On February 3, the European Summit of Ministers was held in Cádiz. It concluded with the adoption of a political declaration, the “Cádiz Declaration,” which calls on the governments of the European Union to dismantle the obstacles preventing women’s full integration into the workforce and society. The aim is to create “fairer, more equal, more inclusive and more efficient societies.”
The meeting was opened by Spain’s Minister of Equality, Bibiana Aído; the First Deputy Prime Minister, María Teresa Fernández de la Vega; and the United Kingdom’s Minister for Women and Equality and President of the House of Commons, Harriet Harman. It forms part of the initiatives launched by Spain’s Presidency of the European Union to promote equality on Europe’s political agenda.
The full integration of women into all areas is necessary because, as Aído states, “we cannot claim to be a modern and advanced society while turning our backs on the indisputable reality of enormous untapped human capital and half the population being inadequately represented.” Aído also stressed that this summit should provide “the definitive impetus for achieving balanced participation by women in political and democratic bodies and, more broadly, in positions of social power.” The figures show that only 25% of European national parliamentarians are women, and only 7 of the 27 Member States have more than 30% female parliamentarians.
At the meeting, the Minister of Equality also highlighted the creation of the new United Nations agency for women, which she considers “an ideal instrument for meeting the objectives that have been set,” as it demonstrates “that women’s rights know no borders and that their recognition, development and exercise must be guaranteed throughout the world.”
The “Cádiz Declaration” calls for women’s full participation in all areas.
On February 3, the European Summit of Ministers was held in Cádiz. It concluded with the adoption of a political declaration, the “Cádiz Declaration,” which calls on the governments of the European Union to dismantle the obstacles preventing women’s full integration into the workforce and society. The aim is to create “fairer, more equal, more inclusive and more efficient societies.”
The meeting was opened by Spain’s Minister of Equality, Bibiana Aído; the First Deputy Prime Minister, María Teresa Fernández de la Vega; and the United Kingdom’s Minister for Women and Equality and President of the House of Commons, Harriet Harman. It forms part of the initiatives launched by Spain’s Presidency of the European Union to promote equality on Europe’s political agenda.
The full integration of women into all areas is necessary because, as Aído states, “we cannot claim to be a modern and advanced society while turning our backs on the indisputable reality of enormous untapped human capital and half the population being inadequately represented.” Aído also stressed that this summit should provide “the definitive impetus for achieving balanced participation by women in political and democratic bodies and, more broadly, in positions of social power.” The figures show that only 25% of European national parliamentarians are women, and only 7 of the 27 Member States have more than 30% female parliamentarians.
At the meeting, the Minister of Equality also highlighted the creation of the new United Nations agency for women, which she considers “an ideal instrument for meeting the objectives that have been set,” as it demonstrates “that women’s rights know no borders and that their recognition, development and exercise must be guaranteed throughout the world.”
