11.04.2024 / News

Federation Council Deputy Speaker Galina Karelova Chairs Meeting of Eurasian Women’s Forum Council

MP says programme for 4th EAWF is almost ready

Three new women-centred projects will be included in the ‘portfolio’ of the Council of the Eurasian Women’s Forum (EAWF), Galina Karelova, Chair of the EAWF Council and First Deputy Chair of the Federation Council’s Committee on Federal Structure, Regional Policy, Local Government, and Northern Affairs, said following a meeting of the EAWF Council held in the Federation Council.

“The main event for which the Council is preparing is the 4th Eurasian Women’s Forum. Its main theme this year is ‘Strengthening Trust and Global Cooperation’. Per tradition, the results of the EAWF Council’s existing projects will be presented, in addition to new ones,” she said.

During the meeting, the EAWF Council considered the following projects: ‘Women Researchers in Innovative Healthcare’, ‘Women for the Preservation of Traditions’, and ‘Women in the Media’.

According to the initiators of the ‘Women Researchers in Innovative Healthcare’ project, despite the high proportion of women among researchers in Russia (more than 40%), a negative trend has been seen with their employment: since 1995, the number of women in science has decreased by 12%. The goal of the project is to help create conditions for women’s more active and “unimpeded” entry into the scientific and technological environment and build the proper ecosystem of opportunities to this end. Healthcare was selected as a pilot industry since women traditionally make up the majority of this sector.

The ‘Women for the Preservation of Traditions’ project is a continuation of the joint campaign of the EAWF Council and the National Centre of Historical Memory under the Russian President. It features a marathon with the same name on social media, during which its participants talk about family traditions. The project will result in the creation of content about Russian traditions and its integration into public, educational, and outreach activities. “There has been substantial public interest in this issue, including from foreign participants. We will hold an international festival of traditions at the Forum and continue building this project together with foreign participants,” Galina Karelova said.

The ‘Women in the Media’ project aims to reduce the shortage of female personnel in the media, create a female media community, and boost women’s contribution to the information space.

The Council meeting also featured a recap of the Russian Women’s Forum ‘Women: Preserving Traditions – Developing Russia’, which took place in Moscow in early March. Galina Karelova described the event as a kind of “pre-forum” for the 4th EAWF and said it reflected the enormous interest in the women’s agenda, with 70,000 people attending from 89 regions of Russia, as well as compatriots from abroad. Broadcasts of the Forum events on the social network VKontakte generated more than a million views.

The Forum resulted in the conclusion of cooperation agreements, the launch of new projects, the preparation of roadmaps to develop light industry with the direct involvement of the organizers of the EAWF Council projects, and the formalization of a multiple initiatives, including the launch of an educational project for the sustainable development of the Indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia, and the Far East, as well as the ‘Woman Leader. Fleet Cities’ programme. “Of course, the main event – the 4th Eurasian Women’s Forum – is yet to come,” Galina Karelova said.

Galina Karelova noted that the agenda for the EAWF is almost ready. The programme includes the interparliamentary dialogue ‘Women’s Mission to Shape a New Agenda for Peace and Trust’, an open meeting of the Women’s Twenty (W20), the World Thematic Conference of Russian Compatriots Living Abroad, a dialogue between women of Central Asia and Russia, and other events. The architecture of the business programme includes a total of five key thematic tracks.

“We are finalizing the programme for the upcoming Forum. The main speakers should be determined by the end of April,” Galina Karelova said.

The meeting was attended by Russian Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Yekaterina Priyezzheva, Director of the National Centre for Historical Memory under the Russian President Yelena Malysheva, Chair of the Defenders of the Fatherland State Fund for Supporting Participants in the Special Military Operation Anna Tsivileva, Director of the Research Institute for Healthcare Organization and Medical Management of the Moscow Department of Health Yelena Aksenova, VKontakte Vice President Elina Isagulova, and Co-Founder of the ‘Uniting Women in the Nuclear Industry’ Fund for the Support and Development of Women’s Initiatives and Coordinator of the EAWF Council’s ‘Women in High-Tech Industries: New Opportunities’ Project Alexandra Ryabykh, among others.

PRESS SERVICE OF THE FEDERATION COUNCIL