1. Helena Dalli is a Maltese politician who served as European Commissioner for Equality from 1 December 2019 to 30 November 2024.
14 Facts About Helena Dalli
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At 17, Helena Dalli won Miss Malta, and represented the country at Miss World 1979.
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Helena Dalli subsequently appeared in the 1985 movie Final Justice as a policewoman who partners with the protagonist.
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In 1996, Helena Dalli was elected to the Parliament of Malta and appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Women's Rights in the Office of the Prime Minister.
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Helena Dalli was re-elected during the five subsequent elections, making her the second most elected woman in Maltese political history.
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In 2015, Helena Dalli led the process for the establishment of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, which the UN now commemorates annually on 11 February.
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Helena Dalli was instrumental for the restructuring of the Malta Medicines Authority.
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Helena Dalli was re-elected from two districts in the 2017 general election.
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Helena Dalli set up an LGBTIQ Consultative Council, a Consultative Council for Women's Rights and a Forum on Integration Affairs.
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In 2019, Helena Dalli was made the European Commissioner for Equality in the von der Leyen Commission.
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Helena Dalli's Portfolio included leading on EU implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, developing a European 'gender strategy' to further improve women's rights by improving pay transparency and ensuring implementation of the Women on Boards Directive, ensuring implementation of the Work-Life Balance Directive, exploring the addition of 'violence against women' to the list of EU crimes and supporting EU accession to the Istanbul Convention.
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Helena Dalli holds a PhD in Political Sociology from the University of Nottingham, and lectures in Economic and Political Sociology, Public Policy, and Sociology of Law at the University of Malta.
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In 2016, Helena Dalli was the first Maltese nominee and winner of the European Diversity Award for her work in human rights and equality at the local and international level.
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In 2019, Helena Dalli was presented, on behalf of Malta, with the Diversa Internacional award by the Spanish Association of Lawyers and Lawyers against Hate Crimes, in recognition of her work for equality on both the domestic and international fronts.