Foreign Minister Paet: Estonia wants to protect and promote women’s rights

One of Estonia's humanitarian and development aid priorities is the protection and promotion of women's rights, Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said at the UN General Assembly’s special session of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD).

"In order for there to be a change for the better, access to education and health care must be improved," the Foreign Minister added.

According to the Minister, the Estonian Foreign Ministry supports a number of humanitarian activities aimed at improving the situation of women.

"Among other things, we support improving the quality of women's health-related education in the Dara-I-Sufi Balla and Dara-I-Sufi Payan districts and Herat, Balkh, Nangarhar and Faryab provinces of Afghanistan," Paet said.

"A project to combat forced marriages has been launched in Yemen and an effort to raise awareness about reproductive health is ongoing in Kyrgyzstan," he added.

According to the Minister, since 2010, the Foreign Ministry has contributed 1.65 million euros in support of the protection and promotion of women's rights.

"Among other things, Estonia has contributed to the more efficient implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325, which deals with improving the situation of women in armed conflicts," Paet said.

"No one should remain indifferent about violence against women – this issue must remain topical as long as violence continues to occur," he added.