‘Concrete change to address imbalance in gender-equality’ - Abela Baldacchino

The European Parliament should adopt a concrete position for gender-equality measures, Labour MEP Claudette Abela Baldacchino said.

Addressing the conference ‘Women in Politics and Public Life at EU level’ at the European Parliament, Abela Baldacchino said that in a modern democracy, gender equality is needed.

“We cannot simply pay lip service to such a fundamental imbalance. There is an urgent need for all stakeholders to bring about concrete change. Developments in the field of gender equality may seem enormous on the long term. However, if we look at recent austerity measures widening for instance the gender pay gap and mainly affecting women in precarious jobs, there is a lot to make up for.”

The event touched upon the most urgent issues regarding women's involvement in politics and public life.

Dr Carmen Sammut (Fondazzjoni Ideat), Lorraine Spiteri (Malta Confederation of Women’s Organisations) and Serap Altinisik (European Women’s lobby) also intervened during the session, calling for action in the field of education but also for measures by government administrations and political parties.

"The issues on the table are not only matters of mentality, but sometimes they are also about creating the right circumstances through measures that enable women to choose freely about their career and to combine this with family life", MEP Abela Baldacchino concluded.