Moldovan PM, executive director of UN Women discuss measures to ensure gender equality

Chisinau, 12 June /MOLDPRES/ - Prime Minister Pavel Filip today had a meeting with Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Executive Director of UN Women Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. The officials discussed actions undertaken by the government to recognize and enhance the role of women in the society and goals achieved to this end, the government’s communication and protocol department has reported.  

The prime minister welcomed the visit by the UN official to Chisinau, stressing that the ensuring of the gender equality was on the list of the national development priorities. This fact is reflected in the government’s action programme for 2016-2018, strategy of ensuring gender equality in Moldova for 2016-2020. The PM noted that the law No 71 from 14 April 2016 was promoted, which provides for women’s participation in leadership, including in parliament.     

Also, Moldova is fully committed in the process of identifying sustainable development goals; a special priority is the objective No 5, which provides for ensuring the gender equality and setting the targets and indexes which are to be adapted to Moldova’s needs.   

“The government’s work on this segment is oriented much more widely; we do not aim only at promoting policies and the problems have much deeper roots and they begin from what is happening in the family, from the perceptions and prejudices existing in the society,” the prime minister said.

In this respect, the PM referred also to the Strategy on the prevention and fighting violence against women and domestic violence, under elaboration at present, to efforts to conciliate the family life with the professional work, offering more opportunities to women on the labour market, and for women to be able to turn them to good account, - creating services of care for children. “The women must feel free and not choose between career and taking care of children,” Pavel Filip said.

For her part, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka appreciated the cooperation between UN Women Moldova, the government and civil society. She expressed support for the implementation of the specialized strategy in Moldova and adaptation of the sustainable development goals. “The aspects we should take care of are the protection of the law No 71 and the relevant normative framework, ratification of the Istanbul Convention for the elimination of the gender inequality, as well as development of services of taking care of child, which would help women re-conciliate the family life with the professional one,” the executive director of UN Women said.       

In the end of the meeting, the prime minister reiterated the government’s openness for continuing the dialogue with UN Women in carrying out key measures, meant to enhance women’s participation in the public life, with the UN Women’s expertise and recommendations being valuable in this respect.