Female political leaders inspire #Girl2Leader on the International Day of the Girl 2019
Date
08 Oct 2019
Sections
InfoSociety
October 7, 2019 - On the occasion of the International Day of the Girl (IDG) 2019, Women Political Leaders (WPL) is connecting accomplished female politicians with #Girl2Leader young girls. Sharing the personal experience of women political leaders shows that a woman’s place is in politics. The initiative, running on social media, has rallied the support of female politicians from Europe to Australia and New Zealand, Asia, as well as Africa and Central America.
“The political system is a male-dominated environment which does not make it easy for women. If experience is the best teacher, testimonies of female political leaders from around the world can inspire the next generation of female leaders. Every woman leader was once a little girl, with dreams and ambitions. Role models can be crucial when becoming a politician. WPL #Girl2Leader’s International Day of the Girl can serve as a stepping stone for future female politicians.” says Silvana Koch- Mehrin, President & Founder of WPL.
International Day of the Girl Child, celebrated on October 11th, is a worldwide observance day declared by the United Nations. It focuses on inequality faced by girls based upon their gender. WPL’s focus is political leadership: by connecting experienced women politicians with #Girl2Leader young girls, the initiative can motivate the future generation of political leaders.
Besides encouraging girls to enter politics, women politicians can aid them by helping them know what specific steps to take when beginning their careers and further how to handle adversity they will face during the process and even after they are in o ce. The objective is to inspire girls and women by providing them with role models, examples of women who have built a political career.
This initiative is especially important because of the current underrepresentation of women in politics. Nearly 80% of the world’s Parliamentarians are men. According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, more than 80% of Members of Government are men; and not even 7% of the world’s Heads of Government and Heads of State are women.
The trend is negative: The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2018 says that women’s political empowerment dropped after almost a decade of slow growth due to stalled or declining representation of women in political office in the West. To further the cause of equality between men and women there is a need to understand perceptions and attitudes, and the drivers and barriers towards a fairer world.
The Reykjavik Index for Leadership was created by Women Political Leaders and Kantar to support this journey to equality for women and for men. The Index measures how people feel about women in leadership, assessing the perceived legitimacy of female and male leadership across 20 economic sectors and giving insight into how the views of women and men differ.
-------
For more information, please contact WPL Press O ce at: press@wpleaders.org or +32 2 733 13 44.
Background info
About WPL
Women Political Leaders (WPL) is the global network of female politicians. The mission of WPL is to increase both the number and the influence of women in political leadership positions. WPL members are women in political office – Presidents, Prime Ministers, Cabinet Ministers, Members of Parliaments, Mayors. Membership is free and members are honoured by their participation. WPL strives in all its activities to demonstrate the impact of more women in political leadership, for the global better. https://www.womenpoliticalleaders.org/about/
About #Girl2Leader
WPL #Girl2Leader was launched on 11 October 2017, the International Day of the Girl, at the presence of women political leaders from many countries and under the distinguished patronage of at the time H.E. Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, President of Malta. The activities continued throughout the years gaining huge visibility also thanks to the engagement and the active role of young girls in Social Media. The #Girl2Leader initiative encourages girls and young women to take their place in politics, by connecting young girls to female leaders to inspire and to show them: a woman’s place is in the parliament!
About the International Day of the Girl
International Day of the Girl reminds the world, citizens and governments alike that although 143 of 195 countries guarantee equality between women and men, another more progress is needed before true worldwide equality between men and women is achieved. International Day of the Girl continues to try to prove that change is most e"ective when attention is directed to the future generation of leaders. This year, UNICEF is promoting the event under the theme “Girlforce: Unscripted and Unstoppable”. UNICEF’s theme reminds girls that breaking barriers is possible and pays tribute to all of the achievements that have already been made by women to boost their place in politics. International Day of the Girl is inspired by the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.