Melanne Verveer

Humanitas Visiting Professorship in Women Studies (2012-2013)

The Humanitas Visiting Professorship in Women’s Rights is an initiative that draws on the University of Cambridge’s unparalleled expertise in the fields of gender studies and equality. It explores the many pressing aspects of women’s rights in the world, ranging from the importance of equality in development, religion, law and many other areas.

The Visiting Professorship in Women’s Rights has been made possible by the generous support of Carol Saper and is hosted by King’s College, Cambridge.

Melanne Verveer is Executive Director of the Institute for Women, Peace and Security at Georgetown University.

Melanne Verveer’s first lecture, Women’s Rights are Human Rights: The Beijing Platform for Action: an unfinished agenda, showed how empowering the status of women across the world is essential for broader social progress to take place. Echoing Clinton’s words, Verveer’s lecture showed how issues that affect women affect everyone.

Verveer’s second lecture was on Women as Entrepreneurs and Employees: Critical Drivers of Economic Growth in Both Developed and Emerging Economies. She showed how women are essential for economic growth, both in rich and poor countries.

The third lecture in Verveer’s series, Perspectives on Women’s Political Participation and Role in Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding, argued that the inclusion and empowerment of women are essential for global security and peace-building.