Women members of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova are sharing Moldova’s experience in promotion of gender equality during the International Forum of Women Leaders in Minsk, Belarus, during 21-22 June 2016. The participation of the members of the Common dialogue platform for women MPs of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova is supported by the Government of Sweden, within the project “Improving the quality of democracy in Moldova through parliamentary and electoral support”, implemented by UNDP.

The Forum participants discussed equal opportunities for women and men and leadership and how it has changed and evolved over the past decades. Also, the current challenges for women leaders in different spheres of public life were addressed.

The MP Zinaida Greceanii presented the achievements of the Republic of Moldova in field of gender equality and informed the participants on the legislative initiatives and laws that were developed to ensure gender equality. A legislative norm stipulates 40% representation quota for women and men on electoral lists for local and parliamentary elections, as well as in the composition of Government.

The MPs Elena Bodnarenco and Elena Bacalu have shared with the audience the results of the gender audit, conducted for the first time last year for the Moldovan Parliament, with the support of UNDP. The Gender Audit identified a number of gaps and challenges, including underrepresentation of women in Parliament. Women currently hold 22 out of 101 seats in the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova.

The International Forum of Women Leaders brings together high achieving women in the areas of politics, business, academia and journalism. A joint declaration will be signed in the closing of the event.   

The International Forum of Women Leaders is organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR), in co-operation with the Belarusian State University, the Council of Europe (CoE) Information Point in Minsk, the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Belarus, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Belarus, and the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, with the support of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of Belarus and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus.