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| NCW Position on Alternatives to IVF Treatment |
| The National Council of Women has been following developments, particularly in the Parliamentary Social Issues Committee, regarding proposals for legislation on IVF treatment. NCW is aware that the general public is not adequately informed of the legal, ethical and scientific implications of Embryo Freezing, due also to the lack of balanced information (often manipulative) in the Media. |
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| NCW International Women’s Day Message |
| The National Council of Women strongly believes that more women in political decision-making posts is key to adequately dealing with economic, social, legal and political issues related to lack of gender equality. In its message for International Women’s Day 2012 and in view of the forthcoming General Elections, NCW Malta urges political parties to rethink their strategies and adopt action plans for recruiting an equal number of women & men as candidates for ‘winnable seats’ and in general, for making party politics more inclusive.
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| NCW approves the agreement on the extension of maternity leave |
| The National Council of Women (NCW) is pleased to note Government’s successful efforts to reach agreement on the extension of paid maternity leave with the social partners within the MCESD. |
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| NCW japprova l-ftehim dwar l-leave tal-maternita’ |
| Il-Kunsill Nazzjonali tan-Nisa (NCW) jifrah lill-Gvern li bil-hidma tieghu wasal ghal ftehim ma’ l-imsiehba socjali fi hdan l-MCESD dwar l-estenzjoni tal-leave tal-maternita’ bi hlas, li issa se jitla ghal 18-il gimgha, |
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| NCW targeting Youth in Campaign on Domestic Violence |
| The National Council of Women (NCW) regards families as the backbone of a strong and healthy community and the establishment of loving supportive relationships from a young tender age as being the heart of happy, well functioning families. |
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| Trafficking of women for sexual exploitation….the fight goes on! |
| The National Council of Women strongly supports and looks forward to the proposed steps to be taken by the Office of the Attorney General and the Malta Police Force to review and propose reforms on current procedures concerning the identification of victims of human trafficking, before the initiation of prosecution proceedings. However, NCW calls for stronger measures to address these issues in a more comprehensive manner
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| NCW Press Release: New Legislation to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings |
| On the 14th of December the European Parliament voted with a strong majority in favour of the Directive against trafficking in human beings that the Commission proposed in March 2010. This Directive on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings, and protecting victims, will replace the Council Framework Decision from 2002.
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| Proposal for a directive on gender-based violence |
| Brussels, 16/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - A criminal law instrument in the form of an EU directive against gender-based violence should be put in place. Rape and other sexual violence against women should be recognised as a crime throughout the EU. |
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| Immediate action on domestic violence should be a priority |
| The National Council of Women is deeply concerned with the court ruling regarding the recent case of domestic violence viewed practically by all the Maltese population.
The law, in its definitions of what constitutes a “household “does not include people who are dating, unless they lived together 'within a year" prior to the offence, which could be interpreted to mean any period of time between one day and twelve months. |
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| National Council of Women deplores decision of Council of Ministers on Maternity Leave |
| The National Council of Women deplores the negative vote leading to the defeat of the proposed directive on the extension of maternity leave by the Council of Ministers. Once again this shows that monetary priorities come before the health and safety of working mothers and their newborn child as well as the demographic deficit and related fertility rates which are nose-diving all over Europe and which are counter to economic growth. |
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| Violence in the Home – What action? |
| The National Council of Women is deeply concerned with the increase of aggressive incidents of violence often resulting in brutal deaths as a result of domestic problems often related to situations of separation between couples, reported regularly in the local media |
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| The Gender Perspective in the EU 2020 Strategy |
| One of the key targets of the Lisbon Strategy was increasing the participation rate of women in the labour market, which however failed to be reached in specific areas for several reasons. |
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| Respecting the dignity of women and men in the media |
| NCW strongly deplores the publication and subsequent sensational media follow-up regarding the recent publication in a University students newsletter that depicts men and women in a degrading and offensive manner, under the pretext of ‘fiction’ or ‘literary’ work
Without going into the legal provisions regarding such publications, NCW calls on Government, media outlets and relevant authorities responsible for media publications including print and audiovisual media
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| Extending maternity leave – a win-win situation |
| The proposal for a directive on the introduction of measures to extend maternity leave by four weeks is a crucial matter that merits careful consideration because it is at once a health and safety issue and a basic family-friendly matter. NCW is very concerned with the position that the Malta business community has taken against this extension, as it reflects the lack of will to seek adequate solutions.(The Times, Thursday 26.11.09)
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| Sending a strong message against violence - More action for less violence |
| Once a year on the 25 November, the silence surrounding domestic violence is broken |
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Brussels, 7 June 2010 Self-employed workers to gain maternity and pension benefits under new EU law Self-employed workers and their partners will enjoy better social protection – including the right to maternity leave for the first time – under new legislation endorsed by EU governments today. The Directive on self-employed workers and assisting spouses repeals and replaces an earlier law (Directive 86/613/EEC) and improves the social protection rights of millions of women in the labour market, boosting female entrepreneurship. At present, women represent only one in three entrepreneurs. "This new law makes real improvements to the rights of self-employed workers and their partners, in particular women," said Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship and Vice-President of the European Commission. "It will help them to better balance work and family life and encourage more women to become entrepreneurs – which is good for the economy too. I would like to pay tribute to the Spanish and Swedish Presidencies and in particular to the European Parliament's rapporteur Mrs Astrid Lulling for their hard work in reaching this agreement." The legislation, agreed with the European Parliament on 18 May and endorsed today by EU Member States, considerably improves the protection of female self-employed workers and assisting spouses in case of maternity or motherhood. It will provide equivalent access to maternity leave as for employees, but on a voluntary basis. At EU level, this is the first time a maternity allowance has been granted to self-employed workers. The new rules will also serve to promote entrepreneurship in general and among women in particular. There is a currently a major gender gap in this area – only 30% of entrepreneurs in Europe are women. Finally, the provision on social protection for assisting spouses and life partners (recognised as such in national law) is also a considerable improvement from the 1986 Directive. They will have the right to social security coverage (such as pensions) on an equal basis as formal self-employed workers. This will help to provide a stronger social safety net and to stop women from falling into poverty. The Council of Ministers is now expected to formally adopt the legislation on 24 June 2010. EU countries will then have two years to introduce it into national law. Where justified by particular difficulties, they may have an additional period of two years to implement the provisions concerning assisting spouses. Background Self-employment is a significant – albeit minority – form of employment in Europe, representing around 16% of the active population. Around 11% of self-employed workers in Europe rely on the help of spouses and partners who work on an informal basis in small family businesses, such as a farm or a local doctor's practice. These assisting spouses are traditionally completely dependent on their self-employed partner. As such, they are at a high risk of poverty in the event of divorce, their partner’s death or bankruptcy. As far as employees are concerned, the EU recently adopted a new Directive improving the right to parental leave (IP/09/1854) and the Commission's proposal for a revised Directive on maternity leave is currently in first reading by the European Parliament (see also IP/08/1450). Further information Proposal for a Directive on equal treatment between self-employed men and women http://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=608&langId=en EU gender equality policy and legislation http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?langId=en&catId=418 Women and entrepreneurship http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sme/promoting-entrepreneurship/women/portal/index_en.htm
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| WOMEN: Women's Day - other issues to be addressed beyond wage gaps |
| WOMEN: Women's Day - other issues to be addressed beyond wage gapsBrussels, 07/03/2012 (Agence Europe) –
On the approach to International Women's Day on Thursday 8 March, three areas of concern can be distinguished in the struggle for gender equality: the under-representation of women in management positions and in politics, along with women's increased likelihood of experiencing poverty or hardship during pension age (even though there are 40% more women aged over 65 than men). |
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| Message from Staffan Nilsson on International Women’s Day 2012 |
| International Women’s Day is a good opportunity to reiterate the call for more progress on gender equality in Europe and in the world. In Europe we still have a lot of work to do in this area. In a range of opinions on gender equality, the EESC has pointed out that women’s involvement in all aspects of public, economic and social life is the key to boosting economic growth and securing social justice.
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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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| European Commission gives guidance to Europe's insurance industry to ensure non-discrimination betwe |
| Brussels, 22 December 2011 – The European Commission has adopted guidelines to help the insurance industry implement unisex pricing, after the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that different premiums for men and women constitute sex discrimination. |
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| Prevention is key to ending violence against women, says UN Human Rights chief Navi Pillay |
| [UN, New York, 5 July 2011] Prevention of violence against women was the focus of a discussion on women’s human rights held last month at the UN in Geneva in the framework of the 17th session of the UN Human Rights Council.
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| Commonwealth People’s Forum provides crucial interface between governments and civil society |
| Perth, Western Australia hosted the Commonwealth People’s Forum (CPF) from 25th to 27th October 2011 in the run up of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) from 28 to 30th October 2011. These meetings are held every two years.
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| Female mentors to help woman entrepreneurs to get started |
| Brussels, 15 November 2011. A new European network of mentors to promote female entrepreneurship through the sharing of know-how and experience has been launched today by the European Commission. Women only account for 34.4% of the self-employed in Europe. |
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| SCOOP: Socio-economic Sciences: Communicating Outcomes Oriented to Policy |
| SCOOP: Socio-economic Sciences: Communicating Outcomes Oriented to Policy is supported by the European Union under the Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities 7th Framework Programme for Research.
Project duration: October 2009 - September 2012. |
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| Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of victims of gender-based and domestic violence |
| Brussels, 16/06/2011 (Agence Europe) - The Council of Europe has created a convention to protect the victims of gender-based and domestic violence. It was presented in a press conference at the European Parliament on 15 June with José Manuel Bota, chair of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Rashida Manjoo, UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women and Eva-Britt Svensson, chair of the EP women's rights and gender equality committee. |
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| Brussels, 30/05/2011 (Agence Europe) |
| In adopting the report by Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou (EPP, Greece) on women and business leadership on 25 May, the European Parliament (EP) women's rights/equal opportunities committee calls on the Commission to prepare “a road map setting specific, measurable, appropriate and realistic targets, with a timetable, for the achievement of balanced representation”. |
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| Youth on the Move – starting on the journey through life |
| For many young people in Europe, the final years of school and the transition from education into work present major challenges. The economic crisis has only increased the obstacles they face in obtaining the skills and qualifications needed to secure a satisfying job and a secure place in society.
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| First European Equal Pay Day highlights EU earnings gap |
| Women in the European Union earn on average 17.5% less than men during their lifetimes. This stark figure will be highlighted tomorrow during the first EU-wide Equal Pay Day. This day – 5 March – marks the extra number of days in 2011 that women must work to match the amount of money earned by men in 2010. The European Commission is committed to closing the gender pay gap and published an overall strategy for gender equality in September 2010 (see IP/10/1149 and MEMO/10/430). This year’s Equal Pay Day, which aims to raise awareness of the pay gap, comes ahead of International Women's Day on 8 March.
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| Statement by the EWL on the adoption of a new Pact for Gender Equality (2011-2020) |
| [Brussels, 16 March 2011] The EWL has issued a Statement in the aftermath of the Council of the EU’s adoption last week of a new Pact for Gender Equality 2011-2020. While welcoming the renewed commitment of the Member States to the fulfilment of the EU Treaty ambitions in relation to equality between women and men, the EWL regrets that no binding concrete measures, including targets, are foreseen in the Pact, except the renewed commitment to the Barcelona childcare objectives.
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| UN Women |
| The United Nations General Assembly unanimously decided to establish UN Women, the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.
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| Self-employed workers to gain maternity and pension benefits under new EU law |
| Self-employed workers and their partners will enjoy better social protection – including the right to maternity leave for the first time – under new legislation endorsed by EU governments today. |
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| More women in top jobs key to economic growth, says EU report |
| Only one in 10 board members of Europe's biggest listed companies is a woman and all central bank governors in the EU are male. |
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| Tackling the gender pay gap – Frequently Asked Questions |
| Why do we need to tackle the gender pay gap?
At 18% across Europe, the gender pay gap remains intolerably high and stubborn. Equal pay for equal work is one of the European Union’s founding principles. |
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| Longer parental leave and incentives for fathers |
| Longer parental leave and incentives for fathers agreed by EU ministersEuropean Commission, Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Parents will have the right to longer parental leave, under new rules agreed by EU ministers today. |
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