Netherlands
From the Global Coordinator of Progressive Alliance
Dear Lilianne,
Congratulations to your election as new leader of PvdA!
Your are the first women in your party’s history and as you said in your speech on Saturday “certainly not the last”.
We had the opportunity to meet at PvdA Congress in 2017 in Utrecht and I hope that we will be able to renew meeting soon after your elections in March.
In Progressive Alliance we are very proud that we can count on PvdA being part of our driving forces and I appreciate personally the support given by Kati Piri and Marja Bijl, the co-chair of our gender working group.
In these particular times of multiple crisis we need strong progressive leaders, in particular women, who can and will make the difference. I am convinced that you will show leadership in your party, in your country and in Europe.
Let me please know if there is anything Progressive Alliance can support in your campaign.
Good luck for the elections!
In solidarity,
Conny Reuter
From the Co-Chair working group on gender – Progressive Aliance
On the 23d of January the party congress of the PvdA (Dutch Labour Party) elected Lilianne Ploumen as next party leader. She is the first woman in the history of the party to hold this position.
On behalf of the Progressive Alliance working group on gender, we would like to congratulate her with this election, we are proud to welcome another female leader in our family of progressives.
Lilianne Ploumen was Minister for Foreign Trade and Development and is currently a member of parliament. She is known for her great involvement and successful commitment to women’s rights around the world. Especially the launch of the ‘She Decides’ campaign to continue financing family planning through UN programmes after the Trump administration pulled the US from it, showed her extensive engagement to the feminist cause. Her courage, her expertise and her long-term commitment to fight injustice, have made the difference and contributed to improve the visibility and implementation of our social democratic values.
She has always been a strong ally of Progressive Alliance and we are looking forward to continuing our common fight. Her new position as Political Leader will not only be crucial for making sure that progressive and feminists’ policies are further created in her party, but also to ensure the promotion of women within it.
We will follow her activities with pride, as a strong representative of the progressive family, giving concrete meaning and strength to our efforts in strengthening gender equality and women’s rights around the globe.
Marja Bijl
