January 25th, 2023, at the behest of UNESCO, for the first time the International Day of Women in Multilateralism was commemorated at Mykolas Romeris University (MRU) with a discussion, "Women's Leadership in the International Arena: A Seat at the Table or the Right to Make Decisions?" During the open discussion challenges were mentioned with which women in Lithuania and the world sometimes must confront trying to acquire equal rights with men to participate in decision-making processes and to seek an international career.
Women Must Still Defend Their Rights
In 2000 the United Nations Security Council's Resolution, "Women, Peace and Security (WPS) stated that inequality between men and women is also a problem of ensuring international security and peace," MRU Rector Prof. Inga Žalėnienė, a member of the European University Rectors Association (EWORA) and a member of the International University Association (IAU) said opening the discussion.
Today, paradoxically, a country that is a permanent member of the Security Council is at war with a neighbouring country. Ukrainian men and women are fighting side by side for their mother country, for freedom and democracy. However, the number of dead is growing not only at the frontlines, but daily the War claims more civilian casualties. Among the dead are citizens of Russia. However, we barely hear the voice of Russia‘s women protesting against the War – it‘s muted. Also, in the government of the Kremlin dictator there is not one female minister, said MRU's Rector.
"Where there is no democracy, women must first fight for their civil and political rights in order to influence the decisions of the government. However, even in our modern age there are countries, where women must still defend their rights, including the right to education and science. We have a duty to help them," noted Rector Prof. Žalėnienė.
Women's Leadership Based on Wisdom and Values is Important
Lithuania can be proud of freedom and democracy, under the conditions of which our country's policy of equal opportunities can be strengthened. For example, after the restoration of the Independent State in 1990, the first Government of the Republic of Lithuania was headed by a woman, but all 17 ministers and both vice-ministers were men. In the Cabinet of Ingrida Šimonytė, who heads the 18th Government of Lithuania, 6 of the 14 Cabinet members are women. We are happy that 4 ministers of this government are alumni of our University. By the way, only 4 rectors of the 11 heading Lithuanian state universities are women, said Rector Prof. Žalėnienė.
Miglė Mašanauskienė, Secretary General of the Lithuanian National Commission for UNESCO, said that for today's society, which is trying to assess the damage caused by the pandemic and recover, and which is experiencing a brutal war waged by Russia in Ukraine in its immediate neighborhood, women's leadership is more important than ever, based on wisdom, empathy, the ability to hear others and communicate a value position.
"The role of women is necessary in order to successfully foster a culture of peace, to create a more inclusive, emotionally healthy and resilient society based on the principle of the rule of law, democratic values." I am very happy that Lithuania is among the leaders of countries where women are brave and strong in international politics, but unfortunately, the numbers show that they are still a minority," said M. Mašanauskienė.
"The priority of gender equality is still not fully reflected in state management. There are women and men living in Lithuania. But out of 60 mayors, only 4 municipalities are headed by female mayors. There are 38 female members of the Seimas, which is only a third of the entire Seimas", observed Rugilė Butkevičiūtė, one of the founders of the organization, "Ribologija". - "Lithuania has only 2.8 million inhabitants, so it is extremely important to unveil the potential of every person, regardless of gender, to contribute to the creation and management of the state and the representation of Lithuania's interests in the international arena."
Aim - to Ensure Real, Equal Opportunities
European Parliament member Rasa Juknevičienė, signatory of the March 11 Act, and the first Minister of National Defense of Lithuania, received a lot of attention and questions from the audience.
"The understanding that our independence will be temporary, if Lithuania does not join NATO was a strong motivation for me to systematically work in the field of defense," said Juknevičienė. In her opinion, having a high profile, responsible position is costly in terms of not only effort, but health. Therefore, women are not inclined to persistently compete for those positions. However, the involvement of Lithuanian women in active activities in various fields is high, so from this point of view we are approaching the Scandinavians.
Discussing the motivation of women to pursue an international career, adviser to the President of the Republic of Lithuania Kristina Belikova and other women participating in the discussion noted the need to concentrate efforts against hate speech, discrimination based on gender and other obstacles to achieving gender equality on a national and global scale.
British Council in Lithuania Head Ona Marija Vyšniauskaitė, and MRU Law School Dean Prof. Lyra Jakulevičienė shared their experiences. They called on women not to remain silent when they feel discriminated against or their rights are violated.
"We won't get a nice office with big windows and a 'director's' chair by sitting in the last row and not asking questions," said Ona Marija Vyšniauskaitė.
As a small state, the involvement of representatives of Lithuania in the activities of important international organizations will always be difficult, if the state itself does not enunciate such a priority and does not develop special programs. Other countries have such programs, promoting a better representation of their country", said MRU Law School Dean Prof. Dr. Lyra Jakulevičienė.
The professor, who has extensive work experience in multilateral formats, pointed out that it is still not possible to ensure real, rather than formal, equal opportunities at the national level, so these problems are also transferred to international processes.
Women's contribution to the formation of foreign policy has been particularly prominent since the drafting and signing of the United Nations Charter in 1945. Then Eleanor Roosevelt and a group of women from all over the world contributed significantly to the preparation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - seeking to consolidate the principles of freedom, equality and non-discrimination. Since then, women have taken important leadership positions in international organizations to ensure the principles of gender equality, peace and human rights and equal opportunities for all to participate in decision-making. However, currently only 23% of women make up delegations to United Nations peacekeeping processes.
The organizers of this discussion were: Mykolas Romeris University, the Secretariat of the Lithuanian National Commission for UNESCO, the Women's Information Center, "Ribologija".
MRU Rector Prof. Žalėnienė's full speech is here.