Yesterday, the European Commissioner for Equality, Helena Dalli, attended the G20 Ministerial Conference on Women’s Empowerment, held in Gandhinagar, India.
According to the European External Action Service’s website, Commissioner Dalli will represent the European Union in the ministerial meeting, whose theme this year will be “Inclusive Development Led by Women as the Pinnacle of Generational Transformation”.
On August 2, the Commissioner participated in the opening session of the G20 Ministerial Conference on Women’s Empowerment at the Mahatma Mandir Convention Center and delivered the EU Ministerial Statement at the Education, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics session.
In her speech, Commissioner Dalli stated: G20 plays a key role in enabling a global discussion on the challenges and opportunities to protect and promote women’s rights. Most importantly, they facilitate discussions around joint efforts to mainstream equality across many policy areas.
At the European level, we have managed, during the past four years, to create an institutional framework to ensure that a gender equality perspective is included in all stages of decision-making, from policy development to implementation. We are keen to share what we learned from this experience and learn from what other countries have been successful in doing to promote women’s empowerment.
In her statement on STEM, Dalli said: Gender stereotypes have many detrimental effects on our societies, which can inhibit the aspirations of both women and men. The outdated belief is that certain professions – such as those in science – Technology, engineering, and mathematics are reserved for men, while other jobs, such as those related to care, are for women, which have no place in the 21st century.
She continued: However, these gender-based stereotypes continue to distort career aspirations. That is why 80% of all jobs are occupied by men. The workforce is in the digital sector and we need to do more to encourage women to participate in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, including through specialized courses and training programs.
