Hanover. 19th July, 2014. The state assembly of the women’s union of the CDU party was all about the shared support for women by women and men this year. In attendance of the prime minister of Lower Saxony, David McAllister, Dr. Diana Kisro-Warnecke, chairwoman of the union for women in management, advocated not only for a better integration of working women in our society but specifically addressed the two main parties responsible for change: Women and men. The managing director argued in favor of overcoming prejudices and building bridges between genders. Most importantly, she appealed to women to support each other. That concerns issues like part-time jobs, the lack of women in executive positions, the access to the labor market and job opportunities as well as the handling of the maternity leave.

These topics and their relevance to past and future engagements were discussed in detail at the yearly state assembly of the delegates of the women’s union. Besides the prime minister, also the two state chairwomen of the women’s union Mrs. Krüger-Pöppelwiehe and Frau Motschmann, as well as Mayor Scholz attended the conference. More importantly: many active women and mother joined the high ranking guests in discussing the relevant issues at hand. Even the scattered men and fathers were able to notice that the call for support was already well accepted and internalized by the present women – the conference was held in a welcoming, opening and integrative atmosphere, which enabled many constructive personal conversations and discussion on the engagement of the women’s union. Mrs. Dr. Diana Kisro-Warnecke commented: “I’m thrilled to have been given the opportunity to offer some new food for thought for the present women and men here. The opportunity to engage in conversations with the audience right from the podium describes the needed spirit for an interactive conference such as this and benefits me personally as well”.

Ulf Thiele, Dr. Diana Kisro-Warnecke, Veronika Kloppenborg, Gertrud Landwehr, Anita Pöhlking, Aygül Özkan