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SARAJEVO, March 8 (FENA) - The pandemic that has been marking our daily lives for more than a year has exacerbated all the inequalities around us and further highlighted the value of the role we all have in society, wrote the French Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Christine Toudic in her latest blog post.
At the same time, Ambassador Toudic reminds that studies on the impact of the pandemic from last year have constantly pointed to all the difficulties that women face every day, emphasizing that they are now wider and deeper and represent an even greater challenge in this world completely affected by the pandemic.
"It is indisputable that this independence, this emancipation of women is realized through measures in accordance with gender. Mitigating the effects of a pandemic takes place through raising awareness of the place that women fully occupy in society. In 2021, it is no longer possible to ignore almost 50 percent of humanity when making decisions that affect all of us. The gender dimension must be integrated into all measures. Its dimension must be strengthened by the Constitution and generally accepted in society so that women are not left aside at any time," explains Ambassador Toudic.
Toudic further states that international documents show us the path we need to follow, and provide inspiration for adequate law-making in accordance with documents such as the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the most advanced plan for the advancement of women's rights.
"In this regard, the UN Women's Equality Forum, co-chaired by France and Mexico, originally planned in 2020, to mark its 25th anniversary, will be a new major global gathering for equality between women and men this year," reminds the French ambassador.
She adds that, in addition, the Council of Europe's Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, known as the Istanbul Convention, provides a comprehensive legal framework for preventing violence, protecting victims and ending impunity for perpetrators.
Toudic points out that France is engaged in promoting the Convention in order to prevent and combat violence against women.
"The pandemic highlighted the inequalities that affect women in everyday life and therefore there is a greater need for women's participation in decision-making in all areas of life, their economic emancipation, equal pay, equal distribution of unpaid household chores and family responsibilities, elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls. It is also important to increase the participation of women in conflict prevention and resolution, peace consolidation, but also in the establishment of health services tailored to their needs," said the ambassador.
At the same time, she insists on the urgency of action against any violence against women.
"Measures taken during the pandemic to reduce the spread of the virus, such as restriction of movement, social distance, isolation, caused risky situations for many women who found themselves imprisoned with their abuser, and were subjected to all kinds of domestic violence. They were subjected to physical, sexual, moral and even virtual violence in their home.
Do not condemn women for this violence, trust them, let us help them in this temptation and support them to the end, so that this violence is not trivialized. Instruments that already exist, such as helplines and safe houses, must receive the help needed for proper operation. It is necessary to support all organizations mobilized for the protection of women in order to progress in these uncertain times, and also to provide an institutional and legal response for the prosecution and sanctioning of perpetrators," wrote Ambassador Toudic.
She is of the opinion that gender equality and the empowerment of women can be achieved only with their full and complete engagement as active participants in society, "and this is done through general mobilization". That, as she states, is the position of France.
"French President Emmanuel Macron has made equality between women and men one of the priorities of his five-year term. This is a principle that permeates France's foreign policy, as a country which in 2007 adopted International Strategy for Equality between Women and Men," underlined the ambassador.
The Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs is leading this engagement internationally through feminist diplomacy.
"I want to emphasize that this International Women's Day must not remain an exception and an opportunity to raise awareness only once a year. We must act every day and mobilize to achieve equality between women and men. As citizens, we can do it with simple gestures, and yet so important for changing the mentality - whether it is our way of speaking, thinking, or acting. We can initiate change every day by breaking stereotypes and social norms that harm women and society as a whole and prevent it from progressing strongly and unitedly," wrote Ambassador Christine Toudic on her blog.
(FENA) S. R.
