Virginia Woolf Basqueskola’s tenth birthday has brought members of the main group and other participants together in this space for mayors and councilors of Euskadi.
Euskaraz irakurri: Udaletako emakume hautetsque “emakume gehiago eta askotarikoak” erakartzeko konpromisoa hartu dute
The network of Basque local women chosen Virginia Woolf Basqueskola celebrated its tenth anniversary on Saturday with an act in Bilbao in which they set out their commitments for the next term, including “attracting more and more diverse women to political participation”.
The Basque Autonomous Community currently has 1,215 locally elected women (46% of the total) and 77 mayors (30.7%). Per province there are 182 elected women (42.5%) and 13 female mayors in Álava, in Bizkaia 575 elected women (46.5%) and 35 female mayors, and in Gipuzkoa 458 elected women (46.7%) and 29 female mayors.
The annual meeting has brought together the members of the main group and other participants in this space for mayors and councilors of Euskadi. Basqueskola was born in 2012 as “a pioneering initiative, at the Basque and state level, inspired by the network of elected women in Sweden”, according to the Basque government and Eudel, promoters of the project.
The central moment of the law was the intervention of four representatives of Basqueskola to formulate the commitments it wants to transfer to its successors in the new municipal legislature 2023-2026. Maite Etxebarria Mayor of Abanto-Zierbena, Carmen Diaz councilor of Getxo, Maite Cordoba mayor of La Puebla de Labarca, and Paula Ameva mayor in Getxo, have been the spokespersons for the following reports: “That Basqueskola contributes to improving the conditions of access, resilience and incidence of women in municipal politics”, “work to attract more and more diverse women for political participation “build a feminist leadership that transforms local politics” and “strategically establish networks and alliances to favor Basqueskola’s commitments”.
As emphasized from the Basque government Y Eudel, the latest report of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CMRE) on political representation puts Basque city councils “at the head of local authorities with the greatest gender balance, well above the average of 29% in Europe and of 36% in the Spanish state”. It is also above the European average (15%).
The two institutions promoting the initiative have expressed appreciation for the “individual and collective” work of elected women from the three areas, from municipalities of different sizes and political sensitivities, who have helped “weave the network”.
In his speech, the President of Eudel and the Mayor of Vitoria, Gorka Urtaran, emphasized that the Basqueskola project is “a priority commitment to strengthening women’s voice, leadership and alliance, in city councils and in local life” .
For her part, Beatriz Artolazabal, the first minister of equality of a Basque government, praised the progress made in public participation and in women’s leadership, while acknowledging that “steps still need to be taken”.
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Source: EITB
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
