“Today, Latvia is a real leader in terms of women leadership - be it politics, business, judiciary or academia. Latvia’s success has been recognised by the World Economic Forum 2014, ranking Latvia among the leading 15 states in the world. In terms of gender balance on the boards of top-listed companies, Latvia is among the frontrunners in Europe, where 40% of board members are women,” said Ināra Mūrniece, Speaker of the Saeima, addressing the participants of the 10th Meeting of Women Speakers of Parliament, held in New York on Saturday, 29 August.
“Latvia has come a long way since the renewal of independence 25 years ago. Today, Latvia is a frontrunner in terms of women leadership in many areas, including politics,” Mūrniece pointed out, adding that Latvia has had a woman State President, the current Prime Minister is a woman, and Mūrniece herself is the fourth woman to hold the post of Speaker of Parliament.
Furthermore, Mūrniece welcomed women’s rights and empowerment as a corner stone of the new post-2015 agenda of the UN, along with the UN General Assembly Summit in September, where the sustainable development goals for 2030 will be adopted. In this context, Speaker Mūrniece emphasised that Latvia strongly believes in gender equality and rule of law as important preconditions for sustainable development, adding that Latvia has pro-actively included gender equality in its latest sustainable development goals.
The Meeting of Women Speakers of Parliament is held annually by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, which is the largest and the oldest inter-parliamentary organisation, established in 1889, and currently consists of 166 national parliaments.
From 27 August till 4 September Speaker Mūrniece is on a working visit to the United States of America, during which she is attending the 4th World Conference of Speakers of Parliament and the 10th Meeting of Women Speakers of Parliament. During her visit Ināra Mūrniece has also met with the Latvian diaspora and participated in the celebrations of the 65th anniversary of the New Jersey Latvian Society.
Photos from the event are available at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/saeima/albums/72157657510341260
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Saeima Press Service