Gender Policies in Europe

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Gender Policies in Europe

• Presentation by Martha Franken, director
• International Conference
• Gender Mainstreaming
• Cosenza, December 2nd, 2005

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Outline

• Athena 3b working group
• European Union mainstreaming
• Council of Europe mainstreaming
• Flanders Equal Opportunities Policy

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Athena 3B

• Athena Advanced Thematic Network of Gender
  Studies in Europe
• 3B Reconceptualizing the Notion of Equal
  Opportunities and Rethinking the Policy Aims and
  Instruments a joint effort of Womens Studies
  in the Academia, Policy Makers and Womens
  organizations

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Preliminary activities done

• First meeting with participants in Madrid 2001
  and Portoroz 2002 - growing group
• First seminar and meeting in Antwerp July 2002
• Stream Equality at Lund conference Aug 2003 (5
  workshops in this stream)
• The meeting in Lund ? paper Scope of project

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3B Aims of project

• Create a Task Force (Think tank)
• Develop strategic policy objectives
• EU inventory of policy tools and instruments
• Training of gender experts
• Introduction topic EO in university curricula

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3B Working Methods

• Building up infrastructure for dialogue between
  actors
• Analysing bottlenecks, practices, implementation
• Quantitative/Qualitative research and survey
• Seminars with presentation of products

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3B Products of project

• EU Task Force (platform for discussion)
• Discussion papers
• Database of experts
• Inventory and evaluation of policy tools
  instruments
• Inventory of best practices of training
  possibilities
• Development of new policy recommendation and
  tools
• Teaching materials
• Dissemination, articles, books...

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3B Participants (velvet triangle)

• Mostly researchers
• A few policy makers
• A few womens movement
• Combination of the three
• More actors of the velvet triangle in the
  national projects that will be going on in the
  frame of this project

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3B Involved countries

• Iceland
• Italy
• Malta
• Netherlands
• Romania
• Serbia
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• UK

• Austria
• Belgium
• Cyprus
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Hungary

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Results in 2005

• 40 discussion papers exist about different
  topics we are clustering
• Progress available at website www.rosadoc.be
• Expertdatabase started www.rosadoc.be
• Digma database Amazone for mainstreaming
  instruments www.amazone.be

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European Union gender policy

• Treaty of Rome 1957
• Gender Equality incorporated in DG Employment and
  Social Policy
• Mainstreaming introduced since 1995 (Beijing)

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Gender Mainstreaming in EU

• Incorporation of Equal Opportunities into
  Community Policies
• Framework Strategy on E O for Men and Women (2001
  2005)
• Action Programme on E O (2001 2005)

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Incorporation of EO into community Policies

• The EU sets out the principle that the gender
  perspective should systematically be taken into
  account in all Community Policies and Actions
  this should be done actively and openly at the
  planning stage
• Act Communication of the Commission 21 february
  1996

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Mainstreaming in different areas

• Employment and the labour market
• Women entrepreneurs
• Education and training
• Peoples rights
• Development cooperation
• Staff policy
• The European Structural Funds

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Community Framework Strategy

• Objective
• To establish a framework for action providing
  for gender mainstreaming in all Community
  Activities in suc a way that they help to attain
  the goal of removing inequalities and promoting
  gender equality
• Act Commission communication 7 June 2000

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Community Framework Strategy

• Dual-track approach
• Gender mainstreaming in all Community policies
• Introduction of special measures for women
• The ms approach marks a major change compared to
  past

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Community Framework Strategy

• The framework strategy encompasses five
  inter-related fields of action
• Economic life
• Equal participation and representation
• Social rights
• Civil life
• Gender roles and stereotypes

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5th Community Action Programme on EO

• Objective
• To promote equality for men and women,
  particularly by assisting and supporting the Com
  Framework strategy funding of projects
• Act Council Decision 20 December 2000

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5th Community Action Programme

• The actions
• Raising awareness
• Analysis of factors and policies
• Transnational cooperation
• Funding 50 mio euro for 2001 - 2005

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Future Actions EU

• The framework strategy and community Action
  programme will be followed by a programme called
  Progress
• 2007 European Year of Equal Opportunities for
  All
• European Gender Institute
• www.europa.eu.int

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I. What is Council of Europe ?

• political organisation
• founded in 1949
• started with 10 now 44 European member states
• Aims
• promote democracy, human rights and rule of law
• develop common responses to political, social,
  cultural and legal challenges
• headquarters Strasbourg (France)
• 2 constituent organs committee of Ministers and
  Parliamentary Assembly
• CLRAE
• European Court of Human Rights

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Working Structures for Equality

• CDEG
• Mandate CDEG
• CDEG working groups
• secretariat Equality division in Media,
  Equality and Minorities Department
• close cooperation with other committees and
  international organisations

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Themes for Equality in CoE

• Human Rights protection, promotion and
  prevention
• Human Rights and democratic practices on a daily
  basis

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A.Human Rights protection, promotion and
prevention

• Trafficking in human beings for sexual
  exploitation
• combating violence against women
• free choice in matters of reproduction and
  lifestyles
• Human Rights of girls and young women
• Migration and equality between women and men
• womens participation in conflict prevention and
  peacebuilding

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B.Human Rights and democracy

• Balanced representation of Women and Men in all
  Aspects of Life
• Gender Mainstreaming
• Equality in Working World
• The Role of Men
• Institutional Mechanisms
• Co-operation with NGOs

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What is Mainstreaming ?

• Definition
• Gender Mainstreaming is the (re)organisation,
  improvement, development and evaluation of policy
  processes, so that a gender equality perspective
  is incorporated in all policies at all levels and
  at all stages, by the actors normally involved in
  policymaking.

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Prerequisites

• Political will
• Specific gender equality policy
• Statistics
• Comprehensive knowledge of gender relations
• Knowledge of the administration
• Necessary funds and Human Resources
• Participation of both sexes in decision-making
  processes

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Mainstreaming When?

• Which moment in the policy process?
• Policy preparing and planning stage
• Policy deciding stage
• Policy implementing stage
• Policy evaluating stage

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Mainstreaming what ?

• Which policy areas?
• Most policy fields are relevant for gender
  mainstreaming because they directly or indirectly
  have an impact on the life of women and men
• One can start with the crucial areas of concern

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Mainstreaming where ?

• Which policy levels?
• All levels

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Coe new developments

• Recommendation R(98)14 on Gender mainstreaming
• Message to other steering committees of the Coe
  to use GM in their programmes of activities
• Informal network on GM yearly meeting
• New report on Gender Budgeting

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Gender Budgeting

• Definition
• GB is an application of gender mainstreaming in
  the budgetary process. It means a gender-based
  assessment of budgets, incorporating a gender
  perspective at all levels of the budgetary
  process and restructuring revenues and
  expenditures in order to promote gender equality.

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Equal Opportunities in Flanders

• A mainstreaming case
• Situated in coordination department of Ministry
  of Flanders
• Interdepartmental Commission Equal Opportunities
• New approach with Open Coordination Method