Moldovan parliament committed to become institution sensitive to gender

Chisinau, 28 March /MOLDPRES/- The parliament is set to become an institution sensitive to gender. Parliament Speaker Andrian Candu made statements to this effect at the opening of a public forum titled, "Partnership for an Inclusive and Prosperous Moldova – Women Matter!", the 3rd issue, the parliament’s communication and public relations department has reported.

Women from all the Moldovan districts discuss with decision-makers the development priorities from the viewpoint of women from Moldova. The event is organized by the Consultative Group of the Civil Society and Dialogue Common Platform of Women MPs.

“The parliament’s agenda, besides the political, social and economic problems, also includes subjects related to gender equality. MPs’ intention is that, through the actions we carry out, to break the stereotypes alleging that women are not good at leadership. The parliament's agenda for the next weeks contains a much-discussed draft No 180 on amending and completing more laws, aimed at ensuring equal opportunities for women and men”, Candu said.

The speaker said that an audit report on gender had been carried out for the first time ever in the parliament, making a radiography of women's presence in parliament. The document points out that Moldova ranked 64th out of 190 countries in terms of women’s representation in parliament.

“The results are relatively good, and this shows that there are policies and intentions to promote women in parliament. Although there are 22 female MPs in parliament, this is a two small figure, inferior to standards of the Council of Europe, where the share is 40 per cent. Nevertheless, the things are much better at the level of parliament’s secretariat," Adrian Candu.

Topic-related discussions between groups of women and MPs, representatives of political parties, development partners, civil society and media are organised at workshops. Among the participants in the event, there are leaders women from such groups as: women victims of violence, women affected and infected by HIV, drug abuse, migrant women, those with special needs, Romany women, elderly women and businesswomen.

The participants in the discussions will consider proposals to promote emancipation of women and gender equality in Moldova, as well as successful experience of women from different sectors, which can be taken into account by politicians, including to complete legislation.

(Editor L. Alcaza)