Gender equality… today and every day…
"Today we celebrate women. We celebrate their role in society, at work, in our families and lives. We also remember their suffering, hardship and injustice, which for many is still a reality today." This was the first message in a joint statement issued today by Federica Mogherini i together with other European Commissioners to mark the occasion of International Women's Day. The Commissioners stressed that "we must promote gender equality not just today, on International Women's Day, but every day."
International Women's Day is celebrated in many countries worldwide. It is a day when women are recognised for their achievements without discrimination because of national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic or political divisions. "Women are playing an increasingly relevant role in our politics, and in our foreign policy. And our European foreign policy is putting women on the centre stage, every day", Federica Mogherini said in a separate video message to mark this day.
In her video message, Mogherini explained how the EU contributes towards women's empowerment and women's rights. "In ten years, the European Commission has helped three hundred thousand girls get into secondary education. We are working with local leaders who renounce female genital mutilation. We are supporting young women who say 'no' to forced marriage. We are helping to spread the message that violence against women is a sign of weakness for men, not of strength", she said.
She claimed that "A society where women have the same rights as men is not just more just. It is more secure, and richer. When women have no access to good education and top jobs, we are only wasting their huge potential. And this is true both abroad and inside our European Union."
The High Representative stressed that "Our challenge is to close the gap […], to make sure that more and more women take relevant public roles, and this is more and more recognised publicly."
The United Nation's theme for International Women’s Day 2016 is "Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality". The idea of this theme is to consider how to accelerate the 2030 Agenda, building momentum for the effective implementation of the new Sustainable Development Goals.
In their joint statement the European Commissioners highlighted that "the European Union is also committed to taking forward the new 2030 United Nations Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals, which includes a strong commitment to advance gender equality and empower women and girls around the world."
"We stand together, today and every other day, committed to creating a world where our daughters and sons have equal opportunities. When it comes to dreams, when it comes to goals, gender must never be considered an obstacle", they concluded.
Links:
Joint statement by HRVP & other European Commissioners