Equality Between Men and Women is a Precondition for Effective Democracy, by Jourová

Whilst the EU has worked endlessly to advance gender equality over the past few decades, many challenges still exist. The European Commission is determined to change this and has been focusing on several priorities and key actions for 2016-2019. These include increasing equal economic independence, reducing the gender pay gaps and combatting gender-based violence, as well as protecting and supporting victims. This should also be included in the political and policy dialogue with Latin American and Caribbean countries through peer-to-peer learning and the exchange of experiences to promote good governance principles. After all, equality between men and women is a precondition for an effective democracy. Read paper

Věra Jourová was born in the Czech Republic and was elected the European Union’s Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality in 2014.

This paper was prepared for the EU-LAC Foundation’s Newsletter of September 2016 on the theme “Equitable access by women and men to public services”. This article gives the views of the author, and not necessarily the position of the EU-LAC Foundation or its members.