27.09.2024 / Video

Address by the Chairperson of MERCOSUR Fabiana Martin to the participants of the IV Eurasian Women's Forum

Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Fabiana Martin and I am the president of the Mercosur Parliament. It is a great honour for me to be invited to this event at such a special time for me, since just a few days ago I was appointed as the parliamentary representative of Mercosur in the Global Parliament for Tolerance and Peace. Please forgive me for not being able to attend in person. I am very sorry, but right now we are organizing our first Forum of Mercosur Women Parliamentarians, where we will address topics that are very similar to the ones you are discussing today.

Cooperation between women and our common problems do not depend on where we are located, what continent we live on, or what political beliefs we adhere to. We can gain strength if we support each other, stick together, cooperate, and constantly interact. Our inherent sensitivity is not a weakness, but an ability to empathize and look at global problems from a different perspective. Through joint efforts, this enables us in one form or another to expand our involvement in the affairs of the international community, which we are trying to create and develop in the spirit of tolerance, security, and peace.

In the Latin American countries that I represent – Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Bolivia – women parliamentarians are working diligently at every meeting to create awareness about a new perspective based on tolerance and the need for the peaceful resolution of conflicts, which will provide the material resources and support for the development of our societies. We can regularly share this worldview and exchange experience, including in socio-cultural affairs, which will help us to present solutions and programmes for each aspect of governance and for each leadership position based on the advantages that gender mainstreaming creates. I fully support this goal and your work in this regard, and on behalf of each of the women parliamentarians in the Latin American countries that I represent, I would like to tell you that you are on the right track.

Today, women parliamentarians from Eurasian countries are holding their meeting, and we will have a similar event in Latin America. In the same vein, women from all over the world will unite and undoubtedly manage to create a new vision of how we can all live in peace and security.