A special event (*) on the Vigdís Prize for Women’s Empowerment, a 60,000-euro annual prize rewarding outstanding initiatives which promote the empowerment of women in all their diversity, was one of the highlights of the Standing Committee meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), in Vaduz on Tuesday 28 November 2023. The Prize, a joint initiative of the Icelandic Government and PACE, pays tribute to former Icelandic President Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, the first woman in the world to be elected as a Head of State.
After the opening of the meeting by PACE President Tiny Kox, Landtag (Parliament) Speaker Albert Frick gave a welcome address, followed by an exchange of views with Dominique Hasler, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Education and Sport, in the framework of Liechtenstein’s Presidency of the Committee of Ministers.
There were current affairs debates on 'Budget and priorities of the Council of Europe and follow-up to the Reykjavík Summit' and 'Spiral of violence and humanitarian crisis in the Middle East: finding a peaceful way out'.
The parliamentarians debated the observation of the parliamentary elections in Poland (15 October 2023), heritable genome editing in human beings, and institutional racism of law enforcement authorities against Roma and Travellers.
The Standing Committee, which acts on the Assembly’s behalf between plenary sessions, is made up of the President and Vice-Presidents of the Assembly, the chairpersons of political groups, the chairpersons of national delegations and the committee chairpersons, totaling some 60 parliamentarians from the Council of Europe’s 46 member States.
(*) Event on the Vigdís Prize for Women’s Empowerment
The interactive panel discussion was moderated by Mariia Mezentseva, Chairperson of the PACE Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination, with the participation of:
· Tiny Kox, PACE President
· Bernadette Kubik-Risch, Equal opportunities expert, Liechtenstein
· Wilfried Marxer, President of the Association for Human Rights, Liechtenstein
· Rósa Björk Brynjólfsdóttir, member of the Selection Panel of the Vigdís Prize, Office of the Prime Minister of Iceland.
29/11/2024 - Prizes
PACE creates ‘Human Rights in Motion’ Award for documentary films promoting human rights and democratic values
29/11/2024 - Standing Committee
New ways to involve civil society in the work of the Assembly
29/11/2024 - Election observation
Republic of Moldova: democratic and well-managed elections, despite significant external interference and attempts to corrupt the electoral process
29/11/2024 - Standing Committee
Georgia must remain faithful to its European values, says PACE
29/11/2024 - Standing Committee
Bulgaria: free and well-administered elections failed to resolve the prolonged political crisis
Changes in the membership of committees
Changes in the membership of committees Add.
Tuesday 28 November 2023
Doc. 15861 (Election observation report) Observation of the parliamentary elections in Poland (15 October 2023) Doc. 15855 (Report) Heritable genome editing in human beings Doc. 15856 (Report) Institutional racism of law-enforcement authorities against Roma and Travellers