Public Financial Management and Gender

Seminar abstract

At a time when government finances are under pressure to deliver sustainable public services and the focus is upon improving efficiency and effectiveness, governments need to make full use of the skills and experience of all members of the workforce. There is a particular need at present to promote the contribution that women can make to spending public money wisely and improving public service delivery. We have come so far but not enough in terms of getting women into leadership positions and ensuring policy decisions take account of gender. In this session you will hear from the speaker about some of the drivers behind advancing gender equality, the barriers that we are striving to overcome and initiatives being implemented throughout the world.

How to attend this seminar

This seminar will take place on Wednesday 8 February at 2pm and is free to attend with no need to book in advance.

We welcome you to join us in person at the Colchester Campus in room TBC

If you cannot make it in persons not to worry you can join us online via Zoom.

Speaker bio

Gillian Fawcett

Gillian is a co-founder of Public Finance by Women (PFW), a non-profit international organisation focused upon supporting women working in public finance to fulfil their career potential by providing mentoring and other support, as well as promoting the advancement of gender equality. She currently juggles this position with freelance consultancy in public policy, strategy and finance.

Previously, she was head of international at the Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy (CIPFA) responsible for leading CIPFA’s international strategy including thought leadership, research, products and services and international advisory for finance professionals working in public services around the world. Before joining CIPFA, she held a number of positions including head of public sector at ACCA Global, senior fellow within the organisational development and policy team at the Office for Public Management (OPM), head of policy at the Audit Commission and head of finance at the Scrutiny Unit in the House of Commons.

In January 2019 she was appointed as a member for the Cifas local government anti- fraud and corruption advisory board and joined the board of Friends of the Earth Charitable Trust in February 2019. She was a member of the Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants (CAPA) public sector committee for nine years and former member of Accountancy Europe, public sector committee from 2009 – 2015. She was also treasurer and chair of the Finance and Fundraising Committee for Freedom from Torture for five years and vice chair of the Macro Economic Committee for the European Centre of Employers and Enterprises providing Public Services (CEEP). Prior to this she was treasurer for the Legal Action Group (LAG).