Figure It – Episode 3: The hidden powers of gender equality (18/7/2020)

In this week's episode Sapienta Economics Director Fiona Mullen and gender technical specialist Sophia Papastavrou discuss why gender equality is good for profits, why pandemics are always so tough on women, and what research says about finding a peace agreement that will actually stick. Dr. Sophia Papastavrou is a citizen of Canada and Cyprus and spent her formative years in Dominican Republic and Ghana before immigrating to Canada. She holds the role of Gender Technical Specialist with a humanitarian organization and recently received her Ph.D. in Social Justice Education at the University of Toronto. Her dissertation entitled: Women’s Organizations for Peace: Moving Beyond the Rhetoric of the Cyprus Problem was the result of over 7 years of field research on the island. She has previously worked with the OSCE Mission to Croatia, the World Bank, and the United Nations, World Vision International and World Vision Canada. Sophia was a speaker at TEDx Nicosia Women in 2015 and recently, worked with women’s civil society to co- create the first White Book of Best Practice on UNSCR 1325 on Women, Peace and Security in Cyprus. She was selected as part of the She-Experts initiative by the Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies (MIGS) aiming to enhance the visibility and impact of women in their professional capacity. She is a member of the Mediterranean Women's Mediation Network & Women, Peace Security Network -Canada. Geographical expertise: Middle East, Eastern Europe, Africa, South East Asia.