WITH International Women’s Day yesterday came the annual obligatory mass response from the island’s political parties and government bodies, hailing the importance of woman in Cypriot society and the need for her political empowerment.
And the need for political involvement in such a matter has no doubt been highlighted in the face of the forthcoming parliamentary elections.
A recent report by Eurostat, however, showing women in Cyprus earning on average 25 per cent less than men – the biggest gender gap in the EU along with Estonia and Slovakia – inevitably raises a few eyebrows on the statements issued yesterday to “honour the Cypriot woman”.
Justice Minister Doros Theodorou, also president of the National Mechanism for Women’s Rights, yesterday expressed on behalf of the state his “feelings of respect, appreciation, admiration and love towards all the women of Cyprus, who have offered and continue to offer to Cypriot society”.
The Mechanism, he continued, has begun a broader campaign which aims at a more balanced presence of men and women in decision-making positions.
“It is truly a loss for our society not to use the knowledge, experiences, talents and sensitivities of women, but also unfair on women themselves, not to participate in decisions that concern their lives and future.”
Waxing lyrical, former Government Spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides’ Front for the Restructuring of the Centre issued an announcement yesterday to “honour the Cypriot Woman, the fighter, the labourer, the mother, the scientist, the farmer, the worker, the young woman, the pensioner.”
The woman of Cyprus, it continued, “who stands equally next to man and has many times carried the burden of family, national and social struggles, and contributed to efforts for reconstruction following the wreckage of the invasion.”
Opposition DISY focussed on Eurostat’s report and the 54.7 per cent increase of unemployment among women in Cyprus since 2002, and blamed the government for lack of action.
“We are inviting the government to stop being an observer of this negative phenomenon. Solutions exist. What is missing is the political will from the government to hit the problem at its root, creating new job positions, with the adjustment of equal opportunities for men and women.”
The Cyprus Gender Equality Observatory (CGEO) was also less forthcoming in commending the progress reached so far.
“United women worldwide continue their just struggles, because despite the introduction of a new legislative framework, which theoretically ensures gender equality, the practical adjustment has been stalled.”
And Cyprus, according to the CGEO, is one of the EU member-states that do not seem willing to promote measures that will see the complete elimination of inequalities, despite having adopted EU directives in its national legislation.
On Tuesday, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Kemal Dervis issued an announcement saying that although there has been a significant improvement in the international empowerment of women in politics, the fact remains that internationally women hold the highest percentages in poverty and lack of education.
“Of the world’s one billion poorest people, three-fifths are women and girls. Gender equality and women’s empowerment – as set out in the internationally agreed Millennium Development Goals – is, therefore, crucial to development.”
With the inauguration of its first ever woman president, Michelle Bachelet, Chile will tomorrow join a line of countries which have for the past 12 months put words into action and elected women as leaders.
In November 2005, Liberians elected Africa’s first woman President, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, and in the same month Angela Merkel became the first woman Chancellor of Germany. “There are now 11 women Heads of State or Government in countries of every continent”, the announcement revealed.
But according to Dervis, despite these successes, “progress towards the goal of gender equality and women’s empowerment still trails conspicuously behind.”
Out of the 130 million children worldwide who are out of school, 70 per cent of them are girls. And two-thirds of the 960 million adults in the world who cannot read are women, “which greatly impedes their ability to participate in the political process.”
