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Roundtable: Supporting women leaders for inclusive democracy and sustainable development

In March 2018 Claudia de Castro Caldeirinha (Executive Director of Redscope Consulting) attended a Round-Table event on “Supporting Women Leaders for Inclusive Democracy and Sustainable Development: Overcoming Challenges and Measuring Progress” organized by the Office of International IDEA to the European Union with the support of the Canadian Mission to the European Union.

The discussion was focused on gender equality in politics and business, policies designed to support women and strategies at the EU level as well as the role and sustainable participation of women in power. Heidi Hautala, was the event’s keynote speaker. The Vice-President of the European Parliament emphasized the importance of  transparent internal nomination procedures,  staff training to counter gender inequality at work.

Andrew Bradley (Director and Head of the Office of International IDEA to the European Union) introduced some of International IDEA’s work on the promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment. Daniel Costello (Ambassador of Canada to the European Union) provided some inspiring insights into the Canadian policy priority on gender equality and women empowerment at the national, international and multilateral level.

In regard to the discussion, Claudia, too, identified the importance of action taken ”as the natural flow of progress is slow compared to the constant and fast changes in the world”. Claudia  emphasized that a change of mindset and leadership towards women empowerment, including more openness and recognition of the added value of women skills in leadership, is crucial.

The full report of the outcomes of this Round-Table discussion is available here.