UfM member states commit to strengthening the role of women in response to regional crises

The 5th UfM Ministerial Meeting on strengthening the role of women in society was held today in Madrid. The host was the Spanish Minister for Equality, Irene Montero, in the presence of the European Commissioner for Equality, Helena Dalli, and the Secretary General of the UfM, Nasser Kamel. The UfM Member States have adopted a Declaration with concrete recommendations, actions and measures in four priority areas: improving legal frameworks, promoting women's access to leadership in public life and decision making, increasing women's participation in economic life, and combating and preventing violence against women and girls.

Some of the commitments made by the 42 countries promote the transition to formal employment for women workers; support and encourage women's entrepreneurship; promote gender equality and inclusive leadership models from early education in all fields, including science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM); expand gender-responsive financing for climate and environmental action by reaching out to women's organisations, businesses and cooperatives; and adopt comprehensive laws that define and criminalise all forms of violence against women and girls, including cyber-violence.

The ministers acknowledged that gender equality in the Euro-Mediterranean region has come a long way since 2015, when they established a regional dialogue process to strengthen the role of women in the UfM countries. According to the first UfM Progress Report on Gender Equality, published in March 2022, many countries have strengthened their legal frameworks and developed new programmes and policies to increase women's participation in the political, economic and social spheres, and to protect them from all forms of discrimination and gender-based violence.

However, ministers agreed that additional efforts are needed to strengthen women's economic and political empowerment, and to end violence against women and girls in the Euro-Mediterranean region, especially in light of the various ongoing crises, including those related to health, climate change and, more recently, emerging needs (food, water and energy security). Furthermore, they have recognised that rural women face unique challenges and that special efforts are required to improve their opportunities and raise their status in society.

The adoption of the Ministerial Declaration will be followed this afternoon by a High Level Regional Conference on "Women for the Mediterranean". The conference, which is organised by the UfM Secretariat every two years and this time is being held in Madrid, will go on until Thursday 27 October and will bring together more than 100 high-level representatives and international experts. In the midst of the current regional crises, it will provide an opportunity to share experiences, good practices and lessons learned on women's empowerment and women's rights.

The discussions will also help shape the roadmap for the implementation of country mandates in the coming years, in particular in the direction of an inclusive and effective gender equality policy based on a gender transformative approach and the mobilisation of regional public and private actors. Expert input will be crucial to advance cooperation, with an emphasis on implementation, enforcement and effective monitoring, and to raise awareness of regional efforts to date, as well as ongoing and future efforts.

Spain's Minister for Equality, Irene Montero, has stressed that "we welcome this ministerial conference of the Union for the Mediterranean, together with the European Commission and EU Equality Commissioner, Helena Dalli, to further promote the advancement of women's rights and gender equality around the world, which is even more important in times of crisis. Feminism drives the world towards a better society".

Non official translation