I then intervened on “the role of Parliaments in enforcing women’s rights 15 years after Beijing”. Let me tell you that I have been shocked to see the figures presented of women in politics and the steps we still need to take to improve women's position.
Since the launch of the Beijing Platform of Action in 1995 when we had 11.3% of women in parliament globally, we notice only an increase of 7%. There are no more Prime Ministers or Heads of States than in the 1990s.
The good thing is that the discourse has changed from blaming women for the weak position to pointing fingers to parties and their structures which limits a higher participation of women in politics. Parties should be more inclusive and men within parties more gender sensitive!
We all agreed that quotas are indispensable to improve the situation. As I said in my intervention: quotas are a first step but we also need strong political will as the one of Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero. Once women are better represented we can also work on wider and more balanced policy approaches.
In the United Nations too, it is clear that a gender restructuring is needed to be effective on this issue. But the political debate has just started and we still need to convince all countries about the importance and urgency of such a restructuring. Gender Equality is not a women's issue solely, it leads towards prosperous, progressive, democratic societies.
At the term of a fruitful discussion, I agreed with the Walloon Minister for health, social action and equal opportunities, Eliane Tillieux, on the need of ongoing cooperation to strengthen socialist values for equality through Europe.
