“In 2015 the world witnessed innovative solutions – the Program for Sustainable Development 2030 and then the important agreements on climate change in Paris. The objectives of both documents are sustainable development and peace. There is no peace without development, there is no peace without the equality of women. Because equality and empowerment are two sides of the same coin. That is what is innovative in this forum as it gathers government, business, the scientific community, in trying to find a way to encourage the next generation of women leaders,” Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, said at the official opening of the first conference day of the Global Women Leaders’ Forum.

The event which is organized by the Council of Women in Business in Bulgaria and UNESCO is under the patronage of its Director-General, was officially opened in the evening on May 18 at the National Art Gallery in Sofia. The two-day conference program began today. It encompasses different aspects connected with the participation of women in public and political life.

“What unites the Council and UNESCO is the understanding that the world can no longer neglect the economic and leadership potential of women. But these changes demand serious efforts on behalf of companies, governments and organizations for the elimination practices and the encouragement of the professional and personal development of women. That’s why I would like to thank you cordially, for coming here today to this Global Women Leaders’ Forum, to give a new definition of the role of women in politics, business, culture, media, society”, Boryana Manolova, Chairperson of the Council of Women in Business in Bulgaria and Chief Executive Officer of Siemens Bulgaria, said in her address to the guests on the first day of the Global Women Leaders’ Forum.

The first day of the conference program began with a panel devoted to women in politics. The topic gathered representatives of the government: Lilyana Pavlova – Minister of Regional Development and Public Works, Temenuzhka Petkova – Minister of Energy, Desislava Taneva – Minister of Agriculture and Food, Aminata Toure – former Prime Minister of Senegal, Meher Afroz Chumki – Minister for Women and Children Affairs, Bangladesh, Maria Spiraki – Member of the European Parliament, Greece, Iskra Mihaylova – Member of the European Parliament, Bulgaria, Ivaylo Kalfin – former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Labor and Social Policy, Eva Paunova – Member of the European Parliament, Bulgaria, and Lidiya Shuleva – moderator of the panel.

The forum addresses topics such as the participation of women in public life and how this effects their empowerment and growth, is there a change in the participation of women in public and political life, how to inspire young women to become leaders.

The topic provoked the participants to express their opinion. The Minister of Regional Development and Public Works underlined that the number of women politicians in Bulgaria is growing in the past years. Proof of that is that 8 of the 19 members of the present Bulgarian government are women. At the same time Minister Pavlova reported on the negative demographic tendency as a result of the more active role of women in social and political life.

As a positive aspect in the achievement of equality, Ivaylo Kalfin pointed to the passing of the Law for equality between men and women in April 2016. The former Minister of Labor and Social Policy underlined that the document structures the system for the achievement of equality. He explained that the purposes that the country has set for itself, in order to achieve equality, are identical to the general European values in that direction, and success is measured with several indexes. One of them is the participation of women in the taking of decisions and Bulgaria has achieved high results on a European perspective. Other indexes that the country is about to work on and try to improve are the difference in payment of men and women, at the moment it is 13.6% to the disadvantage of women. Another such index is pensions, where the difference right now is 40%. The biggest problem, as far as equality in Bulgaria is concerned, is the time factor and the combination of work and the so-called “unpaid labor” – the raising of the children and home chores. At the moment Bulgarian women spend 7 times more time than men for their home chores and 3 times more time for the raising of the children. That’s why future policies have to be focused on the combining of career and home chores, Ivaylo Kalfin recommended.

The importance of the participation of women in politics was also underlined by the Minister for Women and Children Affairs of Bangladesh, Meher Afros Chumki. She said that her country has set as a goal the achievement of equality by 2021. According to her women must be the engine of change and believe in their abilities.

The panels Women and Business – Present and Future Tendencies, Education and training for Future Women-Leaders, Tendencies in Science, Technologies and Innovations – What is the Role of Women Leaders were part of the program of the Global Forum on May 19.

This is the first forum, at such a high-level, devoted to the topic of equality of women, Bulgaria hosts. The event was opened in the evening of May 18 at the National Art Gallery and attended by the President of the Republic of Bulgaria, Rosen Plevneliev, representatives of the government, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, who inspired the guests with her emotional address. The Speaker of the Bulgarian Parliament, Tsetska Tsacheva, sent a special address to the guests of the event.

On May 20 the Global Forum continues with panels about women, peace and security, information and communication technologies and media, as well as with the signing of the official Sofia Declaration: Women Leaders and Gender Equality.

The entire program of the Global Women Leaders’ Forum and the complete list of participants are accessible on the webpage of the event gwlforum.womeninbusiness.bg.

Gold sponsors of the event are Siemens Bulgaria and Prestige-96, silver sponsors are – EY Bulgaria and SAP. Media partners – Nova TV and Manager Magazine. Among the companies, which supported the event are BMW Bulgaria, Katarzyna Estate Ltd, Coca-Cola, Generally Bulgaria, Lidl and Grand Hotel Sofia.