Prime Minister of Iceland Katrίn Jacobsdόttir has held a meeting with Nepal's President Bidya Devi Bhandari on the sidelines of Reykjavik Global Forum – Women Leaders being held in Iceland.
Matters of further strengthening bilateral relations and exchanging potential cooperation in areas such
as geothermal energy technology, climate change, tourism and sharing of experience in the areas of women and gender empowerment were discussed during the meeting, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Also on the sidelines, Sima Bahous, Executive Director of the UN Women called on President Bhandari and appreciated the progress made by Nepal in women’s political empowerment and SDG indicators, the ministry said in a press statement.
Likewise, Silvana-Koch Mehrin, president and founder of Women Political Leaders and Laura Liswood, Secretary General of Council of Women World Leaders also called on President Bhandari and discussed various experiences and issues related to gender, development and climate change.
Two famous Icelandic mountaineers who summited Sagarmatha and Lhotse also met with President Bhandari and shared their experience. During her trip, President Bhandari also interacted with Icelandic and international media. Later in the evening on Wednesday, President Bhandari attended an event hosted by Nepali diaspora in Iceland and briefly addressed the community.
Earlier yesterday, President Bhandari received WPL Trailblazer Award 2022 at the Reykjavik Global Forum – Women Leaders today. Silvana-Koch Mehrin, president and founder of Women Political Leaders and former vice-president of the European Parliament presented the award to President Bhandari. Katrίn Jacobsdόttir, Prime Minister of Iceland and Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, Former
President of Iceland were also present during the ceremony.
President Bhandari dedicated the award to the Nepali women whose struggle for gender empowerment and inclusion contributed for the achievements that Nepal has made in those agendas this far.
While accepting the award, President Bhandari emphasized on Nepal’s progress and commitment on gender empowerment and Nepal’s commitment to make further progress in this area. Earlier, President Bhandari delivered a keynote speech to the Forum and highlighted Nepal’s journey to institutionalize an inclusive democracy that has well embodied principles of human rights, equality, non-discrimination, inclusion and social transformation.
During the keynote speech, Bhandari also underlined the challenges Nepal is facing due to climate change and called upon the international community for a transparent mechanism and fast-track provisions for resources, transfer of technology, and capacity-building support to deal with these challenges.
