recommendations drawn up by the editorial committee, which is made up of representatives of various Russian government ministries and departments, international organizations and business entities that had an active role in the running of the Forum.

Information about the Forum can be found on the Global Women Media news agency website at eawfpress.ru/en.