This forum is the largest international platform that brings together women leaders from all continents of the planet to discuss their role in the modern world.
In his speech, Vladimir Putin stressed that the forum’s authority is constantly growing. “Your voice is heard and taken into account by the governments of different countries. Your recommendations are taken into account by the main international organizations. I repeat, this participation and active work are extremely important for the processes of building a multipolar, fair and truly free world,” the Head of State said.
Humanity faces serious challenges on all continents and they can only be solved together, taking into account the interests of each, and the forum also helps to achieve this, Putin said. The President also said that he had a telephone conversation with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and conveyed his greetings to the participants of the forum.
Putin noted that the forum is attracting more and more participants each year. “This year, female leaders from 126 countries of the world came to St. Petersburg,” he said, adding that delegations from all regions of Russia are also present here. “Russian women reveal the soul of Russia: its beauty, its attractiveness, its warmth, its mercy and its spiritual generosity,” the Russian leader stressed. According to Putin, this forum provides an opportunity to show and tell a wide female audience around the world that Russia is an open and hospitable country.
The President of the Russian Federation stated that all countries need equal and indivisible security. “Russia has been calling for many years to unite in order to discuss and adopt such principles. I am convinced that you support our initiatives and will be their guides in your countries,” the Head of State addressed the participants of the forum.
In his speech, Putin noted that women know how to combine tenderness, hard work and beauty. “They have a secret here that is impossible for men to decipher,” he said. Putin added that women in Russia work in almost all fields. “Women’s entrepreneurship is developing rapidly: last year alone, the number of female entrepreneurs increased by almost a third in Russia. Now six million women run their own businesses,” he said.
In conclusion, Putin wished all the participants of the forum fruitful work.
Before the President’s speech, the plenary session opened in an innovative way: with a duet between violinist Alisandra and a robot that repeated all her movements during the performance of Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons”. Then, girls in spectacular costumes symbolizing the countries participating in the European Women’s Federation paraded through the Duma Hall.
In her speech, the President of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko said that open dialogue between women aims to become an important part of positive changes, contributing to the humanization of international politics and solving the most pressing social and humanitarian problems. Indeed, despite linguistic and cultural differences, women from different parts of the world understand and trust each other perfectly, and share common goals and values. “By uniting, we can, as we say, move mountains – for our families, for our children, for our people and for the people of our planet,” the spokesperson of the Federation Council added.
She also drew attention to the fact that female politicians, entrepreneurs, scientists, experts, leaders of public projects and volunteers are taking part in the forum. “We live in a difficult, transitional time, full of conflicts and contradictions,” the lawmaker stressed, “before our eyes, the era of domination of the so-called golden billion is becoming a thing of the past. At this point, this stage is associated with increased international tension and turbulence.” Matvienko recalled the words of the Indian thinker Mahatma Gandhi, who warned about the mortal danger of “politics without principles, wealth without work, business without morality and science without humanity.”
The three-day programme of the forum includes strategic sessions, open meetings of international associations and the first women’s forum of the BRICS countries. Five thematic platforms are dedicated to the role of women in shaping a new agenda of peace and trust, in preserving traditions and cultural diversity, in developing the economy, technology and innovation.
