Byanyima appointed to UN high-level panel on women

Oxfam International Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima, says she is "honored" at her appointment by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to the first-ever High-Level Panel on Women's Economic Empowerment.

Byanyima is a two-term Member of Parliament for Mbarara Municipality is the wife of Uganda's opposition leader Dr. Kizza Besigye.

The panel seeks to "mobilize concrete actions aimed at closing economic gender gaps that persist around the world". It will provide guidance to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to improve economic outcomes for women and promote women's leadership in driving sustainable and inclusive, environmentally sensitive economic growth.

The panel will be co-chaired by the President of Costa Rica, Luis Guillermo Solis, and the CEO of IKEA Switzerland, Simona Scarpaleggia. Oxfam welcomes the leadership shown by UN Women, the UK Government and the World Bank in convening the panel.

Winnie Byanyima said: "I am honored to serve on this ground-breaking panel and to bring Oxfam's vision and leadership on economic development and gender equality to the fore.

"Just over 20 years ago in Beijing I was involved in setting the global agenda on gender equality and women's empowerment. More recently, the Sustainable Development Goals have women's rights at the heart of development issues. Our ambition for gender equality is crystal clear - we now must work to achieve it.