SOCIETY 372 /2017
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WOMEN AMBASSADORS<br />
INTERVIEW NEW ZEALAND<br />
Austria and New Zealand –<br />
Sisters in Spirit<br />
<strong>SOCIETY</strong> met with H.E. Nicole Roberton, Ambassador of New<br />
Zealand and interviewed her about the striking similarities<br />
between Austria and her home country.<br />
You are married and have<br />
two children – do you<br />
think that it is harder for<br />
female ambassadors to<br />
combine their professional<br />
careers and family life<br />
than for male ambassadors? Does your<br />
family live here in Vienna?<br />
I don’t think it is harder if you have<br />
good support mechanisms around you. I<br />
think it is a challenge for anybody who<br />
has commitments, whether that be children,<br />
partners or parents that they have<br />
to look after. Historically, the “caring”<br />
burden falls harder on women across all<br />
walks of life and all kinds of communities.<br />
For this reason I think it is very important<br />
that our employers, governments<br />
and institutions empower women by putting<br />
the structures in place – including<br />
childcare support – so that women can<br />
manage the different demands that lie on<br />
them. In my case it’s not difficult because<br />
I do have the right structures in place – I<br />
have help at home which makes a real difference.<br />
I have two children aged 11 and<br />
nine, who attend Vienna international<br />
School, and my husband has just arrived<br />
from finishing his job as the Ambassador<br />
in Egypt. He is now working long distance<br />
Fotos: <strong>SOCIETY</strong>/Pobaschnig<br />
68 | <strong>SOCIETY</strong> 2_<strong>2017</strong>
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