The Organising Committee of the Eurasian Women’s Forum and the EWF Council held a meeting.
Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko chaired a joint meeting of the Organising Committee of the 4th Eurasian Women’s Forum and the EWF Council under the Federation Council. The event was organised by the Federation Council and the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly and conducted by the Roscongress Foundation.
According to the Federation Council Speaker, the 4th Eurasian Women's Forum was a remarkable, high-profile and highly productive event. Valentina Matvienko stressed that the speech delivered by Russian President Vladimir Putin was a key highlight of the forum, which set the tone for its proceedings.
“We have once again witnessed the attention, respect, and enthusiasm, with which the forum participants greeted the head of state.”
She noted that several records were broken this year, including the number of participants and the number of events held at the forum and ahead of it.
“We brought together women leaders from 126 countries, representing 21 international organisations. We gathered a multi-million audience online. Over six million people watched the streaming in VKontakte alone, and almost 500,000 viewers watched the plenary session.”
Valentina Matvienko said that a wide array of topics was covered, including the economy, culture, sports, and international cooperation. She reminded the participants about the meeting of the Women’s 20 and the 1st BRICS Women’s Forum.
“At the forum, we awarded the winners of ten competitions and launched two new ones, including the Green Future competition, which is our joint initiative with Rosatom.”
The Federation Council Speaker noted that the forum also served as an important platform for bilateral meetings, where a number of agreements on cooperation and the promotion of international ties were signed.
“We are currently working on the Final Document of the forum. We will send it to the UN, leading international organisations, heads of state and parliaments, and participants in the BRICS Summit.”
The Federation Council Speaker also said that preparations for the 5th Eurasian Women’s Forum have begun:
“There is a proposal to extend beyond the Taurida Palace, considering the forum’s busy programme. I am confident that, together with our partners and the St Petersburg authorities, we will be able to expand the list of the venues, thus making the forum programme more concise and time-efficient without compromising on the quality of work, and possibly hold all the events over the course of two days. Of course, the Taurida Palace will remain the “headquarters” of the Eurasian Women’s Forum,” Ms Matvienko explained.
She also recalled that the initiatives voiced at the forum included establishing the title of Ambassador of the Eurasian Women’s Forum, launching the Woman Leader programme stream for the BRICS countries, and elevating the Women for the Preservation of Traditions festival to the international level.
Member of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs Yelena Afanaseva, Coordinator of the EWF Project “Russian women abroad,” reported on the results of the meeting of the Assembly of the World Federation of Russian-Speaking Women.
Russian Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Yekaterina Priyezzheva highlighted the outcomes of the Health and Beauty Festival.
“We had the opportunity to present Russian products to a wide audience at the EWF,” she said.
Head of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency Veronika Skvortsova, Director General of the Russian Export Centre Veronika Nikishina, Coordinator of the EWF Council project “Women's health — welfare of the nation” Oksana Drapkina, Coordinator of the project “The Eurasian Women’s Forum community in the digital environment” Elina Isagulova, and Chair of the Board of the Russian Franchising Association Agnessa Osipova delivered speeches at the meeting.
EWF Council Chair Galina Karelova believes that the previous, 4th Eurasian Women’s Forum will be continued and developed into new projects and initiatives:
“Twelve comprehensive international agreements have been concluded, covering everything from joint scientific research in biomedicine and the creation of joint production of pharmaceutical substances to cooperation with women parliamentarians from Africa and Arab countries in more than ten areas.”
According to her, the forum has boosted cooperation with the BRICS countries due to the 1st BRICS Women’s Forum on the sidelines of the EWF 2024.
“The initiatives that must be implemented in the near future include expanding the geography of the BRICS Women’s Business Alliance to include several CIS countries, hosting an international competition of environmental women’s projects in the BRICS countries and the “Talented woman in modern industry” competition, as well as involving schools in the BRICS countries in the “Embassy of the future” children’s diplomacy project,” the senator said.
According to Galina Karelova, the atmosphere of the 4th Eurasian Women’s Forum demonstrated that representatives of various countries all wished to continue working together.
“The forum has enormous potential to strengthen the role of women across various spheres, but above all, to foster cooperation between countries based on partnership and trust,” she noted.
In conclusion, projects coordinators from the EWF Council and forum participants received letters of appreciation from the Federation Council Speaker.