Female Foreign Ministers across the globe have pledged to work towards the advancement of global peace and security through the offices they occupy in their respective countries.
Some 17 Foreign Ministers out of 30 across the world who are females converged in the Canadian city of Montrèal for the first Women Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (WFMM) which was co-hosted by Canada’s Foreign Minister, Chrystia Freeland, along with the European Union’s Foreign Policy Chief, Federica Mogherini.
The two-day conference took place from the 21st to the 22nd of September 2018.There are currently about 30 women in the world leading their countries’ diplomacy: 8 in Europe, 10 in Latin America and the Caribbean; 5 in Africa; India, Indonesia and Australia.
The Foreign Ministers who participated in the meeting were from; Andorra, Bulgaria, Costa Rica, Croatia, Ghana, Guatemala, Indonesia, Kenya, Namibia, Norway, Panama, Saint Lucia, South Africa and Sweden.
Ghana’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey in her participatory address at the historic meeting said she believes that women’s economic and political empowerment is critical to building a safer, more prosperous, inclusive world.
She therefore urged her colleagues to take full advantage of the opportunities they have to serve their countries to ensure that they advance world peace and stability, the empowerment as well as the progress of women and children.
The European Union’s Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, in her welcome address said a systematic effort by governments all over the world to empower women is the sure way to guarantee the advancement much needed in the world, particularly in the developing world. She added that it is time for governments across the globe to roll out policies that would remove cultural barriers that undermine the efforts of women in the forward movement of the societies.
The WFM meeting offered a historic opportunity to female Foreign Ministers to discuss ways through which global peace can be advanced. They also discussed a range of issues, including international security, feminist foreign policy and aid, reinforcing democracy, diversity and inclusion, as well as combatting sexual and gender-based violence and defending women’s rights defenders.
Source: Ghana/Starrfmonline.com/103.5FM
