WELSH Assembly Member for Newport East Dame Rosemary Butler travelled to Italy this week to speak to regional leaders from across Europe about her campaign to get more women involved in democracy.

Speaking at the Plenary session of the Conference of European Regional Legislative Assemblies – or CALRE – in Milan on Friday, October 23, the Labour presiding officer spoke about her Women in Public Life – or #POWiPL – campaign.

Dame Rosemary, who is stepping down from her seat in the Assembly in next May’s election, launched the campaign in 2012 as part of an effort to improve the representation of women in the Senedd and other democratic bodies.

At a previous CALRE Plenary session in Galicia, Spain, last year she agreed to chair a Gender Equality Working Group, which met at the Assembly in June this year.

Dame Rosemary said: “I believe that the National Assembly for Wales has a good story to tell when it comes to the representation of women in democracy.

“An important part of the remit of the Assembly’s Women in Democracy Caucus, which I established last year, was to seek and impart best practice, especially from other parliaments.

“My aim through this working group has therefore been to discuss and exchange this best practice with fellow CALRE members in a range of areas.”

Areas discussed by the working group have included measures put in place by parliaments and political parties to ensure women are represented at a range of levels as well as examining whether a strong female representation has a measurable impact on policy.

The CALRE is an umbrella organisation of regional parliaments from across Europe and includes representatives from 74 legislatures from the UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Austria, Portugal and Finland.

It was formed in 1997 and meets every October or November for an annual Plenary session, while its steering committee meets several times a year.