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The effective promotion of equality between women and men on a practical level and not just on a theoretical level through fine words, or as an abstract concept, is a basic principle and value of every country that wants to be among the democracies, of every country that respects basic human rights and is therefore high on the priorities of our government, and of me personally.
Yesterday marked five years since I was Foreign Minister, at the beginning of February 2019, I started working with Josie Christodoulou, who was appointed at the beginning voluntarily, unpaid, as my advisor on gender mainstreaming in foreign policy. And I have to say that important work was done, drawing on the knowledge, the interest, all these practices that other countries were following, because we have much more to do on this particular issue. So, today's ceremony is not an occasional event, it is something that both as a government and as President of the Republic I personally believe and it is high on my priorities.
Within this framework and in an effort to strengthen and accelerate and more effective promotion in practice and not in words - because I have to say, for some people it has become a bit fashionable, certainly today's ceremony is not just a communication event, it is an essential event for more effective promotion of gender equality - we have already At the same time, as a Government we have also decided to promote a special bill to institutionalize the position of Gender Equality Commissioner
The horizontal implementation of the gender dimension has already started to be implemented, to be promoted more actively and more substantially through semiotic positions and practices. At the same time, targeted actions and policies are being promoted with the aim of establishing equality between women and men in practice and deconstructing - and I consider this to be the most important first objective - any gender stereotypes and prejudices that take us back years.
In order to achieve our objectives, and following the Code of Conduct adopted by the Council of Ministers on 11 October 2023, Ministers, Deputy Ministers and Commissioners are today invited to sign and adopt the Policy Statement on Gender Equality, which is of course endorsed by the Commissioner for Gender Equality.
The Statement is an Institutional Declaration to promote equality between men and women and to prevent all forms of gender discrimination, with the institutional commitment that from this moment onwards, there will be zero tolerance of any sexist and harassing behaviour on the basis of gender in the activities and functioning of each Ministry, Deputy Ministry and Commissioners' Offices.
Dear Ministers, Deputy Ministers and Commissioners, I invite and expect you to implement the Policy Statement in practice in the Ministries and Deputy Ministries where you are located. First and foremost we must be role models through our behaviour, attitude and approach. The full implementation of what is recorded in the Policy Statement is another sign of our determination to put the principle of gender equality into practice. The Institutional Declaration is at the same time a practical commitment by our government that, on the basis of the principle of gender equality, substantive measures are being taken to ensure it, among the staff of Ministries, Deputy Ministries and Commissioners' Offices and to anyone or everyone affected by their actions.
Fighting gender discrimination is the responsibility of all of us and requires a collective effort to promote gender equality. It is our duty as a government and senior state officials to be daily role models in cultivating and establishing a culture of equality.
(PM/NYAN/NG)
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