The Chair of the Federation Council opened the Forum of Women Parliamentarians as part of the 137th Assembly of the the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU)
Federation Council Chair, Valentina Matvienko, addressed the opening of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians held in St. Petersburg as part of the 137th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).
According to Valentina Matvienko , the agenda of the Forum is very broad. “Items for discussion include how to achieve gender equality; a review of the implementation of the Declaration, ‘Unite to Build a Future for a Better world’; assessing the opportunities and new challenges faced by women with regard to modern technology, and coming up with measures to counter cybercrime and human trafficking using the Internet”
"In Russia, the number of women who head legislative and executive bodies, in education, health care, business, and other spheres is growing. This shows the equality of rights and opportunities for professional development for women and men", said Valentina Matvienko .
She noted that gender equality is enshrined in the Russian Constitution. "Our legislation in this area fully complies with international law".
Valentina Matvienko reminded the audience that at the same time that the Universal Declaration on Democracy was adopted in 1997, the Gender Partnership Group was formed within the organization of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. "This has made a tangible contribution to the promotion of the idea of gender equality in the Inter-Parliamentary Union."
"Progress achieved in recent years in improving the status of women in the world would not have been possible without the consistent work of parliaments, including at the forums of women parliamentarians within the Inter-Parliamentary Union", Valentina Matviyenko stressed .
According to her, the first Eurasian Women's Forum, which was held in St. Petersburg under the auspices of the Federation Council and the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly, demonstrated the high degree of effectiveness of the coordinated actions of women leaders.
Today, women can contribute to the development of parliamentary diplomacy and the easing of international tension. Women should use their growing influence to solve the most acute and pressing world problems, such as terrorism, global poverty, the spread of illegal migration, and threats in the area of food and environmental security", Valentina Matviyenko stressed. She expressed her belief that women parliamentarians will also contribute to strengthening inter-religious and inter-ethnic dialogue. This is the central theme of the 137th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
The Chair of the Federation Council called on women parliamentarians to support the initiative proposed by Russia, along with the draft resolution on the establishment of an International Day of Parliamentarism.
As the Vice-Chair of the Federation Council, elected by the Chair of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians, Galina Karelova{3} notes that in recent years the Forum has become an obligatory part of, and a solid tradition of the IPU Assembly. "Thanks to its participants, the representation of women in parliaments around the world is growing".
According to Galina Karelova , issues of gender equality are discussed seriously at official international venues.
"The forum will give a new impetus to the development of international women's cooperation and will form traditions in the implementation of gender equality," Galina Karelova stressed.
The chair of the IPU Saber Chowdhury welcomed the participants and guests of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians, noting that women participants at the 137th Assembly numbered more than 30%. "This is the first time we have such a high number of women speakers.”
"The forum plays a huge role in the work of the Inter-Parliamentary Union," Saber Chowdhury said. According to him, democracy is possible only when men and women participate equally in all processes.
At the same time, the head of IPC stressed that we can’t just talk about gender equality, we must also supply this process with concrete actions and deeds.
During the Forum, much attention was paid to the work being done on the Action Plan on Gender Equality in Parliaments. This Action Plan was adopted in 2012 at the 127th Assembly in Quebec, Canada.
In particular, the Forum looks at the results that parliaments have achieved over the past five years in terms of ensuring the equal presence of men and women in adniminstrative and managerial parliamentary positions, and in shaping the policy and infrastructure for supporting women parliamentarians and female parliamentary staff in carrying out their work, taking into account their family responsibilities, especially for women with young children.
In addition, the Forum participants raised a number of issues, including what gender-sensitive mechanisms have been developed in parliaments, do these mechanisms contain an element of gender research and analysis, and how can the role of men and political parties in gender equality be increased.
As part of the Forum, there is a general discussion on the topic, "Financial control: the implementation of supervisory functions for the common good". The topic of the discussion is not only the role of parliament in overseeing the budget, but also the possibility of gender analysis as a tool to ensure an equitable budget that meets the needs of all citizens of the state.
Taking part in the discussions on the Russian side were the first deputy chair of the Federation Council Committee on Science, Education and Culture, Liliya Gumerova, and senators Lyudmila Bokova, Elena Perminova, and Valentina Petrenko.