Economic recovery should not be limited only to the sphere of budgets, but also have repercussions on the agendas of women. This was the hope formulated by Minister for Foreign Affairs Emma Bonino as she spoke yesterday evening at Milan’s Teatro Parenti at the first installment of “Il tempo delle donne, storie idee, azioni per partecipare al cambiamento” (The time of women, stories, ideas and actions to participate in change). The initiative, which will take place in a series of meetings accompanied by theatre and dance performances, was sponsored by the Corriere della Sera newspaper (specifically by La 27 ora, Donna and Valore D).
Minister says unite work, private life and problems of men and women
Among the topics confronted was a theme certainly dear to the hearts of women: reconciling work and home life. A theme for which the byword became “change can happen”, which was the appeal by Lucia Mascino, author of “Una Mamma Imperfetta”, a monologue performance on the same theme.
In place of the word reconciliation “I have always preferred sharing, because I believe the problem is not only one of women, that of reconciling, but one that concerns all of us, men and women”, and it is “one of sharing responsibilities, whether that means housekeeping, children, and the elderly above all, which has become a gigantic concern”, the minister explained.
I hope that economic recovery will also touch women, says Bonino
But Minister Bonino also touched on the link between the problems of women and the actions that the government can and must take to reduce them. “With the new budget law – above all on the initiative of our very tenacious Deputy Minister for Equal Opportunity Maria Cecilia Guerra – we have tried to insert, some initial elements of success, but it is clear that the economic situation is what we all know it to be”, Emma Bonino went on, commenting then that “I hope that when, and if, the recovery begins, that it will not only concern budgetary matters in general but also elements dedicated specifically” to this theme. Echoing the minister’s sentiments, Maurizio Ferrera of Corriere della Sera launched a proposal aimed at enhancing the agenda at the policy level. F.A.S.T. was the acronym selected by that journalist for his proposal, indicating family, childcare, social services and time (work and home life), suggesting that it be chaired by a prominent woman (Emma Bonino?) and receive a set amount of funding from tax revenues.
