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| The National Council of Women Annual General Meeting “Towards a regeneration for the Future” |
| NCW Malta Annual General Meeting 2021 was held at The Palace Hotel Sliema on Thursday 22 July 2021 In her opening address, outgoing NCW President, Mary Gaerty, called on the Assembly to join her in a prayer for past members of NCW, for those who lost their life due to the Covid-19 and for the women whose lives were taken away due to femicide, which saw an increase during Covid-19. |
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| Elimination of Violence against Women - 16 Days of Activism |
| Elimination of violence against women – 16 Days of Activism.
You too can do something about it!
The 25th of November is the kick off date for the annual international campaign of 16 days of activism against Gender Based Violence. It starts on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and runs till the 10th of December, Human Rights Day . |
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| Human dignity should be respected at all times. |
| The National Council of Women would like to express its concern about the video posted online portraying men pelting a woman with eggs during a stag party. Human dignity should be respected at all times. As a society, we should condemn any type of abuse even if this is done by consent for financial gain. |
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| OSCE/ODIHR anti-trafficking survey for survivors of trafficking in human beings |
| The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) has received numerous responses and has decided to extend the submission due date for the survey of survivors of human trafficking to Monday 26 August 2019. |
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| NEW TASK FORCE AT EUROPOL TO TARGET THE MOST DANGEROUS CRIMINAL GROUPS INVOLVED IN HUMAN TRAFFICKING |
| On 2 July, the Joint Liaison Task Force Migrant Smuggling and Trafficking in Human Beings (JLT-MS) was launched at Europol. This new operational platform will allow liaison officers from all EU Member States to step up the fight against constantly adapting criminal networks. |
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| Malta is EU country with highest rate of tertiary education graduates in employment |
| A report in the Independent states that Malta stood above the EU average in 2018 when it came to the employment rate of graduates aged 20-34 who had attained a tertiary level education within the previous three years, |
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| European Commission |
| On 2 July 2019, Ursula von der Leyen was nominated by the European Council to the position of President of the European Commission; she will be the first women and the first German since Walter Hallstein |
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| Equal opportunities and access to the labour market |
| 1. Education, training and life-long learning
Everyone has the right to quality and inclusive education, training and life-long learning in order to maintain and acquire skills that enable them to participate fully in society and manage successfully transitions in the labour market.
2. Gender equality
Equality of treatment and opportunities between women and men must be ensured and fostered in all areas, including regarding participation in the labour market, terms and conditions of employment and career progression.
Women and men have the right to equal pay for work of equal value.
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| The gender pay gap in the EU and the European Pillar of #SocialRights |
| 1. The gender pay gap in the EU is 16.2%, that’s 16.2% higher than it should be! Gender equality is the second key principle of the European Pillar of #SocialRights for a reason
2. The European Pillar of #SocialRights supports the right to equal treatment and opportunities regarding employment, social protection, education, and access to goods and services available to the public. Something NCW Malta has supported since its creation! |
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| Gender Equality in the Media Sector |
| This study was commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for
Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the Committee on
Women's Rights and Gender Equality. It examines key elements of the European
policy agenda pertaining to gender equality in the media sector. It also reviews
existing research on women's representation within media content and the media
workforce. The study provides analysis of actions to promote gender equality in
the media at both EU and Member State levels. Finally, it presents case studies
of gender equality in the media sector in four Member States: Austria, Malta,
Sweden, and the UK. |
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| Empowering women and girls in media and ICT |
| On the occasion of the International Women's Day, the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender
Equality is holding an inter-parliamentary committee meeting on empowering women and girls in
media and ICT. The meeting, which will bring together EU institutional representatives, members of
EU national parliaments, experts and stakeholders, will take place on 08 March 2018.
The presentation and debates will deal with the topics of women shaping media, empowering women
and girls through digital inclusion and women’s movements and advancing equality in the digital age. |
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| Digital healthcare / health insurance |
| In the view of the EESC, given the digital revolution in the field of health, it is vital to maintain and promote a health insurance system which serves the needs of everyone, and is solidarity-based, inclusive and non-discriminatory. Inclusion and fair access for all to good quality health services (digital or otherwise) and commitment to these are in fact prerequisites for universal health coverage. |
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| Gender equality in European labour markets |
| In order to improve gender equality in labour markets, the EESC considers it necessary to draw up an integrated and ambitious European strategy to tackle systemic and structural obstacles and lead to adequate policies, measures and EU funding programmes for improving equality between women and men, thus fostering "more equal economic independence of women and men" . This would also contribute to the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights. |
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| Services to the family |
| Developing services in private homes in order to achieve a better work-life balance
Every family has a home and clothes to maintain, meals to prepare, children to care for, elderly parents or ill or disabled family members who need help. Women often have to work part-time in order to carry out these tasks, missing out on the career for which they have trained or on time they would use for training. |
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| Women and girls digital gender gap |
| This study, commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the FEMM Committee, attempts to reveal the links between the different factors (access, skills, socio-economic and cultural), which prevent women from having equal access to digital technology. It then suggests ways of dealing with online and offline inequalities to the effect of closing the digital gender gap and improving women’s and girls’ digital inclusion and future technology-related career paths. |
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| Plastics, human health and environmental impacts: The road ahead |
| Plastics have been with us for more than a century, and by now they’re everywhere, for good and for ill. Plastic containers and coatings help keep food fresh, but they can also leave behind neurotoxins such as BPA in the human body. PVC is used for everything from pipes and flooring to furniture and clothes, but it contains compounds called phthalates that have been implicated in male reproductive disorders. Studies have also shown that childhood exposure to environmental pollutants can have significant negative effects later in life, including reduced labor force participation and even earnings. |
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| European Commission aims to significantly reduce the gender pay gap |
| The European Commission plans to use a series of measures aimed at significantly reducing the pay gap between men and women over the next five years. The average gender pay gap in the EU currently stands at 18%. To lower this rate, the Commission plans to raise awareness among employers, encourage initiatives to promote gender equality and support the development of tools to measure the gender pay gap. |
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| NCW Annual General Meeting 2019 |
| NCW Annual General Meeting 2019
The Annual General Meeting of the National Council of Women was held on Saturday 26th January 2019, at The Victoria Hotel, Sliema. President Mary Gaerty spoke about the work which the Council has embarked on during 2018. This included pensions, education, violence against women, work and entrepreneurship, work life balance and the challenges faced by women on a daily basis.
She also highlighted the fact that the National Council of Women is looking ahead at the constant changes |
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| Work-life Balance |
| Better work-life balance for EU citizens: Presidency reaches provisional agreement with the European Parliament |
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| The National Council of Women supports the Act to provide protection for human embryos |
| NCW has always advocated for legislation of alternative IVF treatment not least because of the sensitivity and the consequences for both parents and society if it had to remain unregulated. NCW believes that IVF treatment should be for heterosexuals within a stable family environment The Council has always supported the protection of embryos as the first cell of a human life and, with the development of alternative treatment over the past years this has become possible successfully. |
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| Women on Boards: Vice-President Viviane Reding meets with leaders of Europe's business schools and i |
| Today, EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding met with European Industry Associations, European Business Schools and Senior Executive Women to discuss progress being made on improving the gender balance in company boardrooms.
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| UfM adopts new project to support women’s empowerment in the Mediterranean |
| A project aimed at developing women’s empowerment in the Mediterranean through the development of effective field projects and the setting up of networks and platforms, was adopted by Senior Officials of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) at a meeting held last month. |
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| Date: 29/04/2007 |
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29 April 2007 (Date: 29/04/2007)
CELEBRATING WORKEERS DAY: WOMEN AND WORK
Celebrating Workers Day has always had great significance as it raises more awareness of the impact of change on different sectors of society and how far workers are living a decent life with a decent work and pay.
Today, women’s accessibility to work has become crucial. It is a key prerequisite for women to be able to earn an income that allows for economic independence without being penalized for being potential mothers and carers. This means having access to the labour market and a secure job with a decent income that is also sustainable for pensions entitlement in old age.
Giving women better opportunities to fully and equally participate in the labour market while allowing them to combine starting and raising families in shared responsibilities with their partners has to be seen as an asset and an investment in economy and society as a whole, particularly in the context of the current demographic changes.
More needs to be done to provide access to childcare and elderly and dependent care that are a burden on women’s potential wages and which are keeping women out of employment. Offering publicly funded care services, or private provision that is affordable and of good quality which match both parents working hours will lead to an increase in female employment.
The family today needs to be perceived as a diverse concept with both parents going through different stages in their working life where they will have to take care of children or parents/relatives at different stages and therefore the concept of “full time” is changing. As a result, structural changes leading to a modern division of labour need to be addressed including reducing long hours, upgrading part-time work and allowing for adaptation of work time within collective agreements in a legislative framework
There is urgent need to take further action on reconciliation between professional, private and family life for both men and women that should be mainstreamed in all policies regarding employment, social security and public and social services. Reconciliation needs to be studied both in terms of excessive working hours and too short working hours, both of which affect women and men’s ability to reconcile their work and family life.
PARLIAMENT ADOPTS ROADMAP FOR EQUALIY 2006-2010
In adopting the report by MEP Amalia Sartori (EPP-ED) on the Roadmap for Equality for Women and Men, (March 2007), the European Parliament is urging the Commission to ‘give practical effect’ to the Roadmap.
The MEPs call for the implementation of national measures to help women enter the labour market ‘on a footing of equal dignity and equal pay for equal work’ and for ‘concrete strategies to reinforce female entrepreneurship’. Member states should appoint a national official to take charge of gender equality in addressing the Lisbon Strategy objectives regarding employment and growth
The EP also highlighted the importance of strengthening measures to reconcile work and family life, by making care services more accessible and flexible and by encouraging fathers to make use of flexible working time to take on family responsibilities and to make use of paternity leave.
The EP has also proposed that the Commission strengthens measures to protect women and children from all forms of violence, trafficking in human beings and to propose a directive on combating violence against women and the need for stronger measures regarding the integration of migrant women need to be strengthened in host countries
In addressing the role of the media to combat stereotypes, MEPs urged the Commission to encourage initiatives through the Media 2007 programme.
IMPLEMENTING GENDER EQUALIY PRINCIPLES TO COMBAT TRAFFICKING
NCW was recently invited to attend a roundtable conference at Brussels entitled 'Gender equality principles: the roadmap for preventing and combating trafficking' organised by the European Network against Trafficking in Women for Sexual Exploitation (ENATW). This was attended by Doreen Micallef, NCW president and Grace Attard, NCW vice-president.
During the roundtable, a report on a project carried out by ENATW entitled 'Implementing gender equality principles to combat trafficking and to prevent sexual exploitation of women and children' was presented. The aim of this research was to make EU members reflect on some of the issues involved and to open a debate on the promotion and protection of women's rights particularly in the field of trafficking and sexual exploitation.
The report offers suggestions on how to reflect on the relations between prostitution, sexual exploitation and trafficking within the sex industry as well as the impact they have on the protection of human rights and the fight against violence on women. The report also gives indications to focus on the issue of demand, which has been addressed in some countries through legislation to criminalise the buying of sexual favours. The report also offers information on the state of implementation of EU policies against trafficking, focusing on mainstreaming the principle of equality between men and women in national and local policies.
Speakers at the roundtable included Elena Garavaglia, Chair of IRENE Association, Mrs Mariapaola Colombo Svevo, Maria Neményi, vice-chair of MONA Foundation, Ms Patrizia Toia and Ms Zita Gurmai, MEPS, Ms Louisa Pavan-Wolfe from the Commission in charge of equal opportunity and Ms Fatima Ribeiro, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunity.
ENATW is encouraging further debate and European level actions on:
Gender mainstreaming to tackle the root causes of women's 'disposability to be employed' in the sex industry.; the sex industry and protection of women's rights; addressing the demand and training on EU standards on trafficking and gender equality.
FACILITATORS FOR DISABLED CHILDREN IN PRIVATE SCHOOLS
The National Council of Women has been concerned over the issue of fees for facilitators paid by parents who have children with disabilities attending private/independent schools. The issue has been raised again recently in Talking Point 9 April 2007 - Lino Spiteri.
While Budget 2007 supports these families through a family benefit for all and state-paid NI Credits for four years for parents who take a career break to look after these children, this is far from adequate to sustain payment for fees required for the services of facilitators.
Although choice of school is a private matter, these parents are already burdened with very exorbitant school fees, which would otherwise be paid from the state coffers.
All disabled children should have equal access to education without discrimination and therefore the forthcoming Budget 2008 should include state-paid fees for facilitators in these schools in line with State Schools and Church schools.
THE MCESD AND CIVIL SOCIETY DEVELOPMENT
The current debate on the role of MCESD comes at a time when awareness of the role of civil society organisations is gathering momentum, not least through the imminent supportive NGO legislation.
This is no mere coincidence - it is in fact a process that is evolving, a process of ‘participative democracy’ through which ordinary citizens, through the proper structures are able to exercise their right to be consulted on matters of national interest. Indeed it is EU membership that has made this citizen’s right a reality.
NCW has noted that in the current debate, both employers and workers representatives not only acknowledge the contribution of civil society organisations but also agree that a reformed MCESD should include civil society representation working at national level.
NCW believes that Civil Society is an essential part of the MCESD. For years, NCW has been addressing government and past chairmen on this issue. The expertise in different areas of civil society organisations should not be wasted, nor should it be underestimated. At present, a number of national civil society organisations are relegated to a third-class Civil-Society sub-committee, where its voice is hardly ever listened to. There is also the need for a clear interpretation of the definition of ‘civil society’ that makes a distinction between non-governmental and governmental organizations and that the MCESD law acknowledges this difference.
The weaknesses of the MCESD as it is today arise from lack of structures that provide for sub-group meetings of representatives from all groups specialized in the topic under discussion to study, debate and come up with a single document well ahead the MCESD meeting for all members. This will ensure that in the final phase of the MCESD meetings a single document is tabled, limiting the debate to areas of controversy only, if necessary. Whether government is represented or not should not be an issue, as long as measures are taken to ensure that the process of consultation remains unobstructed.
Bringing together a wide representation of the different sectors of our society in a consultation process that is shaped on EU principles and practices would indeed be a unique step forward in the course of our democratization and would make every individual proud that his/her opinion counts.
NCW believes that proposals being brought forward must be treated with foresight and evaluated not only in the interest of the sector which they represent, but in the overall interest of the country, unless we want to have the same outcome we had some years back, with the proposed Social Pact!
GREEN PAPER ON THE REVIEW OF THE CONSUMER ACQUIS
The European Commission has issued a Green Paper for all interested persons to express their views on the issues identified in the context of the Review of Consumer Acquis launched in 2004.The aim is to better achieve regulation goals by simplifying and completing the existing regulatory framework. The Review covers the following eight directives:
- Protection of the consumer in respect of contracts negotiated away from business premises;
- Package travel, package holidays and package tours;
- Unfair terms in consumer contracts; the protection of purchasers in respect of certain aspects of contracts relating to the purchase of a right to use immovable properties on a timeshare basis;
- Protection of consumers in respect of distance contracts;
- Consumer protection in the indication of the prices of products offered to consumers;
- Injunctions for the protection of consumers' interests;
- Aspects of the sale of consumer goods and associated guarantees
The Green Paper may be viewed on the website:
http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/cons_int/safe_shop/acquis/index_en.htm
and direct link:
http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/cons_int/safe_shop/acquis/green-paper_cons_acquis_en.pdf
The public as well as organisations are urged to send comments and observations by not later than May 15th 2007 (marked “Responses to the Green Paper on the Review of Consumer Acquis”) by email to: SANCO-B2@ec.europa.eu
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
NCW in collaboration with NSO is holding a Conference to discuss the findings of a Study on ‘OBSTACLES FOR WOMWN IN DECISION MAKING’. The aim of the NSO/NCW study is to find out real and perceived obstacles for women and to propose ways of addressing these challenges.
Date: Tuesday 22 May 2007
Venue: Le Meridien Phoenicia Hotel, Floriana
Time: 8.30-13.00 pm
Fee: LM1
A full programme and more details will be sent via email and will also published in the local media.
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