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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.

Five major high-tech firms pledge to promote more "Cyberellas" 

In today's global financial crisis, jobs in information and communication technologies (ICT) sectors like telecoms and the internet are reliable sources of growth and crucial for the recovery of the economy. However, the EU's competitiveness depends on attracting and keeping skilled workers, especially in the high-tech sector, including women. But while a shortage of around 300,000 qualified engineers is expected in the EU by 2010, less than 1 in 5 computer scientists are women. The European Commission responded in 2007 by encouraging telecoms and internet companies to attract more "cyberellas" – women with ICT skills. As a result, five major ICT companies will today sign a Code of Best Practices for Women and ICT. They are committing to do more to make tech jobs attractive for women and to make better use of and promote female potential in the ICT sector.

"The signing of this Code of Best Practices is a first step towards making high-tech jobs cool for girls and getting more women into the ICT sector. I congratulate those companies that today have the courage and conviction to commit to this Code, that will enrich the ICT sector by making it more female-friendly," said Viviane Reding, EU Telecoms Commissioner. "However, the ICT sector is only starting to realise the scale of the issue and how important it is to attract women, and to close the skills shortage we are facing in Europe. The ICT sector in Belgium currently faces a shortage of 10,100 IT qualified staff, in Poland 18,300, in Italy 2,800, in France 4.300, in Spain 41,800 and in Germany even 87,800! I call on other ICT companies to follow suit and sign the Code for Women and ICT by the end of this year."

Today, Commissioner Reding has overseen the signing of a Code of Best Practices for Women and ICT by five European and multinational companies: ALCATEL-LUCENT, IMEC, ORANGE-FRANCE TELECOM GROUP, MICROSOFT and MOTOROLA. This results from industry talks launched by Commissioner Reding on International Women's Day 2008 (IP/08/392). The Code aims to attract girls at school or university to the high-tech sector but also retain and promote women already working in this sector through:

Establishing Girls Labs or Computer Clubs for Girls where girls can develop greater self-confidence when using ICT by creating websites, mixing music or designing online magazines. Code signatories IMEC, Motorola, Orange and Microsoft already have active Girls and Technology labs or summer technology camps. Such clubs also exist in the United Kingdom, and Germany

Mentoring programmes during maternity leave which help women on parental leave to keep up-to-date with the latest technological developments, for example as offered by Motorola.

Practical help in balancing family and work-life. Companies such as IMEC already offer flexible working hours and home working.

Women's ICT forums and networks offering support on job searches, advice and mentoring. Alcatel Lucent is promoting career support for high potential women to fast track them up the career ladder. Microsoft and Motorola also have fully implemented women leadership programmes.

Setting targets for the recruitment and promotion of female ICT professionals at all levels and monitoring the achievement of these targets. Code signatory Orange is boosting the recruitment of women by holding the process open until at least one woman has applied.

The European Commission will closely monitor the implementation of this Code and will assess it in a year's time. "Such good practices need to be complemented by firm targets. One practical way to do this is to boost the representation of women in the Boards of ICT companies", said Commissioner Reding. "Today only 7% of board members in the 116 major ICT companies are women. Therefore, let's set ourselves a target to double this by 2015."

Background:

To raise awareness about Europe's female potential for ICT, Commissioner Reding launched in 2007 the "Shadowing Initiative" (IP/07/305) now organised yearly. On a Shadowing Day, young girls follow a successful woman from the ICT sector (engineer, executive or politician) through a typical working day, meet male and female ICT experts and get a taste of what it might be like to work in the ICT sector. In 2008, more than 100 girls took part in this shadowing initiative (IP/08/392).

In October 2008, at the Global Meeting of the Women's Forum for Economy and Society in Deauville, Commissioner Reding met other female leaders from politics and industry calling for more women with ICT skills ('Cyberellas', MEMO/08/631).

Today's signature of the Code of Best Practices on Women and ICT was accompanied by the conference "Cyberellas are IT!" in Brussels where Commissioner Reding presented a short clip on the shadowing exercise which took place in Lyon in November 2008. The videoclip "ICT is wicked" will be distributed to schools around Europe and is available online:

http://212.68.215.195/europa/shadowingday09.wmv

More information can be found at www.ec.europa.eu/itgirls.

 
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