Deputy Minister Marta Dassù spoke this afternoon in Rome at the 2nd Forum nazionale dell’Associazione Valore D dedicated to the theme “Toward a new equilibrium. Profit. Respect. Leadership”, an annual encounter with institutions and major representatives of economic, academic and corporate spheres on gender issues.
Women in diplomacy – an encouraging trend
The Deputy Minister reported that there are 176 women in the Italian Foreign Service – 86 in service in Rome and 90 abroad – out of a total 896 diplomats, equal to 19.64% of the total. The trend over recent years is encouraging. In the last diplomatic competitive examination held in 2012, there were 15 women among the 35 winners (42.8%); a woman achieved the highest score and four of the top five scores were women’s.
Women in Diplomacy Conference
The Deputy Minister explained how the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had organized a Women in Diplomacy conference last July with the aim of building a broad international network of women for the promotion of true gender equality in global governance. The MFA, in collaboration with the SIOI and the Association of Italian Women Diplomats (DID), then launched the Women in Diplomacy School (Rome 25 February – 1 March 2013) with the goal of facilitating young Maghreb and Middle Eastern women’s access to international careers.