Women Parliamentarian Network Meeting in Helsinki - 30 November 2021

The Helsinki Policy Forum Women Parliamentarians Network (WPN) convened its first in-person meeting in Helsinki on Tuesday 30 November, 2021. Women parliamentarians gathered from Egypt, Finland France, Iraq, Ireland, Libya, Tunisia, and the United Kingdom to discuss the role of women in political decision making and leadership.The WPN was established by the Finnish Foreign Minister at UNGA 2018 and brings together high-level women officials and parliamentarians from Europe and the Gulf-MENA region with government officials, and experts from international institutions such as the WHO, UN, US State Department and the G20. It was founded to respond to a need expressed by women parliamentarians in the Gulf-MENA region for a space to meet regularly with parliamentarians from the region and Europe to exchange views, build relationships and identify policy recommendations.  In response to the pandemic, the WPN convened regularly online to explore the specific implications of Covid-19 for women. This meeting provided an opportunity to build on virtual dialogues and to exchange perspectives on regional and European developments. The meeting provided an opportunity to develop relationships between Parliamentarians engagement in the Network and participants identified recommendations and discussed and plan future activities of the WPN for 2022.