U.N. meeting on women to be men-only

UNITED NATIONS – Iceland is announcing a U.N. conference on women and gender equality – and only men and boys are invited.

The country’s foreign affairs minister told the U.N. General Assembly of world leaders on Monday that the January “barbershop” conference will be unique, “as it will be the first time at the United Nations that we bring together only men leaders to discuss gender equality.”

Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson said the conference convened by his country and Suriname will be an “exceptional contribution” to events marking the 20th anniversary of a landmark U.N. conference on women in Beijing.

“We want to bring men and boys to the table on gender equality in a positive way,” Sveinsson said. He said the meeting will have a special focus on violence against women.

The unusual conference is part of a global campaign launched this month to get 100,000 men and boys involved in the fight for gender equality, which the United Nations had hoped would be achieved by 2015. That deadline won’t be met; in an interview this year, the head of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, said projections indicate that if things don’t change, achieving gender equality will take 95 years.

At the “HeForShe” campaign launch this month, actress Emma Watson explained the urgent need to bring men into the fight for gender equality.

“In 1995, Hillary Clinton made a famous speech in Beijing about women’s rights,” Watson said. “But what stood out for me the most was that only 30 percent of her audience were male. How can we affect change in the world when only half of it is invited or feel welcome to participate in the conversation?”