mr president looking back at what has been achieved since the adoption of the declaration and platform for action in beijing fifteen years ago one cannot deny that a lot remains to be done
we are still far from beijing's strategic objectives
inequality and gender stereotypes persist in all the world's regions including the european union
if we want to make progress on this agenda it is crucial to have at national and eu level reliable and comparable data on the beijing indicators
we then also need to make sure these indicators are monitored in a timely fashion in order to update our eu strategy on gender equality accordingly
here in europe we still have a lot to address
let us take the situation in the labour market we need to fill the gender pay gap while also looking at the place and the representation of women in leadership positions in both public and private organisations
going more deeply into social considerations inequalities and discrimination affecting women lead to exclusion and poverty most of the time
poverty is the greatest single determinant of health
the feminisation of poverty has a real impact on the physical and mental health of women
minority women are experiencing poverty exclusion and discrimination
their needs are largely unknown and ignored and their voices are not heard
for roma women life expectancy can be up to ten years less than those of the majority
infant mortality is three to four times greater than the majority population
discrimination exclusion and poverty also need to be considered in the light of the ageing population
the differences in life expectancy between men and women will entail increased economic and social difficulties for single elderly women
this is the new rising phenomenon and a serious one which has to be closely looked at and properly addressed
finally madam commissioner i would like to strongly encourage you to come up with a directive on violence against women
all of us will be behind you
