Leymah Gbowee to Serve on G7 Gender Equality Advisory Council

Leymah Gbowee, executive director of Columbia’s Women, Peace, and Security program.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has selected Leymah Gbowee as a member of the G7 Gender Equality Advisory Council.

As a member of the council, Gbowee—a Nobel Laureate and executive director of Columbia University’s Women, Peace, and Security program—will help to ensure that women’s interests are represented in the G7’s economic, security, and energy policies.

The G7 (Group of Seven) is an informal group of countries that meet to discuss global economic governance, international security, and energy policy. Its members include Canada, the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the U.K.

Trudeau, the current president of the group, announced in January at the Davos World Economic Forum that he would establish a council to advise the G7 on gender issues. The council’s purpose will be to “ensure that gender equality and women’s empowerment are integrated across all themes, activities and initiatives of Canada’s G7 presidency.”

Gbowee and 18 other members of the council were announced yesterday. The group will focus on five priorities while Canada leads the G7 this year:

Investing in growth that works for everyone
Preparing for jobs of the future
Advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment
Working together on climate change, oceans and clean energy
Building a more peaceful and secure world

“The barriers to gender equality are deeply ingrained and overcoming them will not be easy,” says Melinda Gates, co-chair of the advisory council, “but if we succeed, we will all benefit exponentially.”

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The Women, Peace, and Security program is part of the Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict and Complexity (AC4). AC4 is a research center housed within the Earth Institute at Columbia University, and is focused on issues related to sustainable peace, constructive conflict engagement and sustainable development. By connecting leaders in the field of peace and conflict resolution, AC4 aims to build opportunities and apply its research with the view to generate solutions for some of the most pressing social and environmental challenges.