20/03/2025 European Conference of Presidents of Parliament
Women Speakers and Presidents of Parliament met this morning for a working breakfast on the margins of the European Conference of Presidents of Parliament in Strasbourg to share national experiences on progress towards parity and the role of women in enhancing peace and security.
Some 18 Speakers and Vice-Speakers gathered for the event, moderated by Yaël Braun-Pivet, President of the French National Assembly.
In its resolutions, “the Assembly has underlined the important role women can play in peacekeeping operations and peace negotiations, as well as for ensuring a lasting peace,” said PACE Secretary General Despina Chatzivassiliou, at the opening of the meeting.
“If rights and freedoms seemed to have been taken for granted, they are now being called into question and the democratic principles on which our systems are based are regressing. In this context, women politicians must more than ever assert our values within parliaments; we must not be spectators to the way the world is moving,” Yaël Braun-Pivet said.
Urška Klakočar Zupančič, Speaker of the National Assembly of Slovenia, recalled that human rights are everyone's rights and insisted on the need to defend them, especially those of children, the innocent victims of conflicts. “We must spread our knowledge, our values and our virtues, because populists reinforce fears. The role of women here is not an easy one, because they are confronted with sexism and violence, particularly psychological violence,” she emphasised.
Referring to the recent elections in Germany, Bärbel Bas, Speaker of the Bundestag, regretted that fewer women had been elected to Parliament, pointing out that a number of them had been subjected to serious attacks and psychological violence. “It is essential to combat this phenomenon; women must be protected from all forms of aggression,” she stressed. She also deplored a recurring tendency to associate women with their traditional role.
In the context of conflicts, whether in Ukraine or the Middle East, women have an key role to play in building resilience, according to Pia Kauma, Speaker of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. She deplored the emergence of authoritarian regimes where women are excluded from decision-making positions. She also stressed the importance of educating the younger generations to steer them away from hatred.
“We are living through a historic period, and we must defend women's rights against reactionary forces, in particular the right to abortion and the rights of LGBTI people,” said Esther Gil De Reboleño, Vice-Speaker of the Spanish Congress of Deputies.
“The fact that we are invested with leading positions is the result of centuries of fighting by other women before us,” recalled Daiga Mierina, Speaker of the Latvian Parliament. “The world is ravaged by numerous conflicts, and women have a crucial role to play in the reconstruction and development of countries,” she added, regretting that few women in Europe are involved in peace talks. “Parity is essential in peace negotiations, to ensure that they are fair and balanced”.
Þórunn Sveinbjarnardóttir, Speaker of the Icelandic Parliament, provided information on parity in Iceland, pointing out that the country has a President, a Prime Minister and a Speaker of Parliament. “This is the result of a long-term struggle for women's rights,” she said. She was concerned about the increase in physical threats in the political sphere, particularly against women.
Verona Murphy, Speaker of the Lower House of the Irish Parliament, described the difficulties she had encountered throughout her political career and the obstacles encountered within her own party, despite the introduction of a quota system.
Elisa Spiropali, Speaker of the Albanian Parliament, spoke of the progress made in her country in terms of women's representation in national bodies, thanks in particular to the introduction of quotas. She also said that “true security is not simply synonymous with the absence of war, but often results from the presence of women around the peace negotiation tables”.
“27% of women parliamentarians worldwide is not enough. Society has not yet accepted parity and we must continue the fight. No one will leave us the place,” said Tulia Ackson, President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and Speaker of the National Assembly of Tanzania.