11/03/2025 Equality and Non-Discrimination
“There is progress towards equality, but it is much too slow, and this is partly due to short-sightedness among men who think mistakenly that ‘power-sharing’ means ‘power-loss’,” said PACE President Theodoros Rousopoulos at the opening of a side-event on the sidelines of the 69th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, in New York.
The event, organised on 10 March by PACE's Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination in co-operation with Greece, focused on the obstacles and solutions to the equal representation of women.
“PACE has taken many steps to empower women,” the President emphasised, recalling its many recommendations on how to achieve it, ranging from foreign policies giving women their rightful place, to equal participation of women in political decision-making at all levels, and through ensuring that women in all their diversity, from intersectional and minority backgrounds have equal rights. He welcomed the fact that 46 per cent of PACE members today are women.
“We must promote the vital role of parliamentarians, not only in championing women’s representation as a precondition for truly democratic societies, but also in showing that there is progress, and that the Council of Europe provides models and tools for getting there,” the PACE President concluded.
Sofia Zacharaki, Greek Minister for Social Cohesion and Family Affairs, Julie Ballington, UN WOMEN Global Policy Advisor on Political Participation, as well as Catia Polidori (Italy, EPP/CD), Chairperson of the PACE Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination, and several PACE members, also participated in this event.
Mr Rousopoulos met António Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations, on 10 March, on the occasion of the session of the Commission on the Status of Women, and held other high-level bilateral meetings, in particular with the Under-Secretary General for Policy in the Executive Office of the Secretary General, and the Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs.
He will travel to Washington on 12-13 March, where he will meet representatives of the US Congress, the Organization of American States (OAS), the diplomatic community and human rights organisations.
