Despite numerous measures designed to encourage the participation of women in local and regional political life, they are still under-represented in many countries. A debate on Thursday 19 October in the Chamber of Regions examined ways of improving the representation of women in the member States' local and regional assemblies. For its part, the Congress has introduced strict rules on gender balance in its structures. "A society is only truly democratic if its entire population is properly represented in its political life" said the President of the Chamber of Regions, Gunn Marit HELGESEN (Norway, EPP/CCE), who also reiterated that "the whole of society would benefit from more women participating in political and also economic life". The Italian MP and Chairperson of the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Elena CENTEMERO presented an overview of the situation in the member States: in only two of them was the proportion of women in parliament at least 40%, while the average for Europe was a good deal lower, at 25%. Simone SUSSKIND, member of the Bruxelles-Capitale Regional parliament and president of the "Actions in the Mediterranean" association, then presented an original initiative by female members of the Brussels parliament for Tunisia, encouraging women to become involved in local political life. The parliamentarians had assisted with the training of 60 candidates for local elections and helped them to campaign and assert themselves as leaders.
33rd Session, 18-20 October 2017
Speaking at the opening of the 33rd Congress Session, in Strasbourg, France, on 18 October 2017, Congress President Gudrun MOSLER-TÖRNSTRÖM, pointed out that the European construction has enabled historic advances over the last sixty years. 'We do not want to abandon these advances and each and every one of us, in our own particular roles, can help preserve what has been achieved,' she added highlighting the role of the Congress in this regard. Reaffirming the importance of strong regions with broad powers, the President of the Congress indicated that she did not believe that 'the Europe we earnestly hope for can be built on weak nation States, a disintegrated, fragmented Europe which would be devoid of all influence in the world.”. 'There is no room for selfishness, be it national or regional. There is no place for nationalism, whether national or regional”, she added. .' For the President, the message of the Congress is clear: 'We know that devolution is essential, that municipal and regional self-government, clearly defined within the limits of each State’s legally-established borders, is indispensable. But we do not want to see our nations implode,” she concluded.
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