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Romania's President Klaus Iohannis said on Wednesday that although important progress has been made in Romania in terms of gender equality, the country needs to speed up bridging the gaps.
I firmly believe that equality between women and men is a pillar of the future-oriented society, for which all of us have the duty to act every day. (...) Romania has already taken important steps for the commitment that we have pledged to set up the new profession of equal opportunities expert. Although important progress has been made in Romania to meet the objectives of equality, we are aware of the need to speed up the gap bridging, first of all by changing mentalities and also by an integrated and multidimensional approach of policies in the area, including supporting female entrepreneurs," Iohannis told the Conference of Francophone Women in Bucharest.
He added that, by organising the conference, the capital of Romania is a "genuine international agora of equal opportunities."
"A standard bearer of La Francophonie in the region, Romania considers that the International Organisation of La Francophonie has the vision and determination to get engaged alongside the international partners in the challenges of gender equality," said Iohannis, according agerpres.ro.
According to him, women working in business, research and development, those who become entrepreneurs and those who want to start up businesses are models for the younger generation, but they face a number of serious problems.
"They have difficult access to funding resources and feel the lack of professional support networks. Their presence is much lower in decision-making and managerial positions than men's. Last but not least, women are victims of stereotypes and prejudices related to their roles and abilities in the family, economy, but also in society," said Iohannis.
The head of state welcomed the proposal to launch a network of French female entrepreneurship.
He added that Romania supports the adoption of the La Francophonie Strategy of Gender Equality at the future of Summit of La Francophonie in 2018, showing that this is a concrete contribution to the universalisation of fundamental human rights.
He pointed out that since its Greater Union, Romania has provided a number of important female personalities for politics, culture, science, education and sports.
"It is our duty to honour this valuable contribution, making gender equality one of the great achievements of the world, a precious legacy for generations to come," said Iohannis.
Among the attendees of the Conference of Francophone Women were Secretary General of La Francophonie Michaelle Jean, and President of Mauritius Ameenah Gurib-Fakim.
