Global Women Leaders’ Forum

Official opening

National Art Gallery

May 18^th 2016

Sofia, Bulgaria

Address on behalf of Ms. Tsetska Tsacheva

President of the National Assembly
Of  the Republic of Bulgaria

То Dr. Eng. Boriana Manolova,

Chairperson of the Executive Board of CWBB

Chief Executive Officer of Siemens Bulgaria

Dear Mrs. Manolova,

Dear participants and guests,

It is an honor to salute you heartily for your valuable initiative to realize this International conference ” Global Women Leaders’ Forum: To inspire the next generation of leaders ” under the patronage of UNESCO and the Director-General Ms. Irina Bokova, Bulgaria’s official candidate for UN Secretary-General.

I congratulate you especially on your choice of theme of the conference, which is extremely important, timely and relevant. I have no doubt that it will give the opportunity to the public voice of women leaders to be heard; their desire to remove the prejudices according to gender. The goal it sets – to discuss topics related to the role of women in modern society – is very important, I would say strategic, in the context of upholding the principles of gender equality and in particular of women’s rights.

As the Universal Declaration of Human Rights stated back in 1948 – “All human beings are born free according to dignity and rights.” Yet, we know that we have often witnessed that women have to put twice as many efforts, must show twice as many qualities and skills in order to prove that they are able and capable.

Often they are victims of discrimination because of their gender, their age, or even because they are mothers. Their labor rights are restricted, they are underpaid , and in many cases are victims of domestic violence.

Ladies and Gentleman,

It is difficult to be a leader. This is especially true for women leaders. Still in most countries they are not equal to men in leadership positions – like it is in politics, on the labor market, but mainly this applies to business.

The modern state and modern society offer full involvement of women in politics, in business, and labor relations. In Europe there are countries which introduced mandatory quotas for women in business on leadership positions such as Norway, Belgium, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany and Spain.

The debate is difficult, but it’s a good start, and efforts should continue. Let’s say that quotas are the first step in requiring the presence of women in business, but our goal must be to make their participation a natural one, due to their awareness of the meaning of the principle of equality.

These are questions that need to speak of, to put them into a discussion, to look for solutions, and also to insist that those decisions are implemented in practice.

I welcome the initiative to create a forum for debate. The conclusions of the conference should be widely distributed among governments, businesses and the public.

I wish success to the conference and to all of you who have the courage and confidence to stand up for your rights!

May 18^th, 2016
Sofia, Bulgaria

With Respect,

Tsetska Tsatcheva

       Chairwoman of the 43^rd National Assembly of Bulgaria