Yuriko Backes, Minister for Gender Equality and Diversity, attended the informal meeting of EU Ministers for Gender Equality in Brussels on 26-27 February.
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(fr. l. to r.) Robbert Dijkgraaf, Minister for Education, Culture and Science of the Kingdom of the Netherlands; Marie-Colline Leroy, Secretary of State for Gender Equality, Equal Opportunities and Diversity of the Kingdom of Belgium; Yuriko Backes, Minister for Gender Equality and Diversity
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(from l. to r.) Yuriko Backes, Minister for Gender Equality and Diversity; Katarzyna Kotula, Minister for Equality of the Republic of Poland
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Yuriko Backes, ministre de l'Égalité des genres et de la Diversité
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(from l. to r.) Robbert Dijkgraaf, Minister for Education, Culture and Science of the Kingdom of the Netherlands; Yuriko Backes, Minister for Gender Equality and Diversity.
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Group photo
The ministerial meeting, chaired by Marie-Colline Leroy, Belgian Secretary of State for Gender Equality, Equal Opportunities and Diversity, began with a session on the main achievements and lessons learned in recent years and included a speech by Helena Dalli, European Commissioner for Equal Opportunities.
In her speech, Yuriko Backes thanked the Belgian Presidency for organising the meeting and pointed out that there is no silver bullet solution in promoting gender equality. The Minister stressed: "To promote gender equality, we must act at all institutional levels: from the smallest local authority to the European Union and beyond. It is our common duty to anchor gender equality as a political added value and a key element of human and social rights, economic growth and ecological transition".
During the second session on the 2030 horizon, Carlien Scheele, Director of the European Knowledge Centre for Gender Equality (EIGE), stressed the need for EU Member States to remain vigilant on progress in gender equality, especially in relation to developments in the digital sectors, in particular in the field of artificial intelligence and its use.
During this part of the meeting, Minister Backes underlined the need to opt for a gender mainstreaming approach at European level, by ensuring that EU ministers responsible for gender equality meet regularly and that all other portfolios also integrate the gender dimension.
In the margins of the ministerial meeting, Yuriko Backes met several of her counterparts, including Robbert Dijkgraaf, the Dutch Minister for Education, Culture and Science, Paulina Brandberg, the Swedish Minister for Gender Equality and Working Life, and Katarzyna Kotula, the Polish Minister for Equality.
During these discussions, the Minister assured her colleagues that Luxembourg remains strongly committed to gender equality and diversity. Best practices, intra-European cooperation and cooperation within the BeNeLux Union were discussed, as well as the possibility of strengthening the EIGE.
The day before, the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union invited the participants to a dinner reception attended by Marie-Colline Leroy and Myriem El Kaddouri, lawyer and writer.
Press release by the Ministry for Gender Equality and Diversity