Vigdís Prize award ceremony

Council of Europe, Strasbourg (24 June 2024)

Speech by Theodoros Rousopoulos

President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

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Dear President, Minister, candidates, members of the Panel, colleagues and friends,

I should like to begin my address by quoting the Icelandic poet Hulda, whose words are written at the entrance of the museum dedicated to Vigdís Finnbogadóttir in Reykjavik:

“Mother Grey Goose, lend me wings,
so that I may fly, south across the sea”.

This poem may be read as an exhortation for young women to explore the world and make an impact on it, precisely as Vigdís did all her life.

Today, I am extremely happy and honoured to award the first edition of the Vigdís Prize of the Parliamentary Assembly for Women’s Empowerment.

A prize devised to honour and reward outstanding initiatives promoting the empowerment of women in all their diversity, with a broad remit ranging from achievements in gender equality, in equal access to participation and decision making, to championing women’s opportunities and helping them to take their place in society.

I should like to express my heartfelt thanks to the Republic of Iceland, eminently represented today by its President and its Minister of Social Affairs and Labour Market.

Thank you for having taken up this idea with enthusiasm, and for agreeing to lend the name and spirit of the first woman elected president of your country – and indeed of the world! -, Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, to the prize.

My sincere thanks to the Icelandic Government for providing the 60 000€ prize money, and for bringing a very beautiful and symbolic work of art to the Council of Europe.

The trophy is named “Kvika”, which is a feminine word meaning lava, and symbolises strength, resilience and adaptability.

It will stay in Strasbourg as a reminder of what we aim to achieve with this Prize.

Last year in Reykjavik, on the eve of the Council of Europe’s 4^th Summit, our Assembly decided it was time to do more to promote women’s rights, and to fully recognise women as equals, in our lives and in our societies.

On Women’s Day in March this year, the chair of our Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination, Mariia Mezentseva, and I, recalled in a joint statement that one of the key challenges to achieving the sustainable development goal of gender equality by 2030, is the lack of political and financial investment.

I believe we are doing a lot towards this investment with the Vigdís Prize.

The Council of Europe, and indeed the Parliamentary Assembly, is the birthplace of the most comprehensive and far-reaching treaty in the world aiming to end violence against women and domestic violence, the Istanbul Convention.

And ending violence is where true equality and empowerment begin, as equality is the antidote to violence.

The Vigdís Prize created by this Assembly and the Government of Iceland will add to the Organisation’s tools for accelerating and attaining equality.

The award-winners will be champions of empowerment, showing how they have empowered themselves and others.

They will inspire confidence and give hope to women everywhere in the world.

I would like to congratulate all the 123 candidates for the first edition of the Prize.

The stories told by their sponsors in their applications are truly inspiring and it was really difficult to make a choice among all these moving examples.

Of course very special congratulations to the three shortlisted candidates, here with us today:

-      the Feminoteka Foundation from Poland,

-      the Irida Women's Center from Greece and

-      Ms Pascuala López López from Mexico.

You all deserve to be here today, and you all have our deepest admiration for your work, your courage and resilience.

My thanks also to the selection panel, for your thorough and thoughtful examination of the nominations, for the stimulating discussions we had in Reykjavik and in Strasbourg, for your convictions and your clear positions.

Thank you to our dear Secretary General, Despina Chatzivassiliou-Tsovilis, without whose determination and positive thinking this Prize would not exist.

You are also, dear Despina, a truly inspiring woman.

Finally, I would like to send our deepest thoughts of admiration and utter respect to Vigdís Finnbogadóttir herself.

Vigdís could not be with us today, but I am sure that she is following this ceremony with great interest.