“Gender equality is part of the foundation of our democracy”

Berlin (d.de/dpa) – In a speech he gave to mark International Women’s Day, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has called for further efforts to be made to bring about gender equality. At the same time, he warned against tendencies to reverse progress that had already been achieved. Steinmeier explained that women in Germany also experienced severe hostility and hatred just for being women. Increasingly often, women withdrew from the public sphere as a result, he said, adding that this was also reflected in the fact that the proportion of women in the new Bundestag would drop to 32.4 percent. According to the Bundestag, this is 2.3 percentage points less than in the legislative period now coming to an end. Gender equality is part of the foundation of our democracy, said Steinmeier.  

Luise Amtsberg, the federal government commissioner for human rights policy and humanitarian assistance, stressed that the international community needed to continue to fight persistently - and not just on International Women’s Day - to promote real, resilient equality for all women in the world. She went on to say that in crisis situations, women were particularly often and particularly badly affected by a lack of resources. The Federal Government was working around the world to promote the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda of the UN Security Council, she added.  

Germany supports numerous international measures to bring about greater gender equality and is for example the largest donor to the UN Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund, which is used to finance women’s projects to prevent and overcome crises and conflicts.