Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-03-08-Speech-2-116-000"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20110308.8.2-116-000"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, when the International Women’s Day was launched, the equality of women was a brand new and revolutionary idea. Since then, gender equality has become one of the basic principles of modern society. Its source lies in inalienable human dignity shared by men and women in equal measure. However, as with all achievements, it is not enough to simply declare this. Human dignity, including the characteristic dignity of women, has been subject to different violations in different ages and places. Our focus and our responses must be in line with this.
It speaks volumes that this commemoration is taking place after the debate on the report entitled ‘The face of female poverty in the European Union’. Poverty and the European Union. Some time ago, this would have seemed an unlikely association. The economic crisis hit the less protected groups particularly hard. The over-representation of women in this category in itself sets out certain tasks, to say nothing of the typical fates afflicting masses of women, which give poverty a female face outside of Europe, at a global scale. Borrowing the words of Saint Francis of Assisi: Lady Poverty. Women with small children fleeing war or famine, broken families without fathers living in slums, women and young girls forced into prostitution, even within the European Union.
There are a number of matters among the priorities of the Hungarian Presidency, the successful promotion of which could have an impact on increased employment among women. Foremost among these is the Europe 2020 strategy with its own employment policy targets for recovery from the economic crisis and for the reduction of poverty. The employment of women strengthens women’s dignity. It helps enable them to take their decisions and shape their lives freely.
The flagship initiative ‘Platform against Poverty’ stresses that steps taken with a view to reducing poverty must also take into account the differences between the situation of women and men.
The Hungarian Presidency considers the decision adopted yesterday by the EPSCO Council on the renewal of the Pact for equality between women and men by 2020 an important achievement. Besides economic policy measures, we must not forget about the special role of women in society either. We must give women the possibility to harmonise their careers and family lives, and the possibility to choose. To this end, we are working on the review of the directive on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health at work of pregnant workers and workers who have recently given birth or are breastfeeding; the relevant progress report will be prepared for the June EPSCO.
The priorities of the Hungarian Presidency include raising awareness of the role of families in the context of responding to social, economic and demographic problems. For this purpose, we will be organising a demographics week with the involvement of NGOs and with an informal meeting of ministers for family affairs. The aim will be to discuss the means to be used to increase birth rates. In all this, women, and women’s choices of course, have an exceptional role.
Special focus must be given to the situation of women belonging to disadvantaged groups in the European framework for the Member States’ Roma strategies, which we expect to be approved by the June European Council, and to which Mrs Járóka and others, the rapporteurs and helpers, have provided very valuable input in the European Parliament. We expect that in the Council, too, we will declare that we intend to emphasise the role of Roma women in holding their families together, which would be a good basis to build upon when seeking answers to the issues of the Roma population.
Lastly, ladies and gentlemen, please allow me a brief digression. Historic experience has shown that there cannot be a strong civil society without the active social involvement of women. As Mr Buzek also mentioned, there were female protesters among those who demanded freedom in Tahrir Square, Cairo. They, too, wish to become shapers of the changes that are taking place. The European Union must encourage their efforts: generously, free of ideological stereotypes, openly and with sympathy."@en1
|
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples