
A Bradford charity leader has spoken about her experiences of campaigning to improve the lives of women and girls at a Westminster conference.
Adeeba Malik CBE was one of four panellists chosen to conduct the closing discussion at a Government Equalities Office consultation event. The QED Foundation deputy chief executive fielded questions from an audience of politicians, civil servants, activists and academics.
'We are making progress but we still have a long way to go to achieve gender equality,' says Adeeba. 'As a society we need to look at a range of issues affecting women and girls in this country including domestic violence, the pay gap and lack of employment opportunities.'
The annual event helps the government to find out more about the experiences of third sector leaders and activists campaigning for gender equality. The discussion is used as a basis for policy making by the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
Speakers at this year's event included Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Baroness Scotland and chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission David Isaac. The audience also heard from senior politicians including Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities Justine Greening MP.