The policies implemented with a view to promote substantive equality between women and men, with an emphasis on the empowerment of women in all sectors were presented by Cyprus’ Commissioner for Gender Equality, Josie Christodoulou, at the Belgrade Women’s Conference – RISE 2026: Building Alliances for Rising Generations, the 2nd International Ministerial Conference on Women’s Empowerment, which took place on Wednesday in Belgrade.
According to a press release issued by her Office, the Commissioner referred to the implementation of the National Strategy for Gender Equality across all Ministries and Deputy Ministries. She also highlighted the importance of institutionalising the integration of the gender dimension into public policies and the state budget, and of using gender-disaggregated data. As she noted, this represents a significant change in the way governance is conducted, as gender equality is taken into account at the policymaking stage rather than after the policies have been drawn up. She added that the preparation of a gender-responsive state budget would make a substantial contribution to reducing inequalities.
While presenting measures adopted by the government to reconcile work and family life, Christodoulou referred also to mandatory pre-school education from the age of four, the extension of all-day schooling and parental leave until the age of 15, and the strengthening of childcare facilities.
With regard to women in leadership positions, the Commissioner referred to the bill aimed at increasing the presence of women on the boards of listed companies, with the target of achieving a minimum representation of 33 per cent. On a practical level, she outlined measures to empower women, such as, amongst other things, programmes to boost digital skills, financial literacy and entrepreneurship, as well as initiatives to promote role models, such as the school essay competition ‘If I were a minister for a day’ and the ‘Women’s Stories’ campaigns.
The Commissioner emphasised that achieving meaningful and lasting progress in the field of gender equality requires strong alliances between governments, the private sector, social partners, civil society, women’s organisations and international organisations, with the active participation of the younger generation. ‘Our responsibility is not simply to open more doors for women, but to ensure that the systems behind those doors are fair,’ she emphasised.
Christodoulou also took part as a panelist in the panel entitled ‘Her Voice’, which focused on women’s presence in public life, participation in decision-making and the creation of equal opportunities.
On the sidelines of the conference, the Commissioner held bilateral meetings with Tatjana Macura, Serbia’s Minister without Portfolio responsible for gender equality, the prevention of violence against women and the economic and political empowerment of women; Egypt’s Deputy Minister for Social Solidarity, Margrit Saroufim Youssef, and the Vice-Chair of the Gender Balance Council of the United Arab Emirates, Mona Ghanem Al Marri.