#FemaleForward

EU Spanish presidency: Promoting women´s empowerment on both sides of the Atlantic.

Last week, Odilia Abreu, Senior Project Manager Mediterranean Dialogue participated in the plenary session of the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (EuroLat), which took place in Madrid, in the framework of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU.

Odilia Abreu participated as a speaker in the panel “Vulnerabilities of the socio-economic position of women in Europe and Latin America”. The panel also included participation from Beatriz Argimón, vice-president of Uruguay; Jorien Wuite, MP for D66 in the Dutch parliament; Laura Arroyo, Specialist in political communication; Roxana Nicula, President of the FNF partner Fundalib and Raquel Coello Cremades, Specialist in Economic Empowerment Policies at the Regional Office for the Americas and the Caribbean of UN Women.

The panel was part of the Euro-Latin American Women's Forum, co-chaired by MeP Samira Rafaela of the liberal group Renew Europe (D66, The Netherlands) and MeP Julia Perié (Mercosur).

During the panel, Odilia Abreu had the opportunity to display the work carried out by FNF towards the strengthening of female participation in several sectors of society through campaigns such as Female Forward, highlighting the FNF Madrid office initiative: Euthenia, the Mediterranean Executive Women Community.

Liberal policymakers and experts at the panel agreed that the way to move forward is through cooperation between stakeholders - public sector, private sector, civil society - and women's collectives by tackling common challenges and exchanging experiences regarding policymaking.

After this, a lively and interesting debate through various interventions by MePs in the audience thanks to the presentations of renowned liberal policymakers and experts.  

This space allowed the FNF Madrid office to meet liberal policy makers and partners and to understand first-hand the role of Spain in strengthening EU relations with strategic regions in order to reinvigorate its position on the international scene.