Women Mayors’ Summit – Session on “Women’s touch in cities”

Barbara Toce: “Women change the way politics are done”

Istanbul 28 March 2015 - Barbara Toce, Vice-President of the Congress (Italy, SOC) and Mayor of Pedaso, Italy, participated in the Women Mayors’ Summit, in Istanbul, on 28 March 2015. She focused on women’s political participation at local level and on the implications this has for the urban environment. “I strongly believe that women’s role in the developing of neighbourhoods and cities is crucial, particularly for creating an urban environment based on social cohesion,” she stated addressing the participants to the session on “Women’s Touch in Cities”.

She referred to the recommendation and resolution adopted by the Congress in 2010 and underlined, in particular, the necessity to encourage women to run for office and to stand for elections, to develop women's networks, and to set quotas. “If we want to increase the participation of women in politics, we need a catalyst, and quotas can play this role,” she explained underlining that the Congress itself has set the quota requirement that women must represent at least 30% in each of its 47 national delegations.

“We also need awareness raising campaigns to encourage the election of women. And, to complete women’s presence in decision-making structures, we must promote their participation in organisations outside of government,” she added.

The Summit brought together women mayors from Bulgaria, France, Greece, Italy, Poland, “The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, Turkey and Kosovo*[1] as well as from Palestine and India. The meeting ended with a declaration expressing the participants’ intention to transform the summit into an annual event.

Links:

• Speech by Barbara Toce
• Programme
• Resolution 303 (2010) - "Sustainable gender equality in local and regional politics”
• Recommendation 288 (2010) - "Sustainable gender equality in local and regional politics”