IT WAS great to see so many young women in the Senedd last week shadowing AMs in a new initiative by gender equality charity Chwarae Teg.

The #LeadHerShip programme, which saw two young women shadow me for the morning, is a great way of providing a behind-the-scenes glimpse into Welsh politics.

I have to admit it was a difficult decision to select the participants who shadowed me but they proved to be two great young women and I hope they will have been inspired by the day.

I was particularly pleased that one of the young women shadowing me, Lowri Sira-Parfitt who works for Aneurin Bevan University Health Board was from Torfaen.

I have been proud to represent Torfaen for 19 years, I hope the experience gave her a better understanding of how decisions are made in Wales.

The other young woman was Megan Burt, a sixth form student in Cardiff who plans to go on to study politics at university.

Again, I hope the experience gave her a different view of politics in Wales that she can take forward into her future studies.

I took Lowri and Megan to two meetings that I held in my role as the Chair of the Children, Young People and Education Committee.

The meetings were with Colegau Cymru (Colleges Wales) and the newly formed Obesity Alliance Cymru.

Among the issues we discussed were the public challenge of childhood obesity in Wales and the future of the EU’s training scheme Erasmus+ post Brexit.

I hope the time with me and the rest of the day at the Assembly gave Lowri and Megan a useful insight into how the National Assembly makes decisions that affect the lives of people in Wales.

And indeed, how they themselves can play a role in shaping the future.

It is something of a shame that having just marked 100 years of women getting the vote, we still need initiatives like this to encourage women to think about putting themselves forward for public or political roles.

But the figures speak for themselves.

Women are notably absent from decision-making roles.

In Wales, women only account for 28 per cent of our MPs and councillors and some 42 per cent of our Assembly Members.

And among Wales' top 100 businesses only two per cent of chief executives are women.

I hope all the young women that took part in the programme benefitted by gaining a better understanding about how decisions are made in Wales and how they can contribute to making sure that women's voices are listened to and that their needs are addressed.