MEP awards go to strong supporters of gender equality!
[Brussels, 01 July 2013] The European Women’s Lobby (EWL) congratulates the 18 winners of the 9th annual MEP Awards, a price that is attributed to the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) for an excellent contribution to an EU policy area which they work on.
The EWL is very happy to see among the winners Mariya Gabriel and Ana Gomez, two MEPs particularly devoted to combating inequality between women and men and who joined the EWL 50/50 campaigndedicated to women’s participation in decision-making.
Mariya Gabriel is the coordinator of the EPP group in the European Parliament’s Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality(FEMM Committee); she has been rewarded for her extraordinary efforts in promoting women’s rights at work and tackling violence against women. Nominated for "dynamism and political skill", Gabriel is undoubtedly ‘a frontline figure’ in standing up for women in situations of conflict praised for promoting women’s involvement in political, economic and cultural life in Bulgaria. The EWL is particularly pleased about her award, as she is a strong supporter of its work on violence against women and particularly on prostitution; she co-hosted the EWL European conference on prostitution last December in the EP. The EWL would also like to thank Mariya Gabriel for her constant work to ensure women’s economic independence and parity democracy. She said in her speech: ‘There can be no democracy without gender equality.’
The EWL would also like to congratulate Ana Gomes, Portuguese socialist and member of the EWL 50/50 Coalition, for her award for an outstanding contribution for her work on foreign affairs and human rights. Ana Gomes said: ‘I believe that at the moment when Europe is going through a very serious crisis... it is more important than ever that we are together on our values and principles.’ Ana Gomes is also a supporter of EWL campaign on prostitution, and committed to women’s rights and gender equality.
The EWL would finally like to congratulate Evelyn Regner, Vice-Chair of EP’s Committee on legal affairs, for her award. The EWL is grateful to Ms Regner for her proposals to increase female representation on company boards and strong efforts to keep women’s rights high on the political agenda. We hope that her conviction of women’s indispensable participation in decision-making for the world’s economic growth will continue to empower women all over the European Union.
The EWL strongly believes that, as Ana Gomez said, this award will give all Members of European Parliament “further stimulus to continue working for Europe”.
