Building Government Capability for SDG5

Speakers

• Elizabeth Mueni Kimulu

  Director of Social Sectors, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, Executive Office of the President

  Kenya

• Marisa Miodosky

  LAC Senior Advisor, Equal Measures 2030

  Argentina

• Bynta Ernest

  Gender Policy Officer, Government of Saint Lucia

  Saint Lucia

• Pooja Warier Hamilton

  Chief Partnerships Officer, Apolitical

  United Kingdom

• Elizabeth Mueni Kimulu, is an experienced Social Development expert currently working in an advisory role at the Executive Office of the President in Kenya. Her main responsibility is initiating and evaluating policies and strategies in the social sector and advising on Presidential initiatives on Young People’s Agenda, Human Capital, Micro, Small and Medium enterprises (MSMEs), Education, especially TVET and Gender Equity, Diversity and Social inclusion. Cumulatively Elizabeth has served in public service for over 22 years, including serving as Director Social Sector at the the NationalEconomic and Social Council (NESC), where, among many other assignments, she coordinated the development of the National Employment Policy and Strategy and the National Values component of the MTP II of the Kenya Vision 2030. Elizabeth started her career in the Department of Social Services, where she was privileged to work on community development, gender and youth programmes for 10 years. For four of those years she worked exclusively at the Women’s Bureau (national gender machinery at the time) and provided one-year support on secondment to the then Kenya Association of Youth Organizations (KAYO). For another 13 years outside public service, Elizabeth worked in different sectors and various environments/settings, including local and international NGOs, academia and the private sector in Kenya and the Eastern/Horn of Africa region. In December 2021, Elizabeth was awarded the national honour of the Order of the Grand Warrior (OGW) of Kenya, which is presented to individuals in recognition of an outstanding service rendered to the country.

• Marisa Miodosky, is an Argentine political scientist and MA in International Sustainable Development (Brandeis University), specialized in the use of gender data for policy making. From 2017 to 2020 she coordinated the first Buenos Aires City Gender Equality Strategy. In this role, she was in charge of mainstreaming the gender perspective in the City's administration through the use of the Gender Indicator System. For this work, she and her team were awarded the 2019 Best International Civil Service Award promoting Equality by Apolitical, an organisation that in 2021 also selected her as one of the 100 most influential people in the world regarding gender policies. She also worked for the BA City Statistics Bureau where she led the production of gender data. She has vast consultancy experience for the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the Carter Center. Since July 2023 she has been the LAC Senior Advisor for Equal Measures 2030. She teaches about gender and evidence for public policies at Di Tella University and serves as a volunteer at Open Heroines.

• Bynta Ernest, is a highly skilled Public Policy and Development Specialist with the Government of Saint Lucia with a combined experience of 11+ years in the fields of International Relations and Diplomacy, Gender Equality and Social Inclusion, Community Development, Human Rights, Communications and Public Engagement. She serves as a policy advisor within the Government of Saint Lucia in the areas of International Relations, Human Rights and Gender. Bynta was previously employed as a Foreign Service Officer in the Ministry of External Affairs for nine (9) years, specialising in Human Rights. In this capacity, she developed and facilitated training in Human Rights and Gender. She has also led the coordination and drafting of national human rights reports for international and regional human rights mechanisms and established the first Committee on Human Rights to report and monitor human rights within the Public Service. Bynta transferred to the Department of Gender Affairs in 2022, where she is responsible for developing and executing the national Gender Equality Policy, specifically Gender mainstreaming within the Public Service. In this capacity, she coordinates the National Gender Focal Point System across 24 government ministries, departments and agencies; led the development and inclusion of gender and human rights training in the Public Service Training Manual; and also leads initiatives focused on the strengthening of the national legal framework to support gender equality.