1. Gloria Ghéquière
Politics was not a topic discussed at the kitchen table for Gloria. Her parents had other worries: making ends meet at home was difficult, problems and debts were piling up. At an early age, she saw that for those already struggling, the system often got in the way rather than solving anything. These were problems that were out of their control, and which could only be solved by decent policies. Het waren problemen waar ze zelf weinig vat op hebben, en die enkel opgelost kunnen worden door een deftig beleid.
After her studies, Gloria therefore decided to take the step into politics. She threw herself into the issue of social dumping in the transport sector, succeeding in helping to bring about a European agreement for fairer wages and better social protection for drivers. During the COVID crisis, she fought for a fair distribution of vaccines, including for poor countries.
Today, Gloria has taken on healthcare, tackling another social problem: the numerous drug shortages. Because it is really not acceptable that people have to try several pharmacies to finally find their medicine. So, Gloria is the driving force behind a major European initiative in which countries help each other out by exchanging medicines. She helps ensure that more medicines are produced in Europe again, so that we are less dependent on other countries like China and India.
To work, to persevere, and never to give up, even when things get difficult. These are the values that Gloria was given at home. And today she puts them into use to solve real problems for the people.