A municipal plan for gender equality: The case of the City of Naples

1
A municipal plan for gender equality The case
of the City of Naples

• Mita Marra, PhD
• CNR University of Salerno
• Italy

2

• Background
• Underlying rationale
• Principles
• Strategy of intervention
• Strenghts weaknesses
• Issues of governance
• Whats next?

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Background

• Very low female participation rate to labor
  market (not even reaching 30 percent)
• Decreasing fertility rate
• Increasing poverty among women
• Emerging new socio-economic risks (low education,
  low professional qualification, low-paid jobs,
  lone parent families, aging) with
  intergenerational implications

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Background

• Mayor is a very actively engaged woman (mother
  and grandmother), a seasoned politician
• Network of women, who have actively involved
  within social movements during the 68 and have
  promoted affermative actions and social services
  over the 80 and 90

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Underlying rationale

• The plan is part of an economic and social
  cohesion effort
• At the regional level through EU Structural Fund
  programming for 2007-2013
• At the national level through integrated actions
  undertaken by the Equal opportunities and human
  rights Ministry
• At the European level within the Road Map for
  Equality between men and women

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Underlying rationale

• The municipal plan for gender equality creatively
  specifies with initiatives and projects those
  more general axes of intervention defined within
  the Regional Operational Program
• This reinforces political committment,
  administrative support, and allows for reciprocal
  monitoring and learning

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Principles

• Participation
• Held forum with different stakeholders to assess
  needs and contribute to programming
• Continuity
• Built upon previously enacted initiatives
  especially for social services
• Decentralization
• Relying on social services and political
  representation delegated at the neighborhood
  level
• Institutional cooperation
• Close programming with the regional government
• Partnership
• Involvement of third sector for service delivery

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Strategy of intervention

• Genders generations
• trasfer culture of difference, raise awareness of
  identity among the youth, promote cultural
  identities and dialogue
• Ethical relationships among genders policies
  against violence
• Educate to emotions and sentiments, deconstruct
  machist culture, stereotypes and build a neutral
  language
• Employability care
• Improve employability, promote new and old
  compentences and skills among women, reinforce
  work-life reconciliation, self-help and support
  modalities for families and individuals

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Strategy of intervention

• 4. Creativity entrepreneurship
• promote creativity and entrepreneurship among
  female networks, micro-credit and competitiveness
  of female entrepreneurs
• 5. Urban ri-generation safety
• Favor access to key urban sites, improve spaces,
  which are downgraded, guarantee safety and
  security for women
• 6. Governance government
• Promote formal and informal networking,
  institutional infrastructure for gender equality,
  monitor implementation of gender mainstreaming
  policies, favor political representation

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Actions and projects

• Institute for the cultural difference
• Lab for ethics of sentiments and language
  analysis
• Center against violence, receiving victimes and
  supporting families
• Skills training for job search
• Child care and kindergartens
• Incubators for entrepreneurship, artisanal
  consortia and expositions
• Social mediation and friendly city project

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Strenghts

• Women are increasing job search across
  traditionally male-dominated sectors
• Increasing female university enrollment and
  graduation
• Higher education achievement among young women
• Increasing self-employment and entrepreneurish
  among women
• Increasing participation in cultural associations

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Strengths

• Very little budget yet increasing focus on
  tapping complementarities among services,
  projects, and networks already existing in the
  territory
• Taking advantage of the integrated approach
• Directing regional funds towards municipal needs
  and priorities
• Developing synergies and produce monetary and non
  monetary externalities

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Weaknesses

• Weak need assessment and monitoring systems
  especially of latent needs
• Increasing irregular work
• Increasing discouraged female workers
• Increasing irregular immigrant women
• Persistent asymmetries of power between genders
• Gendered perceived roles

14
Governance issues

• Limits in formal delegations at the municipal
  level
• Irregular work
• Irregular firms
• Availability of productive locations

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Whats next?

• This plan is considered to be the first necessary
  step toward gender budgeting
• This is considered first an attempt to create and
  disseminate a gender friendly culture
• This is considered the first proof to test
  political committment
• This is the first step for getting the
  bureaucratic machine in action