“Achieving gender equality is not a sprint, it’s a marathon.”

On Tuesday, 6 February 2024, MEP Irena Joveva addressed the participants of the international event ”Gender Mainstreaming in the European Union” in Novo mesto, which took place as part of a wider project for women’s equality. In her address, the MEP highlighted the ambitious goals set by both the European Commission and the European Parliament in their efforts to achieve greater gender equality in the Union. ”Achieving true gender equality is not a sprint, but a marathon made up of small steps,” the MEP said.

As she stressed, every step that society takes is a step closer to a fairer future for all genders, and especially for children. Only an environment in which every individual can develop to their full potential, regardless of gender, will create a world of equal opportunities for all:

”Although the path to gender equality is fraught with many obstacles, it is precisely the joint commitment of the various stakeholders involved, and above all the diverse civil society initiatives such as yours, that are essential for the development of breakthrough policies regarding the emancipation of women in all aspects of society.”

Meanwhile, the MEP is saddened by the fact that the Union is still faced with situations where women receive lower pay than their male colleagues for the same work. As she explained further, the European Parliament adopted new legislation last year for wage transparency, the publication of gender-neutral job titles and the possibility of penalties for those employers who violate these rules.

In addition to eliminating the gender pay gap, one of the priorities for MP Joveva is to promote the representation of women in decision-making bodies. As she stressed, she advocates for women’s voices to be equally recognized and taken into account in both the political and business spheres. As an important achievement, the MP mentioned the adoption of the 2022 directive, which aims to have at least 40% of non-executive directorships in companies held by the underrepresented gender by June 2026.

“Since boards of directors are traditionally dominated by men, this directive will finally give women a fair chance to rise to the top of companies. The criterion of competence in the selection process will now be more important than ever.”

The MEP sees gender quotas, which are often the subject of debate, as a powerful tool for ensuring gender equality in the political arena. She highlighted the fact that women make up more than half of the population of the entire European Union, yet men still hold a two-thirds majority of seats in national parliaments.

“Advocating for quotas is not a compromise on meritocracy, but a recognition that talent, ability and leadership qualities are not specific to one gender.”

In the concluding part of her speech, the MEP recalled that she is also striving for improvements in the area of inequality because of her own experiences, which have encouraged her to be even more active in advocating for change as an MEP.

”In my youth, I witnessed gender discrimination in my late mother’s case. Later in life, I experienced it myself, although in a less cruel way. Now I have a daughter. And I wish with all my heart that she would not have to witness, endure or feel the cruelty that comes from gender inequality. Or, to be more realistic, I wish at least that she would feel it much less than we did and still do. I hope that we will reach a point where character, good work and results count, not gender.”