With clear objectives against the discrimination of women

Lívia Járóka (Group of European People’s Party, Hungarian Civic Union) said that despite the undeniable achievements of the EU’s gender equality policies in the near past, there was still a lot to accomplish in assuring equality between women and men.

Therefore, according to MEP Járóka the efforts should to be further pursued in order to reach the ambitious goals of the 2006-2010 EU Roadmap (economic independence, reconciliation of private and professional life, equal representation, eradication of violence, elimination of stereotypes, and the promotion of gender equality in external policies). Járóka also emphasized that in fulfilling the aims of the old and defining the new objectives of the Roadmap, the European Commission needed to introduce specific measures assuring that the strengths of the existing Roadmap could be further developed and the weaknesses overcome, as well as to visibly influence national and regional level instruments achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment. “Although it is still difficult to assess the full impact of the financial crisis, it is clear that the current economic and social crisis is having particularly serious consequences for women.  It is necessary therefore to take into account that inadequate investment in economic and social opportunities of women, limits economic growth and slows down economic growth (e.g.: reduction of poverty) and widens social disparities” – she said.

Járóka pointed out that the new Roadmap should also place proper emphasis on combating multiple-discrimination, since compound discrimination based on age, disability, ethnic or racial background, religion, national origin, and socio-economic status creates multiple barriers to women’s empowerment and social advancement. “For the fulfilment of the aforementioned goals it is also essential to collect, process and publish gender disaggregated data which is the primary tool for achieving real progress and effectively evaluating policy outcomes” – concluded Lívia Járóka.