PES Women President
Zita Gurmai
Zita Gurmai was elected as President of PES Women on 21 October 2004. Her ambition is to work with PES Women members to strengthen PES Women’s activities within a reinvigorated PES. Zita has been active in Hungarian and international women’s movements since the early 1990s. In 1995, she became involved in the women’s section of the Hungarian Socialist Party, after which she was elected President of the organisation in 2001. One of her first major initiatives as President was to launch the “Women for Change” movement, often referred to as “yellow scarf movement”, which was successful in advocating the introduction of gender quotas in the Hungarian Socialist Party. Zita was instrumental in establishing and directing three foundations (Women in Public, Our Future, the Europe of the new Millennium Foundation and the Real Equal Opportunities Foundation) in Hungary which seek to improve gender equality in different areas. Zita plays an important role in the activities of the Central and Eastern European Network for Gender Issues which was set up in1998. The mission of the network is to assist progressive women from socialist and social democratic parties and NGOs in organising and promoting gender equality campaigns and initiatives. Elected as an MP in April 2002, Zita worked on the Hungarian Parliament’s Committees on European Integration and Foreign Affairs. In the first European elections of the EU of 25 member states (June 2004), Zita was elected Member of the European Parliament. She is currently Vice-President of the Parliament’s Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee and a member of Regional Development Committee. In the period preceding Hungary’s accession to the EU, Zita was an observer to the European Parliament. Zita is also active on a global level. She is vice-president of Socialist International Women (elected in 1999). Amongst other activities, Pia Locatelli, President of Socialist International Women, and Zita are currently working on a Global Progressive Forum project on women and globalisation.
