Birmingham has been chosen by the Carter Center as 1 of 12 international cities to participate in its Inform Women, Transform Lives campaign, which aims to ensure women can access information.
Birmingham is the only UK city to be included in this global campaign, led by the US-based organisation, which aims to educate and enable women to play an active part in the public sphere as well as in their local communities.
Cllr John Cotton, Cabinet Member for Social Inclusion, Community Safety and Equalities, said: “We have chosen to join the Carter Center’s campaign because it will have a direct impact on the everyday lives of women in our city.
“Information empowers women: it strengthens their voices, enables them to participate fully in society and decision-making; to access public services, education and employment.
“We are taking part in this global initiative because we want to ensure that women in every neighbourhood and community are empowered and able to enjoy full access to information and the great opportunities Birmingham can offer during the decade ahead.”
The overall goals of the Inform Women, Transform Lives campaign are to enhance awareness of women’s right to information, increase the number of women accessing information about municipal and social services in participating cities, and support participating local governments in reaching women with meaningful information
The campaign will include use of traditional and social media marketing materials, programming for both government agencies and citizen groups designed to help connect women to information, and virtual events and platforms to make it possible for participants to share ideas and best practices with each other.
Cities across the globe applied to be part of this campaign, and the finalists were chosen based on their commitment to transparency and gender equality.
The 11 other cities taking part in the 2022 campaign are Bogota, Colombia; Casablanca, Morocco; Dhaka North, Bangladesh; Freetown, Sierra Leone; Maputo, Mozambique; Montevideo, Uruguay; Nairobi, Kenya; Paris, France; Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; Tunis, Tunisia; and Washington DC, United States of America.
The campaign will be officially launched on 8 March 2022 – International Women’s Day.
