The Club de Madrid participated in this Conference -co-organised by the Inter American Development Bank, the US Department of State and the Ministerio de Desarrollo e Inlcusión Social del Perú. Under the name Power: Women as Drivers of Growth and Social Inclusion the forum had US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton and UN Women Executive Director, Michelle Bachelet as speakers during the plenary session. The latter highlighted that “women’s equality is not an option, it is a necessity…and neither mere political commitments nor neutral policies are valid, we need effective policies with a focus on women’s rights”.In a session devoted to new initiatives to promote gender equality and social inclusion, the Club de Madrid had the opportunity to present its Annual Conference on Harnessing 21st century solutions: A focus on Women, jointly organized with the William J. Clinton Foundation, UN Women and the Council of Women World Leaders. The objective of the Conference is to identify solutions to advance the empowerment of women to realize their full economic and political potential drawing out recommendations on effective policies that can carry this process to a higher level