On Friday 4 October, during their General Assemblies, WIPO organised a session on Empowering Women in the Publishing Industry featuring the IPA’s Diversity and Inclusion Envoy, Michiel Kolman, Moroccan publisher Amina Hachimi Alaoui (Editions Yanbow Al Kitab) and Roanie Levy of Access Copyright.

The one-hour session covered a range of issues from whether women are able to reach the top positions in the industry to the gender pay gap and the possible actions of publishers and their associations.

IPA Vice-President, Bodour Al Qasimi was identified for her work in creating PublisHers, with Amina Hachimi Alaoui making it clear what an outstanding example she was setting for publishers in the Arab-speaking world.

Ms Hachimi Alaoui spoke of how she had been able to grow her own publishing business in Casablance. Michiel Kolman refered the audience to the great work being carried out by the Publishers Association in the UK and how the UK legislation requiring publication of gender pay disparities was leading to positive change. He also noted the work of publishers in promoting gender equality referring the audience to the United Nations SDG Book Club which had recently announced its reading list around the issue.

You can see photos from the event here.