#BIMR2014 – Presiding Officer to chair session on Women in Public Life

22 May 2014

The National Assembly for Wales’s Presiding Officer, Dame Rosemary Butler AM, will chair a plenary session at the British Isles & Mediterranean Region (BIMR) conference in the Senedd chamber on 28 May.

The session, entitled “Women in Public Life”, is one of the key themes of the conference which will be attended by 60 parliamentarians from around the Commonwealth.

The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA)’s British Isles & Mediterranean Region (BIMR) Conference is being hosted at the Senedd over two days.

Parliamentarians from legislatures as far afield as Cyprus, the Falkland Islands, St Helena and Malta, as well as delegates form the UK’s other parliaments, will attend in a bid to share best practice.

“I have been running my Women in Public Life Campaign (#POWiPL) in Wales for more than two years,” Dame Rosemary said ahead of the session.

“The aim has been to encourage more women in Wales to enter public office as councillors, school governors or as magistrates for example.

“We have tackled this by engaging with women throughout Wales and responding to their requirement such as establishing the one-stop Women in Public Life web portal which gives advice to women about how to get involved in public office.

“I have also established the #POWiPL development scheme which aims to encourage more women to apply for public appointments, and other roles in public life, by providing mentoring, role-shadowing and training opportunities.

“That’s what the National Assembly is doing to tackle the issue but the BIMR offers an opportunity to share ideas with other Commonwealth parliaments and perhaps learn about different approaches”

Professor Laura McAllister, Chair of Sport Wales, and Stephen Brooks, Director of the Electoral Reform Society Wales, will form the rest of the panel for the discussion.

Joyce Watson AM, Chair of the National Assembly’s branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, also represents the Assembly on the regional Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians Committee.

She added: “As the first legislature in the world to gain gender parity I am delighted, on behalf of the National Assembly, to welcome delegates from around the Commonwealth to share best practice on such an important issue.

“As an institution we slipped backwards slightly in the last election in terms of the number of women Members, so it’s clear there’s still much work to be done in encouraging more women to seek election to public office.”

The session can be viewed on Senedd TV by clicking here.