Baiba Braže at the Women Foreign Ministers’ Meeting: Latvia will continue standing up for women’s equality and rights protection – women’s voices count

On 19 and 20 September 2024, during her working visit to Toronto, Canada, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Baiba Braže, took part in a Women Foreign Ministers’ Meeting co-hosted by the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, and the Jamaican Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Kamina Johnson Smith, and together with 14 other women ministers from various regions worldwide exchanged views on women’s equality issues.

The Foreign Minister thanked the Canadian Foreign Minister, Melanie Jolie, for her initiative to hold a meeting for women foreign ministers. Baiba Braže underscored Canada’s contribution to promoting the theme of Women, Peace and Security worldwide, including support in the development process of the National Action Plan of Latvia on Women, Peace and Security. The Minister underlined to the women foreign ministers present that Women, Peace and Security was one of Latvia’s priorities, especially in the United Nations. Latvia is a long-standing advocate of gender equality, education and the promotion of women’s participation, and recognises the crucial role of the UN Women, Peace and Security Agenda in ensuring international peace and sustainable development. Latvia will further devote its efforts to protecting women’s rights, including assisting victims of sexual violence in armed conflicts.

In the session titled Women in Public Spaces: Politics, Leadership and Governance, the Minister emphasized that women in Latvia were well represented in leadership positions, including political posts, thereby inspiring girls to dream and aspire to higher goals. Baiba Braže: “Gender equality is not measured only by the number of women in positions of authority. It is vital that women’s voices matter. Women politicians can and must apply their perspective, experience, knowledge and opinion to bring a constructive contribution to legislative and policy planning processes in the country.”

The session, Women Leaders in the Age of Disinformation, featured discussions on the fight against disinformation targeting women, including politicians and leaders. Minister Baiba Braže highlighted the importance of promoting media literacy, critical thinking and digital skills in this fight, in which Latvia has considerable expertise, including support for a number of technology-oriented training projects for young girls and women in African countries (South Africa and Cameroon).

To sum up the takeaway from the sessions – the protection of women’s rights must be promoted, including against gender-based violence in online spaces, as well as women’s active participation in politics and public life while also pursuing gender balance within the UN system. The Ministers expressed their concerns about the deterioration of women’s rights in Afghanistan and called on the Taliban regime to restore women’s rights to education and participation in public life.

Baiba Braže also met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Liberia, and the the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, for a discussion on bilateral relations and cooperation in international organisations. Baiba Braže congratulated Liberia's Foreign Minister on the 10th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations and thanked Liberia for its strong support to Ukraine, especially in international organizations.

The Minister gave interviews to the Toronto Star newspaper, the “Latvia in America” publication, and the CBC TV programme, Rosemary Barton Live.

Cover photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Canada