Representation of women and men 50%-50% in all appointments of the president of the Republic is promoted by the independent candidate for the presidency of the Republic Nikos Christodoulidis in his governance program.
Mr. Christodoulidis today published his proposals for the promotion of Equality between Women and Men. These are a total of 50 proposals and are divided into 8 policies, which are posted on his website, specifically at www.christodoulides2023.com/pylones/politikes/isotita/ under the title "Promoting Equality between Women and Men".
A characteristic of Nikos Christodoulides' program is that equality between men and women is treated horizontally in all policies.
Within the framework of the overall implementation of the actions, the institution of the Equality Commissioner is upgraded, strengthened and institutionalized, who has a coordinating role in the formulation of policies and implements actions having the role of horizontal implementation of the government's policies. In this context, the gender dimension is integrated in all Ministries and Deputy Ministries and in their policies.
Some of the main suggestions are the following:
• Appointments related to the powers of the President of the Republic will be 50%-50% women and men,
• Promotion of equal participation in all technical committees and working groups related to the Cyprus issue,
• Creation and strengthening of equality units in each Ministry with exclusive terms of mandate to integrate the gender dimension into policies, as well as internal policies of Ministries and Deputy Ministries,
• Integrating the gender dimension at all levels of the state budget preparation process,
• Creation of a smart application for women and victims of domestic violence, so that they can turn to the competent authorities for immediate help and support,
• Increase of maternity leave from 18 to 22 weeks and paid paternity leave to 8 weeks, which may supplement maternity leave,
• Subsidizing and extending the opening hours of childcare centers for childcare, including operation during the summer months, and promoting incentives to private companies or business groups to create childcare centers for working parents,
• Encouraging and partially subsidizing female students who wish to pursue professions in the STEAM sector through the strengthening of cooperation with Higher Education,
• Reinforcement of national prevention programs based on international standards. As a priority we are considering expanding coverage for the screening program for gynecological cancers and breast cancer,
• Upgrading the content of our educational programs with actions that promote empathy, gender equality, prevention of violence against women, consent and respect,
• Appointment, in accordance with the standards of the EU and other Member States, of an Ambassador/Ambassador for Gender Equality and reinforcement with staff of the gender mainstreaming unit at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.