The COVID-19 pandemic has caused enormous economic and social distress throughout the APEC region. In this challenging scenario, women have been one of the most vulnerable groups and they have now added complexity to their fight for equality and better opportunities. Consequently, the progress made these past years has been compromised by the structural weaknesses of both public and private institutions that put women in a disadvantaged position.

We need to act immediately to preserve all these years of effort and to push further and further along the road to equality. In line with this, we will organize the APEC Women Connect Online Conference on June 30th at 10:00 am (GMT+8).

The conference will seek to address the issues of gender equality and the role of digitalization in empowering women at the crossroads, particularly in this pandemic.