International Women's Day statement
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- Equal treatment
- President
On International Women's Day, Vasco Alves Cordeiro, the President of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR), and Sauri Ratio, the Committee's rapporteur on the Gender Equality Action Plan, called on Member States to implement measures to encourage more women to enter and play a role in politics.
Vasco Alves Cordeiro, President of the European Committee of the Regions, said: “International Women's Day should not be seen only as a day of celebration, but as a day of commitment and fight for the rights of women around the world.
“Still today, women's rights are not respected. The United Nations' most recent report shows that, at the current progress, it will take close to 300 years to achieve gender equality. This is unacceptable and we need to commit, at all levels of government, to close this gap.
“Global crises are putting a new strain on women and girls, in incomes, safety, education, and health. Women are also the ones bearing the brunt of gender pay gaps, childcare gaps, harassment and the erosion of their fundamental rights. By implementing structural changes and investing in women's education, workforce and empowerment, we can accelerate progress.
“This year is a decisive year for democracy. Even if we are making progress to correct the gender imbalance in politics, we still have a long way to go: of some 1 million local and regional elected officials in Europe, only about one in three are women. There is an urgent need to put in place measures for more women to enter and play a role in politics. Representation is fundamental and local representatives should be the forefront.
“The European Committee of the Regions has taken a step forward with its new Gender Equality Action Plan. We will continue to call on the Member States to improve the gender balance of the members they appoint and to raise awareness and seek solutions to redress the gender imbalance in local and regional politics and within our Committee.
“As women across the globe raise their voice on this important day, the European Committee of the Regions joins their call for a fairer and equal world for all."
Sari Rautio, CoR rapporteur on its Gender Equality Action Plan, said: "It is proven that diverse groups make better decisions. That is one reason why we need women in all levels in politics. In cities, regions, national parliaments and of course on European Parliament. But we need women also because we need everyone, and everyone has the right to act, to speak and to build the better and fairer society – together. "
Note to the editors:
As the EU's assembly of local and regional representatives from all 27 Member States, the European Committee of the Regions is fully committed in its work to promoting gender equality and women's political participation. As part of the CoR's contribution to improving gender equality and to building a more inclusive, gender-equal and fair EU, it put in place in 2023 a dedicated Gender Equality Action Plan, which summarises its own processes and practices aiming to improve gender equality at the Committee of the Regions. The European Committee of the Regions has adopted recommendations on actions that can be taken to achieve gender balance in political representation and participation as a matter of equality and democracy, in its opinion 'Equality Union: a strategy for gender equality 2020-2025'. These are summarised on our “For more women in politics" webpage.
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