7th Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for equality between women and men

Baku, Azerbaijan, 24-25 May 2010

Speech by Ian Micallef, President a.i. of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe

Mr President,

Madam Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe,

Madam Secretary General of the United Nations,

Ministers,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We, the nations of the Council of Europe, consider ourselves to be enlightened and democratic. We have achieved higher levels of economic development than most other continents, and provided our citizens with an abundance of goods and services. We are seeking to make our societies more cohesive, and we are building social safety nets for the less fortunate. We are learning to be understanding and live in peace with one another.

And yet, every day we continue to discriminate against more than half of our population, applying differential treatment to our fellow citizens based on a sole criterion – gender.  Let us make no mistake: the situation of inequality between women and men amounts to just that – discrimination. Because the glass ceiling in career growth is real. Because the gap in pay for equal work is real. Because the lack of access for women to certain jobs, not to say to employment in general, is also real.

Paradoxically, there is not a single reasonable ground for gender inequality. In fact, gender inequality is not only an infringement of human rights, it is an economic and social absurdity. What nation, in its right mind, would hold back its economic and creative potential, using it only by half, by less than a half? Not to mention the obvious: that a society cannot be free and democratic if the liberty and dignity of half of its members are not guaranteed and upheld. Gender equality is indeed a fundamental requirement of democracy.

In fact, the only reason for the persistent unequal treatment is our mental constructs, which are the slowest thing to change. It is stereotypes. It is prejudice built over centuries of inequality, prejudice that has become part of our culture and our thinking.  This is why, despite all our efforts to eradicate discrimination through legal means, efforts to put together a proper legal framework and adopt policy measures to correct the situation, there is still a gap between our will on paper and the practice in the reality of daily life.

This is what has brought us here together today. The gap between de jure and de facto equality is the central theme of this Conference. As acting President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, an assembly of people’s representatives in our communities across 47 European countries, I can only welcome the fact that this issue has been brought to the ministerial level of government. However, also as acting President of the Congress, I am convinced that our action to fight inequality and, most importantly, prejudice must be rooted at the level of our communities.

Because for our efforts to succeed, society must be receptive to our political will, and this mentality change must be brought about in our towns, cities and regions. Local and regional authorities must not only back the political effort of national governments – they must contribute to national policy-making and be the first to put agreed measures into practice, leading by example.

For its part, the Congress has set an example by enforcing, since May 2008, the minimum requirement of 30 per cent of women within each national delegation. We have undertaken a number of other initiatives, focusing our work on gender mainstreaming strategies in cities and regions, the balanced participation of women and men in local and regional politics and political decision-making, with a recommendation on this subject adopted just two months ago, in March.

The Congress has also addressed the issues of equal access to local and regional elections, the situation of women migrants and access to social rights, and combating violence against women in our communities – but also related questions relevant to action for equality, such as diversity in local employment, policies to reconcile family and professional life, and measures to build family-oriented and child-friendly communities.

There is a wide range of areas pertinent to gender equality, but there are certain principles that are clear. Our action must be mainstreamed as an integral part of all policy sectors. It must be affirmative and involve set indicators, to right the wrongs of the past. It must be multi-level and multi-sector, engaging all tiers of governance as well as civil society and the private sector. And it must seek to bring about a change in attitudes and behaviour.

This is why the Congress fully supports both the Action Plan and the Resolution proposed for adoption at this Conference. We are fully committed to working on putting this into practice in our communities, and we believe that local and regional action plans must also be developed, along with the mechanisms to monitor the progress made in accordance with agreed indicators.

And we strongly hope that our role, the role of local and regional authorities as fully-fledged partners of national governments – your partners in this endeavour – will be duly recognised and taken into account during your deliberations, when deciding on the mechanism for the Plan’s implementation.

We all have a stake in making sure that our efforts succeed, and these stakes are high. Let us build this success together.

Thank you.