The third meeting of the India-U.S. Women's Empowerment Dialogue (WED) was held on 27 February 2012, in New York.  The Dialogue was co-chaired by Ms. Neela Gangadharan, Secretary, Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India and Ambassador Melanne Verveer, Ambassador-at- large for Global Women's Issues in the Department of State, who are both attending the 56th session of the UN Commission on Status of Women in New York.  Secretary Gangadharan and Ambassador Verveer discussed issues related to women's social and economic empowerment, political participation of women, early childhood education, skill development of women and girls, and strengthening of institutional linkages and exchanges.  They reviewed the progress that institutions in the U.S. and India have already achieved and discussed new ideas to take the dialogue forward.  The two co-chairs agreed that issues related to women's empowerment should be integrated into all aspects of the India-US Strategic Dialogue.