Nearly one half of the world's 35 women Speakers convened at the United Nations in New York on 2 March 2007 for the third Annual Meeting of Women Speakers of Parliament. The meeting took as its theme the question of Women in leadership positions and the girl child, by way of a contribution to the theme of the girl child already under discussion in the Commission on the Status of Women.
The opening address was given by the Executive Director of UNICEF, Ms. Ann Veneman. She described a number of recent encounters in different parts of the world which had brought home to her very forcefully the plight of abused girls. She appealed to the women Speakers to do everything within their powers to tackle the unenviable predicament of so many children. The meeting then heard from the Vice-President of the Congress of Peru, Ms Fabiola Morales Castillo, and the Secretary General of the YWCA, Ms. Musimbi Kanyoro, on how greater opportunities and support could be offered to young girls to overcome the omnipresent obstacles related to their gender.
The President of the National Council of Switzerland, Ms. Christine Egerszegi-Obrist, and the UNIFEM Chief Advisor on Governance, Peace and Security, Dr. Anne Marie Goetz, spoke about ways of making parliament more responsive to the needs of children and girls in particular. Research in several countries had demonstrated that the welfare of women, and in particular their reproductive health, showed a marked improvement as the numbers of women in parliament increased.
In the final session, Ms. Barbara Prammer, the President of the Austrian Nationalrat, gave eloquent testimony to the changes she had managed to bring as a woman Speaker of her parliament, and the President of the Center for Women Policy Studies (USA), Ms. Leslie Wolfe, spoke of the importance of women Speakers of parliament as role models for future generations of girls.
In the discussion that ensued, the women Speakers dwelt on the need for the right legislative environment for combating violence against women and children, proper enforcement of the law, budget allocations commensurate with the problem, coordination with the Executive branch and – finally - the need for training to make the general public aware of the law and for enforcement officers to better understand their roles and duties.
