The Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, Georgetown Women in International Affairs, and the BMW Center for German and European Studies hosted a Ministerial Roundtable with Ulla Tørnæs, Danish Minister for Development Cooperation for “A Conversation on the Gender, Security and Development Nexus” on Thursday, October 12, 2017 at 2:30 p.m.
Minister Tørnæs was appointed as Minister for Development Cooperation in November 2016, and was previously Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education. She also served as Minister for Education (2001-2005) and Minister for Development (2005-2010) in the government of Anders Fogh Rasmussen. She was a member of the European Parliament for the Liberal Party from 2014 to 2016 where she was Vice-Chairwoman of the Committee of Employment and Social Affairs, and a member of the Danish Parliament from 1994 – 2014. She served as political spokesperson for Venstre, the Danish Liberal Party, from 1998 to 2001 and as a member of the management committee of the parliamentary group of the Danish Liberal party from 1994 to 2001. She was also a member of the World Bank’s High Level Advisory Council on Women’s Economic Empowerment. Minister Tørnæs has a degree in Business Administration in English and French from Copenhagen Business School, and university-level studies in Chambéry, France, and at the Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen.