Speech by President of Malta Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca at an activity organised by 100 Women in Finance on the occasion of International Women’s Day 2018, 8 March 2018
It is my pleasure to address you this evening, and to once again commend the 100 Women in Finance for facilitating today’s event, in celebration of International Women’s Day.
Throughout the day, we have focused our attention on the areas which are most essential, in the lives of women and girls, and which must be most urgently addressed, to implement strategies that ensure gender equality and full inclusion.
Although this day gives us the opportunity to focus much of our attention on national issues, I believe that International Women’s Day must also be an opportunity for us to explore the global context.
We are living in a world that is experiencing great changes due to new patterns of human movement, as a result of armed conflicts, deep-rooted poverty, the challenges of precarity, and drastic changes in the world’s climate.
Many women and girls, across the globe, are acutely suffering from the consequences of armed conflict, which is resulting in much higher rates of gender-based violence.
Women and girls are rendered vulnerable to poverty and precarity, due to the loss of jobs and the destruction of vital assets such as a lack of proper educational opportunities and basic shelter.
On a national level, the 2018 European Commission’s Report on Equality between Women and Men highlights great disparities in the representation of women in Malta’s parliament, saying that women accounted for less than 20 percent of parliamentary members in Malta.
Although much progress has been achieved, unfortunately, Malta is still among the worst performers on the gender employment gap, and women are over-represented in industries with low pay levels and under-represented in well-paid industries, thereby significantly contributing to the gender pay gap.
It is clear that in order to pursue the goals of gender equality, within our institutions; we must first find effective strategies for reforming our systems and attitudes.
We must challenge our status quo, which, unfortunately, is maintaining and sustaining the marginalisation of some individuals and groups, and gives privileges to others.
We must create, and free up, spaces of frank and honest discussion about equal gender representation, across the entire structures of our organisations and institutions, at every level of engagement.
We must acknowledge gender diversity as a vital contributor to the success of all of our institutions, and across our society, not only because it is a point of moral necessity, but also because it makes good social, economic, and political sense.
In fact, it is an essential component for a healthy and active democracy.
According to a recent Gallup study of more than 800 participating business units from the retail and hospitality industries, it was noted that gender-diverse business units have scored better financial outcomes than those dominated by one gender.
Research also suggests that gender-diverse teams perform better than single-gender teams, because of the different perspectives and insights that collaborative teams, which include people of all genders, can bring.
In order to make these goals a reality, I believe that we must, first and foremost, find ways of making gender equality, equity, and inclusion an issue which is embraced by everybody.
Gender equality, equity, and inclusion cannot remain a closed conversation, with the same people talking about the same issues, year after year.
I believe that we must continue to invest in research-based data, which empowers people to understand the net benefits that a shift towards gender equality can have, in our social, political, and economic lives.
This is why the celebration of gender diversity is a designated goal of the United Nations’ Agenda 2030, with its seventeen Sustainable Development Goals.
Goal Number 5, in particular, commits our nations to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, by 2030.
This goal can only be achieved when we call for deep-rooted reforms of our institutions, so that they reflect the depth of our aspirations for equality, equity, and respect, for the full and free inclusion of women, throughout our society and our nation.
I wish you all an enjoyable evening.