On International Women’s Day, we, as presidents of our respective institutions, reaffirm our commitment to take urgent action to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. Moreover, we strongly condemn all forms of violence against women and girls, and we call for the eradication of this social scourge.
Despite the progress made, strong political impetus and appropriate legal frameworks are still required to guarantee equality for women before the law. That is why we, within our respective spheres of activity, undertake to take decisive action towards global gender equality.
We also support initiatives aimed at changing mindsets and fostering a conducive environment for women to fully carry out their parliamentary work. We applaud the growing number of women in parliaments worldwide, and we recognize and support women parliamentarians who are working together to defend and promote women’s rights.
As we mark 25 years since the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action, we commit to supporting multilateral efforts to reach gender equality, including as part of the UN “Generation Equality: Realizing women’s rights for an equal future” process, especially at the forums due to take place in Mexico City (7 and 8 May) and Paris (7–10 July).
The delegations from the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the European Parliament who will participate in these forums will have a cross-cutting mandate to incorporate a gender perspective in all aspects of their parliamentary work, particularly when it comes to tackling violence, promoting employment and economic rights, taking action on climate change and combating inequality.
On International Women’s Day, we state loud and clear our commitment to redouble efforts to ensure that every girl and every woman can live their lives free from violence and discrimination. Generation Equality starts here.
| David Sassoli | Gabriela Cuevas |
|
President, |
President, Inter-Parliamentary Union |
