Opening speech at the "Spring Forward for Women" Conference by Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament

Met dank overgenomen van Voorzitter Europees Parlement (EP-voorzitter) i, gepubliceerd op woensdag 5 november 2014.

Dear Ms Phumzile Mlambo-Ngucka, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women,

Dear Ms Iratxe Garcia Perez i, Chair of the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality,

Dear Stavros Lambrinidis i, EU Special High Representative for Human Rights,

Dear Mr Michael A. Köhler, Director for Neighbourhood in the European Commission,

Dear colleagues,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Some days ago, I learned from a report published by the World Economic Forum that it will take 81 years until men and women will be truly equal.

81 years - this means only my daughters' granddaughter will be born into a world where women have the same rights and opportunities as men! And we are really talking about things that every human being should be able to take for granted: about access to health care and education, about equal opportunities and equal pay in the work place, and about political participation.

As UN Women Global Goodwill Ambassador, Emma Watson reminded us in her remarkable speech on gender equality and women's rights, "No country in the world can yet say that they have achieved gender equality. These rights I consider human rights". I fully agree with her. We still have a long way to go.

Therefore, I sincerely thank the "Women's Rights and Gender Equality Committee" for hosting this important session. Indeed, today's conference is an excellent occasion to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Committee.

Honourable guests,

it is a great honour for me to welcome you today to the European Parliament.

In particular I would like to welcome Ms Mlambo-Ngucka, long-time champion of social justice and women rights herself, and thank you for the formidable work UN Women is doing under your leadership.

UN Women has made laudable progress on women's leadership, political participation and economic empowerment, but also in the fight against violence against girls and women. As UN Women keeps reminding us: women and children make up the greatest number of refugees. And these days we witness too many wars being waged and violent conflicts spinning out of control. States are collapsing and civilians are fleeing from the most terrible atrocities. Yes, women and children are those who only too often suffer the most. In some conflicts it is more dangerous to be a woman than a soldier.

This is why I am particularly proud that the European Parliament has chosen as this year's Sakharov Prize winner Dr Denis Mukwege from Congo. He is standing up for women's rights and helping the most neglected victims of war, victims of sexual violence, survivors who face serious injuries, emotional and psychological damage and often social exclusion. I hope that we will succeed in raising awareness that rape is increasingly used as a weapon of war. A horrendous practice we must do our utmost to eradicate.

Ladies and gentlemen,

the European Parliament is hosting this conference because we want to bring together parliamentarians from Arab and European Countries.

All of you come from different countries, have different backgrounds and different experiences. I believe it will be extremely useful and interesting to learn from each other's experiences and to work together towards the common goal of achieving full equality.

What are the challenges and opportunities you as parliamentarians are currently facing? How can gender issues be mainstreamed in legislation? How can you bundle forces across party lines? How to engage with civil society and with the media, including social media? These questions and more you will debate during the coming days.

We all want our daughters to have the same opportunities and rights our sons have. One decisive step towards realizing goal of gender equality in society is to achieve gender equality in politics - and to realize equal representation in our parliaments.

Women's representation in the European Parliament has constantly increased since the first elections with universal suffrage in 1979: It has doubled from 16 per cent to 35 per cent in 2014.

I consider this to be an irreversible process which will take place in many Parliaments in the world. The question is how to speed up this process and how to fully use this increased participation to also improve women's rights outside of the political arena.

In the coming year many important conferences will cover the same topics as does this one. One of the most prominent ones will be the fifty-ninth session of the Commission on the Status of Women that will take place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York in March 2015. This session will focus on the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action and highlight current challenges for gender equality and the empowerment of women.

In this context, I believe that our conference is a good example of how parliamentary institutions can cooperate to exchange good practice and experience through political dialogue.

Ladies and gentlemen,

One of the privileges of my job is that I meet many interesting people. In recent years I have met many inspiring women.

Among them Shirin Ebadi who came to the European Parliament in 2012 to receive the Sakharov Prize for her friend Nasrin Sotoudeh, who at that time imprisoned for defending people arrested in the 2009 mass protests in Iran.

The year before, two prominent human rights defenders, Ms Asmaa Mahfooz from Egypt and Razan Zaitouneh from Syria. were rewarded the Sakharov Prize.

They represent the generation of young women involved in the "Arab revolutions".

These courageous young women went out onto the streets to stand up for freedom and democracy. They blogged and tweeted to make their voices heard. They showed to the world that women are key players in the democratic development of their countries.

And I will never forget Malala Yousafzai from Pakistan, who last year told us in one of the best speeches I have every listened to in this house: "There is violence. But there is still hope. [...]. There is no freedom, but still there is hope. [...] And do you know why? (...) there is hope because we all are here, together (...) to come out of this quagmire of these troubles, (...) we are here to take action."

It is our duty to support these young women in their struggle for freedom and dignity.

And if I listen to these courageous women, and see their enthusiasm and their strength, I do not dread the future. I know my daughter and my granddaughter will live in a world that will be more equal, and a better place.

Thank you for your attention. I wish you a very fruitful conference.