Promoting real gender equality is among my top priorities, President of the House of Representatives Annita Demetriou said Tuesday.
Speaking at the international conference “Women MPs in Romania and promoting gender equality as a national commitment” which was organised by the Senate of Romania in hybrid format, she said that the global average for women in parliaments is currently 25 per cent.
“Despite the slow progress in advancing women’s participation and leadership in political processes over the last decades, many challenges remain: Central and persisting ones”, she pointed out.
She added that promoting real gender equality is among her top priorities, as a young politician and the first female President of the Cyprus House of Representatives.
“Acknowledging Cyprus’ relatively low ranking on the Gender Equality Index, which is indicative of the necessity to improve women’s representation in politics, leadership and decision-making positions, I intend to spearhead efforts to bring about progressive legislative reforms and to mobilise human and financial resources in order to promote gender equality and enable women to better reconcile professional and family life,” she went on to say.
Demetriou said that during her term in office, the Cyprus House of Representatives has adopted important legislation for the criminalization of sexism, harassment, stalking and combating violence against women. Moreover, she has introduced an amendment to the Law ratifying the Istanbul Convention, by which “femicide” has been introduced as a crime per se.
Source: Cyprus News Agency