‘Here’s to strong women’ says Langley City mayor

On Monday, March 8, International Women’s Day, Langley City mayor Val van den Broek opened the regular afternoon meeting of council by making a statement in praise of strong women.

“I know I’m very grateful for all the amazing women in my life that lift me up,” van den Broek said.

It was time, van den Broek said, to say no.

“No more stigma, no more silence, no more stereotypes, no more discrimination, no more systematic barriers, no more gender norms, and no more violence against women and girls,” van den Broek declared.

“Choose to challenge and make a commitment to women everywhere to stand up for human rights and join in to raise our voices for an equal future,” the mayor continued.

“Here’s to strong women.”

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This year, the theme for International Women’s Day was “women in leadership: achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world,” to celebrate the efforts by women and girls around the world to shape a more equal future and recover from the pandemic.

Women are still underrepresented in public life and decision-making, as shown in a recent report by the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General.

It shows women are heads of state or government in just 22 countries, and only one in four “national parliamentarians” are women.

At the current rate of progress, the UN estimates gender equality among heads of government will take another 130 years to achieve.

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