Vice President Leni Robredo on Monday, March 8, met with foreign ambassadors from Europe to talk about the Philippines’ shared advocacies with their countries in terms of women empowerment and gender equality, as well as the countries’ coronavirus initiatives and diplomatic relations.

The vice president was the guest of honor of Swiss Ambassador Alain Gaschen for a luncheon he hosted in commemoration of International Women’s Day.

Robredo is the country’s highest-ranking female official.

“It was a very productive time as we also discussed and shared our Covid-19 Response Initiatives and many other things concerning our shared advocacies and diplomatic relations,” she said in a Facebook post.

During the “working lunch,” Robredo said she and the ambassadors talked about “our initiatives on women empowerment and gender equality.”

Aside from Gaschen, Robredo also met with Ambassadors Bita Rasoulian of Austria, Jana Šedivá of Czech Republic, Saskia De Lang of the Netherlands, Anke Reiffenstuel of Germany, Grete Sillasen of Denmark, Michèle Boccoz of France, Harald Fries of Sweden, and Bjørn Jahnsen of Norway.

In an earlier message for International Women’s Day, Robredo called on women and allies to “answer the calls to leadership, face the trials of our time with resolve, and strive towards a fairer, kinder, more humane world, where no one is left behind.”

She said that “Because progress hinges not on the brilliance of a few, but in the sustained united effort of all.”

This is in line with this year’s official hashtag #ChooseToChallenge for the commemoration of women’s day.

The vice president has been busy these last couple of weeks accepting invitations and being paid courtesy calls by foreign dignitaries.

Earlier, she met with envoys from the United Kingdom, Canada, and Japan.