About the speaker:
Caroline Gennez (°Sint-Truiden, 1975) is the Belgian Minister for Development Cooperation and Major Cities. She is responsible for Belgium’s development cooperation policy, humanitarian aid, and implements projects to improve the living, working and housing conditions in Belgium’s big cities. Before that, she was a Senator, member of the Belgian Parliament and member of the Flemish Parliament. She was also deputy mayor of Mechelen between 2007 and 2012. At the same time, in 2007, she became the first female chairwomen of the Flemish social-democratic party sp.a (now Vooruit). She studied political sciences at the Catholic University of Leuven and did volunteer work in several organisations for many years. Both experiences inspired her to go into politics. She joined the Young Socialists and became their president in 1998.
Her political passions are education, work, and economic affairs. Since 2013, until becoming a minister, she was the chairwoman of the University Association Brussels. She also sat on the executive board of Erasmus University College and the Free University of Brussels. As a member of the executive board of the Party of European Socialists (PES), Caroline is a firm believer in bringing together the different socialist, social-democratic and labour parties in the EU to push for more progressive policies in Europe.
Caroline was born in Sint-Truiden, a small town in the east of Belgium, but has been living in Mechelen for almost 20 years. She is a big sports fan. Growing up, she was a promising tennis player. Nowadays, you are more likely to find her in the stands at a football match. She is also passionate about theatre and music.
About the seminar:
Using a number of theses, the minister (of Development Cooperation) will talk about what international solidarity is and means to her; what the link and complementarity can be with the private sector (business & trade), focussing on sustainable chain management as well as on the different actors within the international solidarity sector.