Education will always be key for the empowerment of women and girls - President

Delivering a keynote speech at the WPL Summit 2018, organised by Women Political Leaders Global Forum, President of Malta and Patron of the #Girl2Leader campaign, spoke of the urgency to widen the opportunities open for girls and young women, by empowering them to become women who lead.

President Coleiro Preca encouraged those present, to mobilise their resources and capacities, to make a difference in the lives of girls and young women, by creating a context for young women to share their aspirations and to build stronger networks, through the #Girl2Leader campaign, in the same way that The President’s Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society did last October when, in collaboration with Women Political Leaders Global Forum and Google, it organised the “I am Remarkable” workshops.

Quoting the Women’s Empowerment Global Survey, the President said that girls and young women all over the world, reported that they felt they had choices over their education, yet, they had the least control over their careers. Furthermore, this survey also states that many of the respondents in South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East still regard the struggle for fundamental human rights as their most urgent concern, which includes access to basic education.

It is through education, and empowerment, that the damaging culture of discrimination, abuse, harassment, inequalities, and social justice will end, thus also eliminating the harmful and reductive stereotypes, which the role of women has been reduced to.

The President said that girls and young women are essential stakeholders in the global journey towards positive change, further stating that, “we must set our girls on a journey in which they are given the same opportunities to thrive, and to reach their potential, just like our boys.”

President Coleiro Preca added that this is the soul and the spirit of the #Girl2Leader campaign – a campaign which is focused on enhancing the participation, the visibility, the inclusion, and the empowerment of girls and young women, across all levels of our diverse societies.

The President encouraged new strategies for the expansion of the #Girl2Leader campaign, with the aim of enriching the entire global family, affirming the need for inspiring examples of female leadership, to add to the efforts to create and to nurture equality, equity, justice and peace.