Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-03-08-Speech-2-026"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20050308.6.2-026"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, it is now ten years since the United Nations Beijing Conference, whose platform established the rights of women. In Beijing, it was said that women’s rights are human rights. There can certainly be no turning back from that position, despite the fact that the world’s more conservative countries have been attempting to do so for some years now. This was the case, in particular, with the United States last week during the proceedings of the UN Commission on women’s rights. The attempt was foiled, largely thanks to the European delegation, and in particular to the intelligent and vital work of the Luxembourg Minister, Mrs Jacob, who led our delegation and to whom I should like to express heartfelt thanks.
There can certainly be no turning back from Beijing, but a mere statement of intent is not enough; we need to speed up the process of implementing the platform. One of the topics covered is that of political power, still predominantly in male hands. Women still represent only 15 percent of the world’s parliamentarians, and only 15 countries out of approximately 200 have achieved a level defined as the ‘critical mass of 30%’. When the presence of women in the institutions reaches critical mass, there is more likelihood that women’s points of view and experiences will be taken into consideration, that priority will be given to the issues important to women and that action will become possible.
Of the 15 countries to which I referred earlier, eight are in Europe – in other words, less than one third of the 25 States making up the European Union. We need determination, commitment and action if these eight countries are to increase to 25 – and this is what we are requesting from the Commission and Council. Above all, we need people to be convinced that an increase in the parliamentary representation of women is beneficial to both men and women. Spain, with its government consisting of equal numbers of women and men, is the example to be followed. Spain, with its socialist Prime Minister Zapatero, has proved that democracy with equality can be achieved."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples