Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality
The Chair
To the Chairperson(s) of the Committee(s) concerned
Dear Colleague,
For many years now, the European Parliament has been celebrating International Women's Day
(IWD) with a special event bringing together Members of the EP and Members of the national
Parliaments from across the European Union.
Hence, on the occasion of the IWD 2021,
the European Parliament’s Committee on Women's
Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM) would like to invite Members of the national Parliaments
of the EU to attend an Interparliamentary Committee meeting on the theme:
“Women’s empowerment and leadership in Covid times”
The Covid-19
crisis has highlighted the need for gender equality and women’s economic
empowerment in order to build resilient societies, boost rules of employment, social security
and pensions for all women, especially in female dominated sectors, and more generally
change models in the provision of care and value of work (including unpaid care work). At the
same time, the necessity was confirmed of equal representation of women and men in
leadership and the decision-making process when enacting and lifting measures in crises, as
well as in all stages of the design, adoption and implementation of recovery plans.
On the margins of the International Women’s Day, the hearing
will set a good platform for the
Committee and the European Parliament, together with the national Parliaments, to mark this
day and will provide a global forum for an exchange of experiences and best practices in
advancing women’s empowerment during crises
such as the one triggered by COVID-19.
We are therefore very pleased to invite up to four Members of the corresponding committee(s)
of each national Parliament (two from each chamber in the case of bi-cameral Parliaments) to
attend this event on
Thursday, 4 March 2021, from 9.00 to 12.00 online
.
Practical details regarding the meeting will be forwarded in due course to your Parliament's
representatives/services responsible for relations with the European Parliament.
We sincerely hope that you will be able to accept our invitation and we are looking forward to
welcoming you to the European Parliament on 4 March 2021.
Yours sincerely,
Evelyn REGNER
Chair
Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality