NEW YORK, MARCH 8 – “New technologies represent a great opportunity,” and Italy “intends to continue to support technological innovation and change as a tool for the empowerment of all women and girls. From now on, pursuing this goal will be increasingly natural, having Italy for the first time a woman as Prime Minister,” the Minister for Family, Birth and Equal Opportunities Eugenia Roccella, said today during the plenary session of the 67th Commission on the Status of Women. Roccella, who leads the Italian delegation to the CSW, met today with UN Women head Sima Bahous and her Ukrainian counterpart, Katheryna Levchenko.
“Promoting policies and measures to remove the digital divide between women and men means opting for a proper enhancement of women’s potential that remains scarcely used. For the same reason it is important to implement the intergenerational digital education through policies designed to support women of all ages, to benefit from the opportunities provided”, she said.
Women and girls should be leaders of the economic and social development of their communities. “At national level, Italy has embodied this goal in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan – funded by the European Union – which includes investments to promoting educational paths in STEM disciplines”, said Roccella: “It is essential to shape a digital society that equally meets female and male needs. First and foremost in the occupational world”.
Italy continues to promote equal opportunities in business and in the job market. At this regard, the national gender parity certification system has been recently introduced, paving the groundwork to strengthen a strategic approach to reduce gender gaps in the most critical areas and supporting an overall transformation of corporate culture. In addition, there is the latest introduction of a code of ethics for companies, mainly focusing on the re-employment of women following maternity leave and reducing the phenomenon of resignations.
Roccella also emphasized the importance of supporting an adequate work-life balance, encouraging incentivizing women’s careers that should not mean giving up the desire of motherhood and family. “Women should be free to make a maternity choice without having to renounce to their life and career aspirations”, she said, adding that the adoption of smart and flexible work measures, without reducing duties and social protections, jointly with information and communication technology, support the creation of an enabling environment for women’s empowerment. (@OnuItalia)
