site.btaMEP Elena Yoncheva Wins Grand Prix of 2024 Women Leaders Awards

Bulgarian MEP Elena Yoncheva received the grand prix of the 2024 Women Leaders Awards in recognition of her work in the European Parliament over the last five years, Yoncheva's office reported on Sunday. The awards are inspired by the values of equality and anti-discrimination and are aimed to popularize female leadership and entrepreneurship.

Yoncheva commented: "I have always maintained that it does not matter whether you are a man or a woman so long as you are devoted to what you do. Are we better than men? We are different, and this is our strength, our beauty. We should use it."

Women are far less represented than men at all levels of politics, according to EU data cited in the press release. Women account for just 33% of the members of national parliaments in the EU and 33% of the ministers in national governments. Only five member states have a female prime minister.

The gender pay gap in the EU is 12.7%, according to a European Commission analysis in 2021. The bloc's employment rate is 80% among men and 69.3% among women, the press release said. This is surprising, given that, as a rule, women have higher qualifications than men (more women hold higher education degrees than men).

"We in Europe think we are advanced, but there is still much room for improvement," Deputy Foreign Minister Elena Shekerletova said at the ceremony for awarding successful women leaders in various fields: education, business, culture, science, healthcare and civil activism. The event was organized by the Global Leaders platform under the auspices of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mariya Gabriel.