#Romania2019.eu/PM Dancila: I strongly believe that women can be wise and charismatic leaders

AGERPRES special correspondent Oana Ghita reports: Prime Minister Viorica Dancila delivered a speech within a conference organised in Brussels about gender equality and the efforts put in by the Romanian Presidency at the EU Council on this matter, underscoring that "women can be wise and charismatic leaders."

"As the Prime Minister of Romania, as a woman, I strongly believe that women have equal rights with men, that they have the power and determination to bring welfare and development to the society and, especially, that they can be wise and charismatic leaders, who can create a better version of the current world," she stated in the "Born to be Leaders" conference, organised in Brussels, at the headquarters of the Permanent Representation of Romania to the EU.

Dancila stated that efforts must be put in for gender equality in terms of reducing the salary gap between female and male employees, but also in terms of encouraging the balance between the family life and the professional one.

"As Prime Minister, as the first female Prime Minister in Romania's history, I want to give you an advice: each one of us, each one of you, each women must have confidence in herself, because, if we don't trust ourselves, we cannot ask others to believe in us," Viorica Dancila conveyed.

The PM talked about the efforts of the Romanian Presidency on gender equality topic: "I am proud to be able to say that Romania is one of the main supporters at European level of initiatives aimed at ensuring equal opportunities throughout the European space. One of the major objectives of the Romanian Presidency at the Council of the European Union is the equality of chances between women and men on the labor market, " the PM pointed out.

In her view, gender equality "can significantly boost the economic growth potential." "I have the deep belief that the equality between men and women is a pillar of fair, cohesive and future-oriented societies, in the context in which the promotion of diversity and equal opportunities concepts represent essential levers of a developed society and a high-level reference to human consciousness and social equity in essence," the head of the Executive highlighted.

She mentioned that equality between men and women "represents also a fundamental principle of the European right and the foundation which the European construction is built on."

"Both from a national and European perspective, the economic autonomy of women, as a pillar of gender equality, needs the adoption of measures to diminish the salary differences between women and men, the encouragement of entrepreneurship among women and the promotion of some actions contributing to a better representation of women in decision-making positions at the level of both public and private institutions," PM Dancila added.

The PM also talked about the gap between the EU member states regarding gender equality.

"It is necessary to reduce the gap between the European Union member states regarding the roles and positions of women in the society, by finding a balance between women's and men's incomes, in view of strengthening their economic autonomy," Dancila highlighted.

In this context, she mentioned gender inequalities in the world. "Despite all these absolutely remarkable developments, gender inequality between women and men persists, contributing to one of the most severe breeches of human rights. Inequalities and discrimination between women and men continue to manifest in the most diverse ways throughout the world. At global level, four out of five victims of human trafficking are girls. For the same amount of labour, women are paid only 77 percent of their colleagues' salaries. There are parts of the world where girls are still denied access to education and around the world, one third of the members of the National Parliaments are women," the Prime Minister explained.

The debate was also attended by Vice-President of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) Maria Joao Rodrigues and DG Just Director General Tiina Astola