Dear readers, thank you for reading my article. I'm the Italian delegate for the "Girls20 Summit" in Mexico City, which will focus on the rule of women in policy and world economy, making proposals and ideas for the leaders of the G20.
Being a woman is a great opportunity but also a responsibility, because our society is so far from being equal and united. If we think to the poorer countries, the "Third World," we can easily understand this sad reality. However, women are called to challenge the inequalities by their attitudes, their kindness and their intelligence. Some days ago the Italian President of the Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, invited all the institutions to look after women, because they are fundamental to solve the economic crisis, to have the nation competitive and strong again.
Women are the protagonists of the change the world is asking us to do.
The Conference of Pechino, in 1995, tried to focus on the main problems connected to women's conditions, in order to solve them, creating more equality and justice. The Conference established the respect of human rights and the fundamental rule of women's actions and ideas. It condemned every kind of violence against women and prejudges. It is important remembering the content of this Conference, because it signed the beginning of international policies for women. It lighted on three important concepts, that are the empowerment, the mainstreaming and the opportunity connected to sexual differences. These are the main structures of equal and strong policies, which are on the table of all the States. As we can imagine, occidental States are closer to the objectives of the Conference, while, in particular the undemocratic States, are so far from them. An important goal has been obtained by Turkey in 2006, thanks to a Resolution of the European Parliament, which suggested Turkey the way to create equal and good policies for women and forced the authorities to adopt the complete legislation on women rights.
A recent survey lead by the World economic forum, revealed that the percentage of women in the European Parliament is about 20 percent. It is a low percentage but it is encouraging seeing that it tends to increase, thanks to a sort of "sexual quotes" which oblige political parties to candidate the same number of women and men. Besides, the Commission on the status of Women, some weeks ago, focused on Rural women and their Role in Poverty and Hunger Eradication, Development and Current Challenges, based on the priority theme of the Conference of Pechino, and it reveals that States are making good policies to reach these goals. In fact, if we think to Italy, the Minister Elsa Fornero affirmed her commitment to apply policies promoting the equal empowerment of men and women, and large investments on the education of poor women living in the nation.
Women can be the real solution of the economic crisis and the real protagonist of the future,
because the equality of the sexes is one of the most important value of our society. The authors
of "Womenomics revolution," Avivah Wittenberg-Cox and Alison Maitland, try to explain the
importance of women in economy. "Womenomics" is an expression coined by The Economist in 2006, and it refers to the necessity of employing women, to increase the GDP. "The recruitment of one hundred thousand of women would increase the GDP of 0.3 percent." Besides, women are complementary to men, so they can be really useful for companies to create innovative products and services. "Universal language is the most important instrument for companies." Moreover, the book reveals that employed women procreate more than their housewives friends!
So, employed women are the solution states should pursue to defeat social and economic problems in the world. There are millions of women ready to give their hands to improve the society they live in.
An important campaign that we are leading, "What's your number," gives women a number, in order to be visible and recognizable to the others. I'm the 26.058th women in the world and I'm going to spend my energies on the solution of the main problems of my country and the world. Great changes are the result of little actions by each person. What you are waiting for?