Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandrokovic extended his best wishes for International Women's Day on Tuesday, saying that a lot of effort still needed to be made to achieve equality between women and men in all spheres of society.

“Today, when we observe International Women’s Day, we remember the long way women had to go to have their basic human and civil rights recognised. Although their struggle began in the early 20th century, a lot of effort still needs to be made to achieve equality between women and men in all social spheres,” Jandrokovic said in his message.

He said that Croatia was working on empowering women and protecting their rights, that gender equality was one of the highest values of the country’s constitutional system, and that the aim was to achieve a tolerant society with equal opportunities for all.

International Women’s Day is an opportunity to thank all women for their daily contribution to the social, economic and cultural property of our country. By protecting women from all forms of violence and discrimination, we are ensuring their full political, economic and social equality, Jandrokovic said, also highlighting the need to establish a balance between women’s family life and work.

He concluded by quoting Pope Francis as saying in his New Year’s message that “since mothers give life and women keep this world, let us all make greater efforts to promote mothers and to protect women,” calling for an end to violence against women.