Roberta METSOLA, EP President, addresses with a closing address the audience of the Women Political Leaders (WPL) Summit 2023 “Representation Matters”. Women Political Leaders (WPL) is the global network of women politicians. The mission of WPL is to increase both the number and the influence of women in political leadership positions. This transcription is a result of an automatic process. Please check against delivery.

Brussels

statement

METSOLA, Roberta (EPP, MT, EP President)

president's agenda

women's rights (T)

Women Political Leaders (WPL) Summit 2023 “Representation Matters”: closing keynote speech by Roberta METSOLA, EP President

SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Roberta METSOLA, EP President, Thank you very much. Dear friends, dear leaders. Ten years after the inaugural Women Political Leaders Summit in the European Parliament, we are back here, in the heart of Europe. I'd like to thank you, dear Silvana. Thank you for organising this coming together. Thank you for inviting me to be able to talk with you.

SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Roberta METSOLA, EP President, I have a few messages to say: there is still more to be done to encourage women and girls across the world to lead, to become forces of change and to help other women rise. I start with saying that there are few better examples of outstanding and courageous female leadership under unimaginable pressure than that of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.

SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Roberta METSOLA, EP President, Svetlana has inspired, has led, and has endured. She has become the global personification of a free and democratic Belarus. And let me say here to you, I've said it before, but in front of our colleagues and leaders in this room that the age of dictators will come to an end. That Belarus will be free. And that when that day comes, it will be thanks to women like Svetlana and like Maria Kolesnikova, who has been illegally jailed for over 1000 days.

SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Roberta METSOLA, EP President, We will stick together. But the truth is that even with role models, even with leadership, there are still too many obstacles, too many unbroken ceilings. And this is not just in politics. It is across the board. Too many career paths remain blocked.

SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Roberta METSOLA, EP President, I'm proud of the work that this Parliament has done to change, to keep adding cracks to that previously impenetrable ceiling. To change the course for so many women. Because despite the challenges, women in leadership positions have changed the world.

SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Roberta METSOLA, EP President, Women in business. Women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Women in education. Women in the arts and in journalism. They have broken barriers and disposed of taboos to the dustbin of history. And we have to say this more. We must continue to work hard to make women's contribution to society more visible.

SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Roberta METSOLA, EP President, The message of female leadership that was passed on to all of us, must now be passed on by us tenfold. Women political leaders today must be multipliers and drivers of leadership in women going forward. We don't say that enough and we don't do that enough.

SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Roberta METSOLA, EP President, I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for the women in my country who endured to make my path possible, and I want to repay that going forward. And every time we fall behindm and in politics and life we all do. We are pulled back up by other women who have been through it all before us.

SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Roberta METSOLA, EP President, That's my appeal when I speak to young girls across our union: we have to pull each other up. I visit a lot of countries and I talk to young people that we are one year away from the European elections.

SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Roberta METSOLA, EP President, I always get the same question wherever I go: "What's your advice? How do we do it? I'm scared to enter politics". It's hard, especially for women, young women and girls who need to fight hard for a place at the table. My answer is that being in politics is not easy. Being a woman in politics doesn't make it any easier.

SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Roberta METSOLA, EP President, But I was fortunate to grow up with the mantra that if you work hard enough, if you want it enough, if you are ready to climb that mountain, then nothing can hold you back. Not your gender, not your background. But it is harder than it should be.

SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Roberta METSOLA, EP President, Too many still fall through the cracks and we cannot be complacent to the sidelining of women or we risk missing out on many excellent candidates that could be the catalysts of enormous societal change. And that depends on political parties, on legislation, but most importantly, on societal change that we must push through. It depends on role models.

SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Roberta METSOLA, EP President, We can be glad to see how many of us are here in this room. How many more women, as each election goes by, take up leadership positions. But more still needs to be done. What we need is a real change in the mindset. Many countries, I would say in all countries, to allow more inclusion for more women to run for election and get elected.

SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Roberta METSOLA, EP President, I am proud of the adoption, finally, it took a while from the Women on Boards directive last November. A breakthrough for gender equality in European society. It took almost a decade. A decad to achieve what should have been obvious.

SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Roberta METSOLA, EP President, We can also be proud of how this Parliament and I see colleagues here are pushing for equal pay provisions for equal work. Employers will have to be more transparent about the pay gap between female and male workers in order to close it.

SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Roberta METSOLA, EP President, And this is also a standard reply: hh, no our country does have none. No gap. But when you start to ask questions on how difficult it is for a woman to enter the career path after having children. How difficult has it been since the pandemic, where women took over the role of carer across the world, both for the older and younger generations. We will be feeling the effects of that, not only from a mental health perspective, but from an economic and societal perspective for years to come.

SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Roberta METSOLA, EP President, We need to say it. Nobody else will. And it was women parliamentarians who ensure that the toughest of negotiations for equality come through so that little by little, by little, step by step, this world can become a little bit more equal and a little bit more fair. We can level the playing field and events like this are crucial for this to happen.

SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Roberta METSOLA, EP President, Let's not wait another ten years for this to happen again. Thank you for organising this. Thank you for the inspiration. Let us continue working together and ultimately: let's stick together. Thank you.