House president laments underrepresentation of women in leadership roles

House President Annita Demetriou met with her fellow EU counterparts in which they discussed and pressed the need for more active female engagement in leadership roles, particularly in foreign policy.

Demetriou said immediate steps must be taken to address the imbalance, as other female speakers of parliament also offered their view.

An announcement on Monday detailed that Sunday’s meeting also saw Demetriou attend a working dinner hosted by President of the Czech Parliament Markéta Pekarová Adamová,.

Demetriou praised the establishment of the meeting of female speakers of parliament on the eve of the annual parliamentary speakers’ conference. She said it provided an excellent opportunity to exchange views on ensuring that gender plays a greater role on the agenda of the conference, and to take joint action on matters of concern to the bloc.

Cyprus’ House president also detailed the efforts made in terms of adopting legislation on combating sexism, protections from harassment, prevention and combating of violence against women.

Those efforts bring Cyprus further in line with the provisions of the Istanbul Convention, she said, through which femicide is recognised as a criminal offence punishable by life imprisonment.

She emphasised, however, the need to establish effective monitoring mechanisms for the legislation passed on gender issues, as it is not enough to simply pass the legislation without ensuring that it is also subsequently enforced.

Demetriou also told her counterparts that the underrepresentation of women in key leadership positions, especially in foreign policy issues, highlights the need to take immediate action.

The overarching goal is to strengthen peace, security and the defence of human rights in the context of the bloc’s cooperation with regional and international organisations.

She further welcomed the decision to ensure that gender plays a greater role in EU policies, including those of security, conflict prevention and resolution, as enshrined by various UN agendas.

Demetriou stressed that the geopolitical setting and the alarming security environment addes to the need to implement the UN agenda and the EU Action Plan for Women, Peace and Security 2019-2024. That means there must be accountability and reporting mechanisms to review its implementation.

Demetriou concluded by highlight the importance of strengthening the gender dimension by providing equal opportunities to strengthen representative democracy, emphasising the key role of national parliaments in this regard.