Women's rights conference underway at Commander's House in Tallinn
On the initiative of Vice-President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and Head of the Estonian Delegation to PACE Marianne Mikko (SDE), Human Rights Day is being marked on Monday with the hosting of the conference "Women's Economic Independence is a Human Right" at the Commander's House in Tallinn.
"Estonian women are the highest educated women in the world, but for some reason, they are paid less than men," Mikko said according to a Riigikogu press release. "There should be equal pay for equal work. This is a human right."
A report by President of the PACE Liliane Maury Pasquier will focus on the gender pay gap. According to Pasquier, ensuring women's economic independence is not only a human right in itself, but also a means of providing women with an exit strategy out of an abusive relationship.
President of PACE's Socialists, Democrats and Greens Group and German MP Frank Schwabe will speak about the UN campaign for the advancement of gender equality HeForShe and the quota system used in Germany.
Pasquier and Schwabe's reports will be followed by a panel discussion on the gender pay gap. Participants in the panel will include Estonian Association of Business and Professional Women (BPW Estonia) member Leena Kivisild, Timbeter CEO Anna-Greta Tsahkna and MP Jevgeni Ossinovski (SDE).
The conference was opened on Monday morning by Mikko. President of the Riigikogu Eiki Nestor (SDE) delivered the welcome address.
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Editor: Aili Vahtla