Welcome to today's event, which marks World Women's Rights Day. Today, at the first event on gender equality, I would like to publicly thank the President of the Republic, Mr. Nikos Christodoulides, for the honour of appointing me as Commissioner for Gender Equality. Mr President, dear friends, I will work with dedication, with responsibility, building on all that has already been achieved, in order to upgrade our country in terms of equality between women and men. Through meaningful policies that will positively affect the daily lives of women and have a positive impact on our entire society, our economy and our state.
The promotion of equality between women and men and the full guarantee of women's human rights is an important issue and a prerequisite for the social and economic development of all societies. Gender equality means that the needs and human rights of both women and men are considered equal, as are their obligations. Women and men have biological differences, which should be taken into account when designing legislation, policies, actions and measures, while men and women should participate equally in the decision-making process, free from stereotypes and prejudices based on their gender. Through a holistic approach, our aim is to promote women's active participation in society, creating a gender-sensitive political, economic and social framework. To achieve this goal, we create the right conditions by deconstructing gender stereotypes and prejudices in all areas, but also by strengthening and creating new structures to facilitate parenting, equal sharing of responsibilities, active participation in the labour market and in decision-making positions.
To achieve the above, the governance programme includes specific policies and implementable actions, which build on previous actions towards the promotion of gender equality. In my intervention today, I will focus on how we are moving forward in practical terms, what the goal is and what the design is. I will not go through all the actions of the governance programme, but I will present some indicative ones.
The first objective is the establishment of the Office of the Equality Commissioner to produce policy, have a coordinating role and monitor the horizontal implementation of equality policies in all Ministries and Deputy Ministries. It has already been decided by the Council of Ministers that all Ministries and Deputy Ministries should appoint a person to work in this direction in coordination with the Office of the Commissioner. To be more specific, the National Strategic Plan for Gender Equality will be prepared in collaboration with all ministries/deputy ministries, after consultation with the National Women's Rights Mechanism and civil society. Subsequently, the ministries/departments will prepare their own internal action plan to implement the National Strategy for Gender Equality.
The aim, in addition to implementing the actions of the Strategy, is to try to embed gender culture in the state machinery.
I would like to underline that I have no illusions that this is an easy task. But I know very well that the political will exists first from the President himself and the Ministers/Deputy Ministers. To this end, I have already begun a cycle of contacts with all and sundry Ministers and Deputy Ministers, whom I thank for their cooperation in raising priority issues on the basis of the governance agenda. More specifically, and after I have received briefings from the competent persons to be appointed in all ministries, we will proceed with their training, so that they have at the core of their portfolios, as a basic principle, the integration of the gender dimension in their policies.
In parallel, the evaluation of the existing strategic plan for equality, which expires this year, has begun, so that the broad consultation for the writing of the new strategic plan can begin in the summer. We want the new plan to be, above all, implementable, with a holistic approach that will deliver measurable results.
We have realized so far that piecemeal actions do not work, at least not to the extent we want.
In particular, one policy, and perhaps one of the most important, is the implementation of the state gender budget. The aim of this policy is to distribute the budget fairly so that we have an equal distribution of resources to men and women. To make it clearer, I would like to give a recent example. The example concerns female under-16 basketball players who were initially cut off from participating in the European Development Championships due to a lack of budget, while the boys went ahead as normal. The error has been corrected. This would not have happened if we had originally implemented the gender budget in the Cyprus Basketball Federation. At the same time, it is worth noting that a modifying proposal for a law was submitted by the COA to the Education Committee of the Parliament, where the principle of gender equality in opportunities and financial benefits is included.
The example of basketball and also the amendment of the law as it has been formulated, on the one hand, explains the problems that arise when the gender dimension is not taken into account in the budget and, on the other hand, shows that when there is a will and an understanding of the importance of the gender dimension, we can proceed to corrective actions, far from discrimination. In order to implement this policy, we are in contact with the European Institute for Gender Equality to provide us with the appropriate expertise in cooperation, of course, with the Ministry of Finance.
When discussing economic issues, which, as we know, are also directly linked to the labour market, an important policy concerns the reduction of the pay gap. Today in Cyprus, for every 1 euro that men get, women get 90 cents. This means that the pay gap is at 9.9%.
In order to reduce and eliminate the pay gap, we are in consultations with the Minister of Labour, and the next step is the cycle of contacts with the social partners with whom we will work out solutions.
The Government's goal is to strengthen the economic autonomy of women, to reduce both the gender pay gap and the pension gap. Currently the pension gap stands at 37.2%%.
But to be more specific, we will proceed to strengthen and upgrade the role of the competent inspectors and officials of the Department of Industrial Relations to better handle complaints and ex-officio inspections related to gender equality at work and equal pay, and we will have to fully implement the directive on wage transparency.
At the same time, in cooperation with the social partners, we propose to carry out a joint assessment of the pay gap. We will encourage and promote partnerships that support private companies to develop a gender equality action plan, also in the context of the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
At the same time, it is worth noting that the EU has recently adopted a directive on equal representation of the under-represented gender on the Boards of Directors of companies listed on European stock exchanges.
In other words, the introduction of quotas. We are moving towards full implementation of the directive, which ensures that at least 40% of non-executive directors or at least 33% of all directors are from the under-represented gender. When selecting between equally qualified candidates, boards will now have to give preference to candidates from the under-represented gender.
Having said the above, it is also important to point out that reducing both the pay gap and the gender gap on corporate boards can increase global economic activity by about 7%, or about $7 trillion (Moody's Analytics). The World Bank says that gender biases and inequalities that place women in low-wage or part-time occupations contribute to the gender pay gap. It is a fact that women constitute the majority of part-time workers, since it is precisely because of stereotypes that it is women who shoulder the care system for children and for our vulnerable fellow citizens.
In this direction, and in the context of the policies of the State Ministry of Social Welfare for the reconciliation of work and family life, we are proceeding to subsidise and extend the operating hours for crèches and childcare facilities.
To this end, and as part of the policies of the State Ministry of Social Welfare for the reconciliation of work and family life, we are proceeding to subsidise and extend the operating hours for crèches and childcare facilities. Where there is a need, we are creating new care structures for the elderly, for childcare and for people with disabilities. The aim, in addition to providing essential services to our fellow citizens in need, is to enable all parents to (re)integrate more smoothly into the labour market.
At the same time, we will carry out a study to extend care and establish the institution of home care services for people with mobility problems, elderly people, pregnant women and other people with mobility difficulties, and the possibility of home care by midwives for pregnant women.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have already made reference to the EU directives, i.e. policies that must also be implemented at national level. It is for this reason that Cyprus will have a more active role in international and European forums on issues related to gender equality and especially in the production of policies at the international and European level.
That is, policies that affect our everyday life as well. In this direction, and in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gender equality is being integrated and strengthened in our country's foreign policy. It has been proven by our previous experience that, in addition to promoting substantive gender equality, the issue - without losing its essence - can be used as a diplomatic vehicle to strengthen our bilateral relations with European and other states.
In the same field, taking advantage of our geographical location and our status as an EU Member State, we promote relevant actions in neighbouring countries within the framework of our development policy.
One of the most important pillars for the consolidation of a culture of equality in society is, of course, education. After having an in-depth discussion with the Minister of Education, we will proceed to enrich the content of our educational programmes with actions that promote empathy, gender equality, prevent violence against women and girls, introduce the concept of consensus and promote healthy relationships.
At the same time, through the effective enhancement of vocational guidance, we aim to direct students towards professions based on their competences and skills. The aim is to encourage girls to pursue the professions of the future, research, innovation and technology, and boys, if they wish, to pursue social studies. To make this possible, we train teachers and career counsellors on issues related to deconstructing gender stereotypes to guide children on the basis of their abilities and not with any anachronistic prejudices.
The above explains exactly why we need to work holistically and not piecemeal on all issues. Coordinated and with the gender dimension taken into account in budgeting, monitoring and evaluating policies, but also their impact and effect.
Before I close, let me also address the issue of violence against women. In Cyprus, 1 in 4 women will face at least one form of violence in their lifetime because they are women.
In cooperation with the Coordinating Body on this issue, the Ministry of Justice, we are implementing preventive actions in the wider society, with systematic information campaigns, in cooperation with the media. We will evaluate the services provided at the Women's House, an inter-departmental space for women victims, with a view to making any improvements and establishing new inter-departmental centres to provide services in other provinces.
At the same time, I would like to remind you that by the time we leave here, which is in the next 2-3 hours, approximately 10 to 15 women will have been murdered somewhere in the world by a member of their family, or by their current or former partner. According to the United Nations, about five women are murdered every hour because they are women. Cyprus is no exception to femicide. However, it is one of the few countries around the world that defines and criminalises femicide, following the tabling of an amendment to a bill by the Speaker of Parliament on the recommendation of civil society.
The issue was brought to the surface about 10 years ago by a professor who was a pioneer in health, sexual and reproductive health and family planning issues, Dr. Christiana Kouta, Professor at the Cyprus University of Technology and associate of the Mediterranean Institute for Gender Studies, whom I had the opportunity and honour to meet and work with. Christiana, a model woman, full of kindness, active, always willing to support her fellow man, pushed us forward. She wanted to give space to other women, she employed unemployed women and always wanted to give opportunities. Christiana was a rare person. Our successes were always our successes and her success was always our success. Christianna passed away on Saturday, after a battle with cancer, and Cyprus lost a fighter, a tireless professional.
Dear friends,
Mr President, following your methodology, but also on the basis of models such as Christiana Kouta, I would like to assure all those who are here today and especially civil society that, as Commissioner for Equality, the door of my office is open and we will be in constant dialogue towards the realisation of our common goals.
Every corner of Cyprus should be aware of the institution of the Gender Equality Commissioner, so that through our actions and policies a culture of equality can be normalised and embedded. We owe it, after all, to women older than us who fought their own battles, and to the girls and boys we are raising today, to live and choose freely.
Thank you.
(PM/EP)
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