In September 2015, the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda with 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Among these goals is gender equality and empowering women.
As the Chief and Permanent Representative to the UN at Foundation for The Support of the United Nations and CEO of IMPACT Leadership 21, Janet C. Salazar emphasized during her interview with Bill Miller on Global Connection TV (GCTV) the importance of collaboration between men and women in order to build and educate true leaders and achieve gender equality. On her first appearance on GCTV in 2013, Janet C. Salazar indicated the importance of engaging men in the discussion about gender equality and of creating a safe space through forums and conferences where men and women can work together, discuss different issues and reach a solution. Five years later, the CEO of Impact Leadership 21 shared the details about different programs to train future leaders, especially females, and to help achieve SDG #5 and the rest of the SDGs. She mentioned two main programs: The Emerging Global Leaders Program and the High Impact Program-Fast Track. The Emerging Global Leaders Program targets high potential young leaders and train them in a holistic way by exposing them to the United Nations as well as the business world through partnerships with well known companies such as IBM, Bloomberg, Microsoft and Pfizer. The program that accepts 25 participants from all over the world is based primarily in New York City and Washington DC. After the programs, the participants join The Emerging Global Leaders Alumni Club where they can share their achievements and stay in touch. The other program is the High IMPACT Leadership Program which is a customized and intense training program that trains executives to maintain and develop the strategies and skills needed to leave an impact on our highly globalized and hyper-connected world (If you want to know more information, please visit IMPACT Leadership 21 website http://www.impactleadership21.com/leadership-academy.html). Another point that Janet C. Salazar highlighted during the interview is the interconnectivity of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the importance of partnerships between private businesses and the public sector to achieve them. She clarified that without partnerships and collaborations between all the stakeholders, the progress to achieve the SDGs will be slow and hard to maintain. Therefore, collaboration is the key: collaboration between men and women and between private businesses and the public sector is crucial in order to solve the major problems that challenge our world today such as gender inequality, climate change and education inequality. To watch the full interview, visit Global Connections TV (GCT) website or click the following link: http://globalconnectionstelevision.com/video-gallery/2018/3/20/janet-salazar.
Author: Mariam Moustafa
