Ideas, instruments and impulses for more women in local politics
Vienna (OTS) – There are still relatively few women represented in local authorities. In the presence of Federal Councilor Karin Keller-Sutter and the “First Ladies” Doris Schmidauer (A) and Elke Büdenbender (D), around 60 community leaders from Germany, Austria and Switzerland discussed ways and means of increasing the proportion of women at the international conference of women mayors in Schaffhausen in local politics.
Germany, Austria and Switzerland face the same challenge: only 15.5 percent (CH) or only around 10 percent (D, A) of all municipal councils are in female hands. The Swiss Association of Municipalities, the German Association of Cities and Municipalities, the Austrian Association of Municipalities and the EAF Berlin (European Academy for Women in Politics and Business) are taking counter action here. After 2022 in Vienna and 2023 in Berlin, the Swiss Association of Municipalities brought the third international mayoral conference this year to Schaffhausen, Switzerland. Mayors and mayors of the three countries discussed on June 20th and 21st in Schaffhausen how the political engagement of women in local authorities can be further strengthened. This time the focus was on promoting young talent and thus on the question of how young women can be inspired to take up office in local politics.
“The more women get involved in local politics, the more diverse the militia system becomes and the stronger Switzerland becomes,” he said Federal Councilor Karin Keller-Sutter. After the welcoming words by Federal Councilor Karin Keller-Sutter, Head of the Federal Council. Finance departments, and the Schaffhausen government councilor Dr. Cornelia Stamm Hurter, politicians, university lecturers and representatives of NGOs presented current studies, measures and best practice examples from the three countries.
The focus of the conference was not only the transfer of knowledge and exchange of experiences, but also the networking of community leaders beyond national borders. Mayors and mayors from Germany, Austria and Switzerland gave personal insights into their experiences in local politics and debated with representatives of the three local associations about the challenges, hurdles and opportunities in promoting young women in politics.
It became clear that female mayors and mayors form an essential pillar of local political support for young talent by taking on the role of “encouragers” and role models for other (young) women. In doing so, they directly strengthen and protect democracy as the foundation of our community of values. “Mayors are role models for young women. Their commitment strengthens our democracy, which should never be taken for granted,” emphasizes Elke Büdenbender, wife of the German Federal President and patron of the Conference of Mayors.
The expansion of mentoring programs and supra-regional networking also play an important role. Mayors and mayors are responsible for acting as mentors to specifically address the young female generation and, in the literal sense, to “take them with them”. The proximity of community leaders to the population allows young women to gain a realistic insight into the opportunities, but also the challenges, of being involved in local politics.
Last but not least, it is the general conditions that determine whether local political involvement is even possible. It is therefore extremely important to improve at the national level the conditions that stand in the way of greater commitment (especially) by women. “A higher proportion of women in local politics is not only a question of fairness, but also ensures new voices and ideas,” said Doris Schmidauer, wife of the Austrian Federal President and patron of the Conference of Mayors.
Based on the findings of the third conference of mayors, the three local associations have defined five recommendations for action:
- Promoting the networking of women who hold (local) political office
- Strengthening the role model function and public visibility of local politicians
- Raising awareness in local politics for greater gender equality
- Promoting mentoring programs and direct approaches to attract more (young) women to local politics
- Improving framework conditions to guarantee the compatibility of family, work and politics
Prominent patrons of the event were once again the two “First Ladies” from Germany and Austria, Elke Büdenbender and Doris Schmidauer. Due to the great interest far beyond the number of seats available on site, a live stream made it possible to follow the mayor’s conference in Schaffhausen online. The three municipal associations want to continue to maintain their cross-border cooperation in the future.
Information about the Austrian Association of Municipalities:
Since 1947, the Austrian Association of Municipalities has represented the local interests of 2,082 of the 2,093 Austrian municipalities and cities at the federal level and thus represents a total of around 70 percent of the Austrian population.
Questions & Contact:
Fabio Pacozzi, Head of Communications, Swiss Association of Municipalities, +41 79 826 59 66
Dr. Janina Salden, deputy. Press spokesperson, German Association of Cities and Municipalities, +49 173 350 71 30
Sotiria Peischl, press spokesperson, Austrian Association of Municipalities, +43 664 858 67 06