The island institution has promoted, through the Fons Mallorquí, a pioneering project that promotes women’s political leadership in Bolivia.
The award ceremony took place in Seville at the World Forum for Local Economic Development (WFLED), which was attended by local and regional governments, international experts and cooperation networks from all over the world.
The Consell de Mallorca has been internationally recognised for its pioneering programme ‘Les Elegides’ at the fourth edition of the PLATFORMAwards, European awards for best practices in decentralised cooperation. The ‘Les Elegides’ programme was awarded second prize among the many European projects submitted.
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The Consell de Mallorca, is internationally recognised for its programme ‘Les Elegides’
The Vice-President of the Consell de Mallorca and Councillor for Culture and Heritage, Antònia Roca, took part in the round table discussion ‘Les Elegides: Promoting the participation of women in local politics within the framework of decentralised cooperation’, in which she presented the project together with the secretary general of ACOBOL and councillor of Trinidad (Bolivia), Elena Gutiérrez; the deputy mayor of Anderlecht (Belgium), Julien Milquet, and the member of the European Committee of the Regions and fifth vice-president of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (France), Patrick Molinoz.
Roca stressed that ‘the Les Elegides project analyses the factors of discrimination that hinder the participation of women in political life, to reduce them and promote actions that guarantee their active presence in all territories, regardless of their condition, age, social class or origin’.
The Vice-President and Councillor explained that ‘leadership schools and networks of elected women have been set up: two tools that facilitate communication between them and strengthen their participation in decision-making’.
The main objectives of the programme, which is being developed between Mallorca and Bolivia, are to increase women’s political participation in local decision-making processes, improve the conditions for democratic debate on gender issues and promote the exchange of experiences between elected women from the north and the global south.
The main lines of action include training and the development of leadership capacities, the fight against violence against women in politics and the promotion of exchange networks and advocacy spaces for the design of more inclusive local public policies.
The award ceremony was also attended by the Minister of the Presidency, Antoni Fuster, and the President of the Cooperation and Solidarity Fund, Llorenç Perelló. All of them stressed that this recognition highlights the work of the Consell de Mallorca to consolidate ‘Les Elegides’ as an experience of transformative cooperation, focused on the active presence of women in politics and the strengthening of local leadership.
‘Les Elegides’ is part of the strategic axis of equality of the Fons Mallorquí de Solidaritat i Cooperació, which promotes the participation of women in local political life as an essential element for sustainable development. The initiative began with a diagnosis of the conditions of participation of local elected women in Bolivia, based on interviews, data analysis and an initial international exchange event held between Mallorca and La Paz.
Based on this work, a joint agenda for training, exchange and capacity building was designed, which has resulted in new municipal regulations, the creation of networks, workshops, meetings and concrete actions to protect women’s political rights.
PLATFORMA is a pan-European coalition of local and regional governments active in decentralised cooperation, supported by the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR), which brings together more than 100,000 local governments through 60 national associations.