40 ELLE AUSTRALIA
POWER
PACK
This month, 83 mayors from
megacities around the world will
attend the C40 Mayors Summit
in Mexico City. In the lead-up, we
caught up with seven of them
– each extraordinary women
working to improve the
everyday lives of their fellow
citizens on social, economic
and environmental issuesANNE HIDALGO,
MAYOR OF PARIS, FRANCE
Age: 57 Education: Masters in social sciences
and diploma in employment and trade-union lawWHAT MADE YOU GO INTO POLITICS? My roots – my
grandfather was a Spanish Republican and
I come from an immigrant background –
and also because of my parents, a labourer
and a seamstress, who really wanted
their children to do well at school.
WHO ARE YOUR ROLE MODELS? Feminists
who made their mark on society.
Iconic figures like Simone Veil, both
a thinker and a politician, and
historical figures – revolutionaries like
Rosa Luxemburg and Clara Zetkin.
WHAT PROBLEMS DO YOU FACE IN YOUR CITY? The first is
public childcare. We need to make additional facilities
available so we can offer more places in nurseries for
infants and toddlers to help take the weight off
parents’ shoulders. The second challenge concerns
providing older children with extracurricular activities,
since very few working parents can pick up their
children at 4.30pm. Work and access to employment
are also important issues.
WHAT ABOUT GENDER EQUALITY IN YOUR COUNTRY?
Women are still stigmatised and stereotyped in
how they’re represented in society. We still suffer
from discrimination and there’s a lot of resistance
to the idea of women moving up in society.
Equality isn’t a reality yet.WHAT ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT STEPS TO COMBATING
CLIMATE CHANGE? We need to allow cities to take
action; cities are where most greenhouse gases are
produced, and they’re also where we can find the
fastest, most innovative solutions.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO YOUNG WOMEN TODAY?
You set your own limits. Barriers are made to be lifted.Anne Hidalgo’s mantra:
“‘Wanderer, there is
no path, the path is
made by walking’- Antonio Machado.”
Karin Wanngård’s
mantra:“How
difficult
can it be?”
KARIN WANNGÅRD,
MAYOR OF STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN
Age: 41 Education: Studied human resourcesWHAT MADE YOU GO INTO POLITICS? I got involved in the
Swedish Social Democratic Youth League at 14 and
began attending its courses every weekend, which
were much more fun than school.
WHO ARE YOUR ROLE MODELS? My mother will always be
my biggest role model. She raised us to become
independent individuals. Working at a newspaper,
she was also politically active and engaged in work
for the trade union.
WHAT PROBLEMS DO YOU FACE IN YOUR CITY? Although
my city has had positive development, not all
citizens have benefitted from it. There are big
inequalities if you look at education levels and
unemployment. Not everyone is given the same
opportunity in life.
WHAT ARE THE MAIN ISSUES WOMEN FACE IN YOUR COUNTRY?
Combining family and career – how does one
manage to work full-time, and sometimes more,
when you have young children? That’s a difficult
equation and the solution must be based on
good childcare.
WHAT ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT STEPS TO COMBATING
CLIMATE CHANGE? The best thing you can do as an
individual is listen to [environmental science]
professor Johan Rockström. Do what you can is his
message. The city of Stockholm has set the
ambitious goal to be fossil fuel-free by 2040.
WHAT’S THE BEST ADVICE YOU HAVE
EVER RECEIVED? One of my
predecessors told me, “No
question is too small for me
to handle when it arrives
on my table.”