Though the number of women elected as mayors and councilors increased, the representation of women in the decision-making process remains insufficient. Such a conclusion was reached by Valentina Bodrug-Lungu, head of the Gender Centru that produced the report “Assessment of the implementation by Moldova of the National Program for Ensuring Gender Equality for 2010-2015 and the Plan of Action associated to it”. The report was compiled with the support of the OSCE Mission to Moldova, IPN reports.
Valentina Bodrug-Lungu said that in the period there were taken a lot of actions to ensure the economic rehabilitation of women. The number of people trained in business, including women, grew. But the pregnant women, women with children and the Roma women continue to be discriminated at work. The employment of women with HIV, those who are subject to domestic violence and those who are dependent on drugs remains problematic. The women who want to start a business face many problems in accessing financial resources, especially loans.
The men enjoy more chances of occupying senior posts and having a higher salary. This is often due to the reproductive role of the women and to stereotypes. As regards the participation of women in the decision-making process, a slow improvement is witnessed, but the Millennium Development Goals are far from being achieved. There were staged training courses for candidates for the posts of councilor and MP. Three Roma women were elected local councilors. The figures change gradually, but not enough. The women with disabilities and the Roma women are practically excluded from decision-making.
Attending the event, Deputy Minister of Labor, Social Protection and Family Boris Gilca said that Moldova in some areas made greater progress than some of the European countries, while in other areas it lags behind some of the African states. He underlined the commitment of the world leaders to promote gender equality, saying the Ministry always promoted gender equality. He also highlighted the support provided by the OSCE Mission to Moldova, saying this is a strategic partner of the Ministry in promoting gender policies.
Minister of Youth and Sport Loretta Handrabura said that if we manage to explore the whole potential of the men and women, we will have the chance to move things on. The Ministry supports the promotion of women and girls in sports areas that are traditionally dominated by men. At European level, it was decided that 30% of the personnel in the offices of sports federations dominated by men should be women. The same goal is pursued in Moldova.
