site.btaParliament Speaker Tells New York Meeting that Bulgaria Is Making Progress towards Gender Equality

Parliament Speaker Tells New York Meeting that Bulgaria Is Making Progress towards Gender Equality

New York/Sofia, August 30 (BTA) - Addressing the 10th Meeting of
 Women Speakers of Parliament in New York on Saturday, Bulgarian
 National Assembly Chairperson Tsetska Tsacheva said gender
equality policies are a measure of democracy and should always
be present on the agenda of any institution. Gender equality,
and innovative ways of promoting it, is the main topic at the
meeting, which has brought together 32 of the world's 46 women
speakers of parliament - the largest number to ever come
together. The event has been organized by the
Inter-Parliamentary Union and is taking place at UN
Headquarters.

In her address, Tsacheva discussed gender equality from the
perspective of European experience, the National Assembly Press
Service said. She stressed the need to eliminate the difference
between the pay rates for men and women and improve workplace
standards, considering that women remain typically employed in
low-paid positions.

Bulgaria has made progress towards gender equality in recent
years, she went on to say. One of the steps has been to devise a
 gender equality bill. The National Assembly has approved a
proposal by the Labour and Social Policy Ministry to allow
flexible working hours to accommodate the needs of working
women, she said. "With these changes, the modern working woman
will be supported and facilitated in investing time in her
family, education and career," she said.

The Bulgarian government has proposed integrated health and
social care services which can be provided in a home environment
 as well, thus helping women to look after dependent family
members, Tsacheva said.