The 5^th UfM Ministerial Meeting on Strengthening the Role of Women in Society was held on October 26^th in Madrid. It was hosted by the Minister of Gender Equality of Spain, Irene Montero, with the presence of the European Commissioner for Equality, Helena Dalli and the UfM Secretary General, Nasser Kamel.

UfM Member States adopted a Declaration with concrete and operational recommendations, actions and measures focused on four priority areas: enhancing legal frameworks; improving women’s access to leadership in public life and decision-making; raising women´s participation in economic life and combatting and preventing violence against women and girls.

The Ministerial was followed by the High-Level Conference on Women for the Mediterranean which provided an opportunity for exchange of experiences, good practices and lessons learned on women empowerment and women’s rights in a regional-crisis context. The discussions contributed to shape the Road Map for the implementation of the Ministerial Declaration and the regional agenda for the years to come, particularly towards an effective and inclusive gender equality policy, based on a gender transformative approach and the mobilisation of public and private actors in the region.