45 political proposals to move from formal equality to real equality
The fifth Interministerial Conference on Women's Rights, and also the last of the legislature, took place in Brussels on Tuesday 23 March 2024. In recent months, the conference’s work was based on the recommendations of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), with the help of a number of leading experts.
After eight months of work bringing together different levels of government, this Interministerial Conference on Women's Rights was an opportunity to adopt a set of 45 measures designed to move from formal equality to real equality in terms of women's rights. The 45 measures cover various areas related to women's rights including assistance and support mechanisms to help women break free from abusive relationships; greater judicial recognition of domestic violence; the rights of women from migrant backgrounds, especially with regard to abortion; violence against women with disabilities; improving women's careers and their representation in the political and public spheres, etc.
Participants also want the role of the Conference to be consolidated to strengthen cooperation between different policy levels and for civil society to be involved in future women's rights interministerial conference in advance. These various measures are supported by the ministers involved. They are important avenues for further exploration in the coming months.
The Interministerial Conference on Women's Rights was established in December 2019. Since September 2023, the rotating chairmanship has been held by Federal Secretary of State for Gender Equality Marie-Colline Leroy. In the next legislature, the presidency will again be taken up by the Brussels Region.
