In behalf of AFAEMME, our President, Mrs. Mª Helena de Felipe Lehtonen, has accepted to form part of the European Commission’s Network of Women in Decision-Making in Politics and Economy, an invitation that was extended by Mr. Vladimir Spidla, the European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities.

Equal participation in decision-making is a priority of the European’s Commission Roadmap for Equality between Women and Men (2006-2010). The Roadmap represents the Commission’s commitment to driving the gender equality agenda forward, reinforcing partnership with Member States and other actors. One of the actions in the Roadmap is the setting-up of a European network of women in decision-making in politics and the economy in order to boost equal participation of women and men in decision-making. By establishing such a network, the Commission is demonstrating its strong attachment to fostering the participation of women in the political arena and in top management positions in business.

Many European netwoks aimed at promoting women in politics and in the economy are already in place and doing very valuable work. Nevertheless, the Commission can bring real European added value by fostering dialogue between the leaders of such networks and reinforcing cooperation, partnerships and synergies between their networks and all the stakeholders, in particular decision-makers. The Commission’s network will create a European platform for the leaders of existing European networks for the exchange of ideas and the sharing of knowledge and good practice.

Thanks to the experience and the reputation of its members, the Commission’s network will contribute to the search for practical solutions to remedy the under-representation of women in decision-making by giving high visibility to the issue and collecting and disseminating best practice, thereby reinforcing and supporting women’s capacity for leadership.

Given AFAEMME’s experience and commitment to the promotion and advancement of women, we are confident that our participation can help send a powerful message in favour of gender equality thus encouraging political and economic leaders to invest more effort in promoting gender balance in decision-making.