By EuAsiaNews
Brussels : “The 8th of March is a day of rebellion of the working women against kitchen slavery” read a 1932 Soviet poster dedicated to International Women’s Day. The words “kitchen slavery” are perhaps no longer in use but words like “equal opportunity” and “gender discrimination” are certainly in vogue.
To mark International Women’s day (IWD) , the European Parliament (EP) organized workshops and meetings in Brussels last week, using the theme of the year, Intercultural Dialogue, as its pivotal point.
The workshop dealing with the “role of the media in intercultural dialogue – a perspective from women” had a panel of eminent speakers present their views to a group of invited journalists from the 27 member states of the European Union.
The key issues dealt with were the challenges faced by journalists while reporting on today’s affairs, which were moulded by a changing social and cultural landscape.
There was “no clash of civilizations, but a clash of cultures” noted moderator Shada Islam, journalist and senior programme executive at a Brussels-based think-tank the European Policy Centre.
While most of the speakers brought up issues of multiculturalism in Europe and the need to engage in intercultural dialogue to help break down stereotypes and understand each other better, they also stressed on the role of women in helping achieve this.
The conference on the “role of women in intercultural dialogue” was opened by EP president EP, Hans-Gert Poettering, and the guest of honour Gertrude Mongella, president of the Pan-African Parliament.
Pottering recalled the event of 8 March 1908 when 15,000 women marched through the streets of New York demanding shorter hours of work, better pay and voting rights. He said “we are gathered here today to pay tribute to them”.
Gertrude Mongella said “the 8th of March has made a change in our lives. We remind ourselves that there are human beings called women who are to be remembered and celebrated”.
“Gender discrimination is more prevalent in Africa than racial discrimination” noted Mongella. Women needed to be at the “center of action” to overcome this problem.
Apart from protection of life, political and economic empowerment of women was of utmost importance, stressed Mongella.
She extended a warm welcome to the EP to visit Africa next year and said “it does not matter if we don’t speak the same language. The language of dance and signs is adequate to understand each other”.
In the interventions that followed, Nimet Cubukcu, Minister of State for Social Services, Turkey, stressed that “women have an enormous potential to solve problems”. To promote dialogue between cultures, she said “we should talk about the common heritage of humanity, not about a clash of cultures”.
Naomi Chazan, member of the International Womens’ Commision (IWC) in Israel said dialogue had to bring change. “It is based on trust and is instilled with hope”.
Amal Khreisheh representing IWC in Palestine responded to Chazan noting that “peace alone will give us the opportunity to engage in dialogue”.
Enna Hennicot-Schoepges, a Member of the European Parliament, commented that women had a very important role to play in society and dialogue did not mean just speaking. It also meant listening to others.