The Women who make a difference’s event was held at Palazzo Borromeo on Thursday 21 July in partnership with the Marisa Bellisario Foundation.
After the institutional greetings of Ambassador Francesco Di Nitto took place a dialogue between women who have achieved important milestones in their professional careers, so much so that they have reached top positions in the institutional and entrepreneurial fields: Barbara Jatta, Director of the Vatican Museums; Gabriella Palmieri Sandulli, State Advocate General; Simonetta Matone, former Deputy Attorney General at the Court of Appeal of Rome; Olga Urbani, CEO of Urbani Tartufi. Among the guests there was also the young scientist and researcher Teresa Fornaro, the first and only Italian chosen by NASA to lead one of the three research groups of Perseverance, the probe arrived on Mars. The debate was moderated by Silvia Vaccarezza, TG2 journalist.
As the President Lella Golfo recalled in her speech, the Marisa Bellisario Foundation has been operating for 34 years with the mission to enhance the merit and talent of women, making the world of the economy and institutions aware of the achievement of conditions of real equal opportunities. For this purpose, it has established the “Mela d’Oro” Award, which is awarded every year to women who have distinguished themselves in the profession, in management, in the economy and in the social sector at a national and international level. Women who have become real role models for the new generations.
During the debate, it was recognised that significant progress has been made towards gender equality in the last years, but there was agreement on the need to remove the obstacles that still hinder the achievement of a complete fulfilment in the professional field: female participation in the job market turns out to be lower than that of men, especially in science. It was also agreed that women’s empowerment represents an opportunity for country’s development and society’s cultural growth.
The importance that the theme of women’s participation has for the current pontificate and for the path of openness to women that the Church itself is following under the impulse of Pope Francis was also underlined. Pope Francis has appointed for the first time a woman as director of the Vatican Museums and, more recently, three women – including a lay woman – as members of the Dicastery for Bishops: they will be involved in the selection process of the new diocesan pastors.
The event was broadcast live on our Facebook page. To review the video click here.
