President Halonen to attend international women's meeting in Spain

Office of the President of the Republic
Press Release 24 March 2010

President of the Republic Tarja Halonen will attend an international meeting of "Women for a Better World" that will be held in Valencia, Spain on 27-28 March 2010. The meeting has been convened by Deputy Prime Minister María Teresa Fernández de la Vega of Spain.

At the meeting President Halonen will speak at a roundtable on women's rights and citizenship.

The Valencia meeting will focus on equality and improving women's position particularly in Africa. Finland is actively promoting the implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution on Women, Peace and Security and has received broad international recognition for its efforts. Spain, in turn, has made equality and preventing violence against women a priority during its Presidency of the European Union.

The Valencia meeting will also be attended by Queen Sofía of Spain, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia, UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha Rose Migiro and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanathem Pillay as well as ministers and representatives of NGOs from about 50 countries.

Women's participation in developing society was discussed at an international colloquium that was convened by President Tarja Halonen and President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf in Monrovia, Liberia in March 2009. The conference particularly strengthened African women's trust in the future. Women's role in mitigating climate change also received considerable attention in Liberia.