Tom Brake MP (centre) with NAWO Chair Annette Lawson (left) and youth panel in House of Commons
Tom Brake MP wants to stay in touch with a panel of young people who joined him in the House of Commons on 27 March to discuss the lives of rural women.
Representatives of the National Alliance of Women’s Organisations (NAWO) and other NGOs also took part in the discussion.
Mr Brake, the Liberal Democrats’ equalities spokesperson and a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Friends of the Bahá’ís praised the panel’s balance of practical suggestions and theoretical ideas.
He was particularly taken with the use of consultative decision-making to empower rural women and give them a voice. He noted that this is not a tick-box exercise, but enables the women to play a more active role in improving their lives and the conditions 0f their communities.
Mr Brake was also impressed by the lateral thinking of the young speakers and suggested that it might time for a men’s movement in the UK to enable boys to engage with gender equality issues.
The young speakers had been panellists at this year’s United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. They had previously discussed the empowerment of rural women with UK Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone MP at a seminar at the National Bahá’í Centre in London on 15 March.