Gender equality needs improving

Commissioner for Gender Equality, Josie Christodoulou said that gender gap issues in Cyprus need urgent improvement.

She held her first meeting with contact points of all ministries and deputy ministries, aiming at integrating the gender dimension into the state machinery.

The Commissioner presented the mission and priorities of her Office, stressing that equality between women and men is a high priority of the government.

She underlined, “Only through strengthening cooperation and holistic, horizontal actions can we achieve our goals”.

She added that this broad cooperation and consultation would result in the new Strategy for Gender Equality, which includes targeted and implementable actions to bring substantial changes to the benefit of gender equality culture.

According to the Global Gender Gap Report (2022), Cyprus ranks 106 (out of 146 countries) and 22 (out of 27 countries) in the Equality Index of the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE).

These figures, she underlined, demonstrate that equality issues urgently need improvement.

The contact points were appointed following a Cabinet decision on 8 March and constitute the inter-ministerial committee chaired by the Commissioner for Gender Equality.