On International Women’s Day, Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Antonio Tajani reaffirmed Italy’s strong international commitment to the protection and promotion of women’s rights and gender equality, as well as to fighting all forms of discrimination and violence against women.
According to Tajani, “Italy is at the forefront in promoting international initiatives aimed at enhancing the role of women in conflict prevention and resolution, peacekeeping and post-conflict reconstruction, in line with the UN Women, Peace and Security Agenda. On this day, I would like to express my deepest sympathy to the Ukrainian women and girls, who daily live the drama of a war that spares them no suffering and abuse; to the Afghan women and girls, in the hope that the progress achieved over the last twenty years in terms of the right to education, freedom of movement and participation in the political, economic, social and cultural life of their country will not be lost; to the Iranian women and girls, who have courageously demanded that their rights be fully respected, facing brutal repression, which has been firmly condemned by the Italian Government. The recent case of poisoning by toxic gas involving over a thousand Iranian schoolgirls also has Italy concerned”.
Italy promotes and supports actions to foster greater political and institutional participation of women and to boost their role in the economy and in the fight against social inequalities, also in line with the UN 2030 Agenda. Italy is currently actively taking part in the 67th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW67) in New York, this year dedicated to innovation and technological change in the digital era, to achieve gender equality.
To mark International Women’s Day, President Tajani will meet with two young Nigerian women, Christians and victims of the ferocity of Boko Haram, who have come to Italy from Nigeria with the help of the association “Aid to the Church in Need” and with a group of women constitutionalists who, together with more than 400 university professors, have signed a letter denouncing the serious violations of human rights suffered by women in Afghanistan and Iran. President Tajani will also meet with the association of Italian Diplomatic and Executive Women (Donne Italiane Diplomatiche e Dirigenti, DID).
