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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.
CHOGM 2007

Civil Society Influences CHOGM

The 2007 Commonwealth People's Forum (CPF) took place from 18 - 22 November 2007 at the Africana Hotel, Kampala, Uganda, with the theme “Realising People's Potential”. The theme was chosen by citizens of Uganda to bring a 'people's' element to the discussions at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) .

The CPF provided Ugandan and pan-Commonwealth civil society with an opportunity to discuss issues affecting their work and their countries, and feed their concerns to their governments during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), being held in Kampala from 23-25 November 2007. NCW Malta was represented by the General Secretary Doris Bingley who is also a member of CSAC (the Commonwealth Foundation’s Civil Society Advisory Committee).

In selecting the theme for 2007, it was recognised that people remain the most important resource for development. Since the 1960s policy makers, advisors, and political leaders in developed and developing countries have been formulating and implementing strategies aimed at achieving macroeconomic stability, economic growth and poverty reduction.

The challenges facing most developing countries are complex and multidimensional. They involve economic, social, cultural, political, and environmental factors which cannot be adequately addressed through isolated interventions. Institutional accountability and an integrated approach are essential elements in facing these challenges.                                    

Six weeks in advance of the CHOGM in Uganda, the Commonwealth gathered to set the agenda for the CHOGM at the Committee of the Whole Meeting in Marlborough House.  This year civil society worked hard to influence the process by bringing their issues and concerns to the table. In the last few months the Commonwealth Foundation and its Civil Society Advisory Committee held various consultations across the Commonwealth. On 5 October, the Commonwealth Foundation convened a civil society meeting to synthesise the outcomes of these consultations for consideration by the Committee of the Whole. On Monday 8 October, the outcomes were presented directly by civil society to representatives of Commonwealth governments. This meeting was chaired by Ambassador James Mugume, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Uganda. Malta was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Foreign Office, Ms. Cecilia Attard Pirotta.
The statement produced by civil society will form the basis of the submission from the Commonwealth People's Forum to the CHOGM in November.

At the Commonwealth People’s Forum (CPF) in Kampala over 1200 delegates from Uganda, together with 300 international delegates, representing 600 organisations from 59 countries, attended the Forum. From Monday to Tuesday 19-20 November, CPF participants met in 20 workshops cluster under the six CPF sub-themes: economic development; governance, participation and human rights; culture, creativity and identity; environment and natural resources; education for transformation; and health at home and at work. The 2007 CPF also included the ‘People’s Space’, nine ‘Learning Journeys’, and a daily CPF newsletter GEM News.

The ‘GEM’ newspaper was a project of African Women from the African Women and Child Feature Service. It was part of a media-training forum for journalists from Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya and Zambia on gender and development writing.

On Monday 19 November there was the launch of the Friends of the Commonwealth. Malta’s Foreign Minister Michael Frendo was one of the main guests at this function. He made a short speech which gained the respect of all present. He was a very popular figure at the CPF. He also visited the People’s Space and left a message on the Wall of Greatness.

On Wednesday 21 November, the Chair of the Civil Society Advisory Committee, Joan Grant-Cummings made a statement on behalf of the CPF to a meeting with Commonwealth Foreign Ministers, and on Saturday 24 November, a roundtable between civil society and Foreign Ministers was held.

The main outcomes of CPF 2007 were the Kampala Civil Society Statement and a summary of the key outcomes of the 20 thematic workshops held during the CPF.

Here you have the Gender section from the Kampala Civil Society Statement to the 2007 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

GENDER
Underscoring that the empowerment of women is key to transformation, CHOGM should move from rhetoric to reality, by focusing attention on improving gender equality within Commonwealth Member States and adhering to agreed commitments in international declarations and conventions;

Noting that gender equality is not only crucial in itself, but is a fundamental human right and a question of social justice;

Stressing that gender equality is essential for growth and poverty reduction, and that it is key to reaching the MDGs and as such needs to be recognised as a goal in its own right;

Affirming that equal rights (political, civil, economic, social and cultural) for women and men, girls  and boys needs to be demonstrated through: equal access to and control over resources for women and men; and equal opportunities to achieve political and economic influence for women and men;

We call on Commonwealth Member States to:

put in place measures that commit responsible ministries to implementation of the Commonwealth Plan of Action for Gender Equality 2005–20151. The Commonwealth must work together to ensure closer collaboration between governments and gender focused civil society organisations and institutions to ensure concerted support to elimination of gender inequalities and poverty eradication. Together they should address the gaps and persistent obstacles and challenges faced in the implementation of the Commonwealth Plan of Action as these should not deter its implementation;
support initiatives that increase financing for gender equality work, through gender responsive budgeting. In addition, the Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness presents an opportunity for Commonwealth Member States to demonstrate support for increased funding to gender equality work;
institutionalise the participation of women in decision making in the first instance by achieving 30% target set out in the Beijing Platform for Action and the Commonwealth Plan of Action for Gender Equality 2005-20152;
ensure concerted action, and commit resources to address gender-based violence and prevent the trafficking and abuse of women and children;
enact and implement legislation against gender-based violence, promoting victim protection and awareness raising through the media, as well as education and training;
urge those countries that are not parties to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women to ratify the Convention;
conduct a gender disaggregated base-line study of gender equality in all Commonwealth Member States, using a standardised set of indicators, that is regularly updated;
encourage Commonwealth Member States to initiate  programmes in conflict and post conflict countries in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1325;
build capacity of government institutions for gender budgeting and capacity for organisations to access funding for gender budgeting;
review labour and employment laws and opportunities for women, and address women’s ownership and use of land and property rights; and
mainstream gender equality in all policies, strategies and actions, and financial measures which directly support women’s empowerment.

We call on Commonwealth Governments, the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Commonwealth Foundation to facilitate the strengthening and development of the Commonwealth Women’s Network, as a mechanism for the promotion of gender equality.

Full reports of Civil Society’s Kampala Statement and CHOGM 2007 Communique can be found on www.commonwealthsecretariat.com
 
 
1Adopted by Commonwealth Ministers Responsible for Women’s/Gender Affairs, 7th Meeting (7WAMM), 30 May–2 June 2004, Fiji Islands and endorsed at CHOGM 2005
 
2Adopted by Commonwealth Ministers Responsible for Women’s/Gender Affairs, 7th Meeting (7WAMM), 30 May–2 June 2004, Fiji Islands and endorsed by the Commonwealth  Heads of Government in Malta in 2005 

 

 
 
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