Christodoulou: Gender Equality the solution to some of today’s biggest challenges

Gender Equality is a horizontal priority for Nikos Christodoulides’ government and in this way we are working, horizontally and holistically, the Commissioner for Gender Equality, Josie Christodoulou said on Saturday, at the BPW-Cyprus Conference titled “Empowering Leadership: Unlocking the Impact of Women on Boards, held at the Pancyprian Gymnasium in Nicosia. Gender equality is the solution to some of today’s biggest challenges, she noted.

According to the Commissioner, women perform 66% of the world’s work, paid and unpaid, and "receive 10% of the world’s income, yet, they reinvest 90% of their income into family and community."

She added that in terms of leadership in Europe, according to EIGE statistics (2021), the share of women on the boards of the largest publicly listed companies registered in the EU-27 was 30.6%, while on the national level, according to EIGE (2023) the share of women board members in the largest quoted companies, supervisory board or board of directors, was 12% and in the central bank it was 13% and 11.4% in public companies. Moreover, in semi-governmental organizations women reach 30% presidents or vice-presidents and 37.7% at the ministerial council, “a first in the country’s history”, she stressed.

“Gender Equality is a horizontal priority for Nikos Christodoulides’ government and in this way we are working, horizontally and holistically”, continued Christodoulou, adding that her Office, which was established by law last July, is now responsible amongst others, for formulating, coordinating and evaluating the implementation of the National Strategy for Gender Equality in cooperation with all ministries and deputy ministries. 

Actions included in the strategy for Gender Equality concern the initiative to accelerate the process of harmonizing national legislation with the EU Directive on the equal representation of women and men on the boards of listed companies, she explained, adding that to this end, her Office is currently working together with the Ministry of Finance and the Law Office, while thanking France for taking the initiative to reopen the file at EU level and for leading the way on a national level.

Other actions, according to the Commissioner, include a survey to identify pay distortions between professions, mostly those considered either “male-dominated” or “female-dominated”, addressing the issue of life-work balance and time availability for women, with measures such as the extension of maternity leave to 22 weeks, the increase of care structures for children and the elderly through the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), and the introduction of compulsory pre-primary education from the age of 4, adding that the extension of parental leave until the child reaches the age of 15, compared to today’s 8, will be in effect by the end of the year.

She further informed that an annual thematic campaign under the umbrella title “HerStory” will be launched to provide role models for other women and girls to follow in their footsteps, the Ministry of Education has introduced this school year training for career advisers in schools aimed at breaking stereotypes and unconscious biases, while the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment is currently providing training for women in rural areas and farmers to enhance their economic independence and leadership.

As regards corporate practices, she said that last summer, the Commissioner’s Office and the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry jointly formulated an “Action Plan for gender equality” to promote gender equality in the operation of business organizations, while her office is currently exploring with the Cyprus Employers & Industrialists Federation (OEB) joint actions in relation to women, work, business and leadership, to be announced soon.

In closing, she stressed that the effort to accelerate the process towards gender equality, including overcoming the challenges women entrepreneurs face, requires continued support of and collaborations between public and private sectors.

“I would like to repeat that gender equality is not a competition between women and men and it is not about ticking boxes. Gender equality is not another issue we need to solve but the solution to some of today’s biggest business, economic and social challenges”, she concluded.