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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.
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 .
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.
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.
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.
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,
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
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Work-life Balance
Better work-life balance for EU citizens: Presidency reaches provisional agreement with the European Parliament
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.
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.
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.
Date: 30/07/2014
 

COMMISSION: One female and twelve male commissioners so far

Brussels, 28/07/2014 (Agence Europe) - With only 13 commissioners officially designated, Jean-Claude Juncker's future team is taking shape very slowly and is facing a number of obstacles, relating both to issues of gender and to those nominated

The team is not yet shaping up the way Juncker wants it to in terms of female representation with only one woman, Vera Jourova, so far being confirmed by the government of her country, the Czech Republic. The incoming president of the European Commission has a number of tricky problems to solve after the recent European summit failed to agree on who should become the new EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, who will also be a European Commission vice-president.

On Sunday 27 July, Athens decided to send its defence minister, Dimitris Avramopoulos, to Brussels. He is a stalwart of the prime minister, Antonis Samaras. With Greece having chosen a man, the hopes for gender equality among commissioners now rests with those member states that have not yet made up their minds, such as France, which has not yet officially chosen between former economy minister Pierre Moscovici and former justice minister Elisabeth Guigou.

The nomination of the Greek commissioner means that 13 possible commissioners have now been officially confirmed, half of them from the EPP: Jyrki Katainen of Finland, Günther Oettinger of Germany, Johannes Hahn of Austria, Valdis Dombrovskis of Latvia and Phil Hogan of Ireland. Four are from the PES: Maros Sefcovic of Slovakia, Neven Mimica of Croatia, Vytenis Andriukaitis of Lithuania and Karmenu Vella of Malta. Two are from the ALDE: Andrus Ansip of Estonia and Vera Jourova of the Czech Republic. The United Kingdom's Jonathan Hill is from the AECR (Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists), the party of the British Conservatives. Former Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos (of the EPP) is favourite to become the new Romanian commissioner, but a formal decision has not yet been taken.

Three days to find 8 women

The Juncker Commission in its current configuration would not be endorsed by the European Parliament, which wants as many women commissioners - nine - as in the second Barroso Commission. Juncker has pledged the have a team with nine women and has asked the member states to submit candidates by 31 July. That means there are only three days left for the president-designate to fined eight women, which looks like a big ask. Highest hopes are with Bulgaria, whose current commissioner is Kristalina Georgieva, and Sweden, with current commissioner Cecilia Malmström, along with countries that have not yet decided, such as Belgium (which is hesitating between Karel de Gucht and Marianne Thyssen). If Poland were not to choose Radoslaw Sikorski or Janusz Lewandoski, then it might choose former commissioner Danuta Hübner. There is uncertainty over the choices of Denmark, Slovenia and Portugal (although Lisbon may go for a woman).

The Mogherini equation

Juncker has another problem, which is Italy's Federica Mogherini as a candidate to replace Catherine Ashton as EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, with the backing of the Italian prime minister, Matteo Renzi, despite the cold water thrown on his hopes at the European summit on 16 July. The member states refused to endorse her candidacy without the full package of Commission appointments and the Italian Social Democrat's appointment was criticised by eastern European countries, which see her as too conciliatory towards Russia. She does not have Juncker's full support either. In an interview with newspaper Le Quotidien on Sunday 27 July, he said that that the views and weight of these eastern European countries needed to be taken into account.

The Italian media say Juncker and Renzi spoke by phone on Friday 24 July about Mogherini's candidacy and Juncker expressed concern about the fact that, if Italy continued to insist on Mogherini, it might have to put up with a less powerful job at the Commission. Those close to Juncker confirm that the conversation took place and say that the deadline given to Italy for deciding on its commissioner was 31 July. But it is not until 30 August that the EU28 will meet again to decide on the future EU high representative. Renzi has three days to decide whether to stick with Mogherini and run the risk of getting a less prestigious job or to choose another candidate. In June, some in the Italian media reported rumours that Van Rompuy would like to see former Italian prime minister Enrico Letta as his replacement at the European Council, but the Italian press says Renzi does not want the former PM back at the helm.

Will dates of hearings be kept?

Will this uncertainty force the European Parliament to delay its hearings with the new commissioners, currently scheduled for the second fortnight of September? The official timetable has not changed. At the end of August or start of September, the president of the Commission will unveil his team of commissioners and Juncker's team says that means it will be possible to have the hearings in mid-September, the vote on the full College in plenary in October and for the new Commission to start work on 1 November.

 

 
 
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