Secretary of State Theresa Villiers took time out of her busy Ministerial schedule in late October to come to South Belfast and visit a leading women’s organisation.
 
Ms Villiers met staff from the Women’s Resource and Development Agency (WRDA), which is based in the University Quarter and supports women’s groups and networks across Northern Ireland while working to advance women’s equality. Guests from other women’s sector organisations were also present.
 
The meeting on 27th October provided a great opportunity for the WRDA to highlight its own work with local women and raise important current issues, such as the under-representation of women in public and political life and the pressing need to address this in light of the ongoing peace talks.
 
Ms Villiers was provided with a copy of a policy toolkit produced from the EU-funded Women and Peacebuilding Project led by WRDA, the Community Foundation Northern Ireland (CFNI), National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI) and Foundations for Peace Network. The toolkit is aimed at decision makers and is specifically designed to show them how to incorporate women’s views into their work.
 
After a very productive hour of discussion, the meeting rounded off with talk of possible initiatives for positive action to redress gender imbalance at both local and regional governmental level, as well as within the political parties themselves.
 
WRDA Director Anne McVicker said, “We were pleased to have the opportunity to discuss such important and pressing issues with Ms Villiers. We feel strongly that there needs to be more female role models in political life as it would make politics more inclusive and transparent.
 
“Actions by Governments and political parties in NI should tackle the under-representation of women and build women's leadership and visibility to enrich democracy, policy debate and decision-making. When considering strategies to do so we need to ensure that it applies to all women, including those from culturally diverse backgrounds and disadvantaged communities.”
 
WRDA plans to maintain an ongoing dialogue with the Secretary of State to ensure that women’s voices are heard by decision makers at the highest level.

Secretary of State Theresa Villiers with the Women’s Resource and Development Agency team. Ms Villiers paid a visit to WRDA in late October for a lengthy discussion on the current issues facing local women. Pictured from left to right are Lea Braithwaite, Orlaith Hendron, Secretary of State Theresa Villiers, Anne McVicker, Geraldine Burns, Isobel Loughran and Katherine Robertson.