N°7

July - August 2010

Women’s health in the European Union

The EWL started to work on health issues after recognising strong demand among its membership. The EWL conducted for several months a consultation process with members, including an exploratory seminar on women’s health in Dublin in January 2010 with the EWL Board and representatives of NGOs and of the European institutions. This consultation led to the adoption of the EWL Position Paper on Women’s Health in the European Union in mid June 2010.

Lobbying for a gender-sensitive approach towards health is crucial because both the biological sex and the social construct of gender lead to differences between women and men in terms of level of health, access to health and health-care. Currently, public policies related to health at European and national levels fail to fully include women’s needs and situations and do not integrate gender aspects. There are also major gaps in expertise and general knowledge about some aspects of women’s health and about the impact of sex and gender on health differences. This calls for gender-sensitive studies, analyses, investigations and sex-disaggregated data that could provide the knowledge necessary to make policies adapted to the needs of both women and men and also to the needs of different groups of women, which are often ignored in health policy planning and service delivery.

Special attention has to be paid to structural determinants such as poverty, multiple discrimination and male violence against women that deeply affect women’s health. Discrimination against women in relation to health concerns in particular those who face multiple discrimination such as women with disabilities, lesbian, bisexual or trans-women, Romani women and women of other ethnic minorities. Male violence heavily impacts on women’s health, the serious health consequences for women being both physical trauma and severe mental health problems.

Although the primary responsibility for health-related policies lies with the Member States, the EU  has a general gender mainstreaming duty and a competence in health promotion and disease prevention and a role to play in coordinating and providing support to Member States in order to attain ‘a high level of human health protection.’ It is therefore both a legal and a social responsibility for relevant decision-makers at the European and national level to fully integrate women’s experiences and needs when defining public policies in the health sector.

In the health position paper, the EWL calls on both Member States and the EU to adopt a dual approach of specific measures for women and gender mainstreaming, as well as gender budgeting in health policies to ensure that women and men have equal access to the resources they need to realise their health potential. This also includes the need to fund research on the different aspects of women’s health and gender issues, the collection of comparable sex-disaggregated data; the conduction of gender impact assessment; the participation of women from different groups in health policy development, programme planning and service delivery.

Finally, health should be seen as a human rights issue. This includes considering securing the sexual and reproductive rights of all women. It also relates to the elimination of practices that violate rights and harm the health and/or integrity of women and girls, such as for example female genital mutilation and forced sterilisation. All forms of violence against women must be regarded from a human rights perspective and recognised as a public health issue.

EWL news.

News from EWL members.

Take Action!

EWL Representation.

European & International News in Brief.

Update on Violence against Women and Women’s Human Rights.

Events.

Publications - Web Sites.

Funding, Training, Call for Papers.

Jobs / Internships.

Please find here the EWL’s Contribution, through its Centre on VAW, to the EC Consultation on a possible future EU Strategy to combat violence against women (VAW) initiated by EC Directorate General Justice, Freedom and Security. The Contribution covers the main points of the EWL’s position and demands in the context of male violence against women; it highlight the structural character of VAW, rooted in inequality between women and men, the need to focus on all forms of violence against women and makes recommendations, which we hope the EC will find useful in their future work. The structure of the text follows the questions asked by the EC in its consultation questionnaire. We have taken into consideration preliminary discussions/contacts with our member EDF and with other NGOs, such as ILGA, which were helpful in addressing specific concerns, such as that of vulnerable groups of women and girls victims of violence.

On the occasion of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the European Women’s Lobby (EWL) has delivered a Statement ’Sport and prostitution: enough is enough!’ (’Sport et prostitution: trop c’est trop’). The EWL is highly concerned by the attention given by the media in the weeks preceding the event to plans made by both public and private actors to entertain male supporters and athletes outside the stadiums by means of prostitution. In its Statement, the EWL calls on international, European and national sporting organisations to develop codes of conduct respectful of women’s rights and gender equality. Please read the statement in English and French here, as well as the letter that the EWL has sent to the FIFA President.

At the end of June, the EWL Centre on violence against women delivered the first ’EWL update on the CAHVIO process’. The ‘EWL updates on the CAHVIO process’ complement the EWL Lobbying Kit on the future Council of Europe Convention on Violence against Women and aim at informing EWL members and partners of the recent CAHVIO (Ad Hoc Committee on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence) news and the positions of the Member States, and at allowing them to carry out targeted lobbying in their countries. More information on the EWL campaign here.

The CAHVIO (Ad hoc Committee on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence) met in Strasbourg from 29 June-2 July to discuss the second draft of the convention. The difficulties to reach a consensus on the scope of the convention finally were overcome on the last day of the meeting with an agreement on a proposal by the Belgian delegation, in its capacity as presidency of the EU as of 1 July 2010, supported by all EU delegations. The convention will therefore clearly focus on all forms of violence against women, including domestic violence and encourages the countries to apply this Convention to all victims of domestic violence. The EWL welcome this move and hope it will help to achieve a widely agreed convention, aiming at eradicating male violence against women and effectively protecting women. As the final text of the convention should be adopted by CAHVIO before the end of 2010, 2 meetings will be organised this year, the next one being on 27– 30 September. The EWL is participating to the CAHVIO meeting as an observer and is closely monitoring the process.

The EWL contributed to the organization of the Seminar on Women’s Health/Gender and Health organised by the European Commission Directorate General for Health and Consumers which took place in Brussels on 7 July 2010. The aim of the seminar was to feed into European policies on gender equality and health. The seminar comprised 4 workshops on mental health, ageing and reproductive health and rights. The EWL coordinated the workshop on ‘Lifestyles’ during the seminar, to which we invited representatives from different European and Belgian Non-Governmental Organizations. The EWL linked ‘Lifestyles’ with socio-economic determinants. For example people in lower income strata are more likely to smoke, eat fewer fruits, and live in less green areas. In fact, therefore, lifestyle is mainly not the matter of choice/ personal responsibility that we are often presented with. We therefore need to put these issues of health and lifestyle in the context of the ever present and ever dominant structural inequalities which produce different experiences for women and men.

Gender inequalities must be recognized as fundamentally structural inequalities which directly effect and are affected by health. Stereotypes, resulting from these structural inequalities, are vital to work on and challenging in order to achieve change. The recommendations resulting from the EWL workshop, also building on the EWL Position Paper on women’s health, related to the need for:

• Coherent Gathering of Knowledge, including the comprehensive gathering of statistics disaggregated at least by sex and age; research and specific studies and cases that will target and involve specific groups of women.
• Coherence of Policies: and the fact that health mainstreaming should take place from a gender equality/ women’s needs perspective.
• Access to Health for all women, including  access to information and affordability as well as targeted measures for different groups of women and the education of all relevant stakeholders including on the basic right to sexual and reproductive health; and
• Violence against women, as a serious fundamental rights violation based on structural inequalities between women and men, which should be integrated as a horizontal issue in health policies.

The Partnership for Equality Center and the FILIA Center (member of Romanian Women’s Lobby), supported by the Romanian Women’s Lobby  and others NGOs from Romania, sent on 7 July a protest letter to the Prime Minister and Minister of Labour regarding the improper decision to abolish the National Agency for Equal Opportunities for Women and Men. The letter underlined that the decision ignores the EU call for more attention to be given to vulnerable groups and gender equality, especially in the context of the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion.

France has adopted a new law relating specifically to violence against women, violence within relationships and the impact of the latter on children. Here you can read an article (in French) by Michèle Vianès, vice-president of the French coordination of the European Women’s Lobby (CLEF), expert for France in the EWL Observatory on violence against women.

In the framework of its campaign ‘Neither one nor two – Let’s make an end to the double violence against foreign women’, la CIMADE (Comité inter-mouvements auprès des évacués) has published a ‘practical and legal guide for accompanying foreign women victims of violence’. (In French)

The French coordination of the European Women’s Lobby (CLEF) has produced a video clip on the links between the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and prostitution. Please watch the video and read the CLEF statement here.

The practice guide ‘UNSCR 1325: Towards an Effective and Inclusive Irish National Action Plan’ was launched in Dublin on June 17 by a group of civil society organisations. More information on the launch on the website of the National Women’s Council of Ireland.

The Swedish Women’s Lobby has issued its Beijing+15 report.

Sweden has released an evaluation of its 10-year old ban on the purchase of sexual service. Sweden became the first country in the world to introduce legislation criminalising the purchase of sexual services but not the sale in 2008. The remit was to evaluate the application of the ban and the effects that the prohibition has had. One starting point was that the purchase of sexual services was to remain criminalized. There is a clear link between the existence of prostitution and human trafficking for sexual exploitation. Read the report of our Swedish expert to the EWL Observatory Wiveca Holst here.

Slovenian NGO Society Ključ – Centre for Fight against trafficking in human beings (THB) urgently calls for new solutions in various cases of young Roma women from Slovenia who had been forced into marriage. Please read more on the case here.

The French organisation Le Laboratoire de l'Egalité, co-founded by Olga Trostiansky who is the president of the French coordination of the European Women’s Lobby, has launched a petition on women’s pensions as a law on pensions reform will be discussed in the French parliament in September.

A network of 8 organisations from European states produced a video clip in the framework of a joint project aiming at developing and implementing effective programme and action plan for help and prevention of any forms of violence that young women experience in today’s postmodern society in public and private spheres. The Lithuanian NGO Women’s Issues Information Centre is coordinating this Daphne-funded project.

A seminar on women and financial exclusion by the National Women’s Council of Ireland and TASC in 2008 has led to the publication of the report ‘Life and Debt 2010: Combating financial exclusion in the age of NAMA’.

The Swedish Women’s Lobby’s gender budgeting analysis of the Swedish government’s budget 2010 is now available in English.

Gwendolyn Sterk, UK Joint Committee on Women, spoke at the UK Feminista Summer School 2010 on ‘Opening Umbrellas: How Women’s Organisations are networked at a UK, European and International Level’ See her presentation.

Fight against offensive advertisements! NOW Foundation, that has unfolded diverse activities around their love-your-body-day on 15 October, calls on you: ‘Tired of advertisers peddling flesh and not product? Now's your chance to sound off to advertisers about the negative, dangerous messages they send to women and girls. Nominate an advertisement for posting, or collect signatures for the petition, then send it to advertising and marketing directors.’

The ‘Equality through difference: Roma women’s access to the labor market’ project team initiated a letter to the Romanian government addressing the administration of the economic crisis: ‘With this letter we demand the Romanian Government and Presidency to consider in its anti-crises measures all the international conventions that it signed, and also its own previous determination to support equal opportunities, social justice and access to decent life for all, and – with the occasion of its planned restructuring – to guarantee the integration of these principles in all of its institutional structures and policies.’ The letter can be signed by sending your: Full Name and City/ Country to: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or by using the Romanian version to sign online.

Amnesty International has launched a petition addressed at the MDG Summit Presidents, to make sure that human rights and gender are at the heart of the MDGs and the global fight against poverty. Millions of people continue to face a daily struggle to live in dignity. In 2000, countries around the world agreed to eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as a global initiative to eradicate poverty by 2015. Ten years on - five years from the deadline - these goals are still not a reality. Progress has been made, but it has been unequal. Goal five on improving maternal health, for instance, is the most off-track of all of the MDGs. Hundreds of thousands of women and girls continue to die in pregnancy and childbirth each year, and most of them live in the poorest countries and communities.

Gender Action for Peace and Security UK (GAPS) developed a short guide on women, peace and security aimed at UK parliamentarians. The guide sets out the importance of women, peace and secuity; UK and international policy frameworks; and how parliamentarians can advance the issue. Take action and send this guide to your parliamentarian!

You can still submit your nominations for The Parliament Magazine's MEP Awards 2010 until 20 August 2010. The MEP Awards, now in their sixth year, are your opportunity to review and reward the achievements of MEPs during the first full year of the new parliament. Nominations are open to all European trade and professional associations and interest groups. Organisations should nominate the MEPs they feel have done exceptionally good work in their policy area.

The European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) announced on March 8 the creation of its future ‘Women of Europe’ resource pool. Among the women who have applied or have been nominated for the resource pool, every year 12 women will figure in the ‘Women Inspiring Europe’ Calendar. Via this initiative EIGE aims to give visibility and pay homage to some of Europe's most remarkable women, through highlighting their achievements and success stories. Please submit nominations for Women Inspiring Europe until August 25.

In March 2010, the United Nations established the Civil Society Advisory Group on Women, Peace, and Security (CSAG) to advise the Secretary-General and the High-Level Steering Committee of UN agencies and entities on ensuring a coherent and coordinated approach to protecting women’s rights during armed conflict and ensuring their full participation in all conflict prevention, peacebuilding, and post-conflict reconstruction processes. In addition to recommending concrete, time-bound and accountaable steps for commemorating the tenth anniversary of UNSC resolution 1325 in October 2010, CSAG is preparing a series of working papers with concrete recommendations for actions on the topics: (a) women’s participation and leadership in the UN and peace processes; (b) civil society involvement in peacebuilding; (c) preventing and responding to sexual violence against women displaced by conflict; (d) advancing National Action Plans, regional action plans, and twinning on women, peace and security; and (e) resourcing women, peace and security. The working paper on preventing and responding to sexual violence is now available online. The chairperson for this working group, Crisis Group Deputy President Donald Steinberg, would welcome comments and inquiries regarding the analysis and recommendations included therein.  He can be contacted at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The EIGE is in the process of setting up and developing a library and a virtual database that will comprise a collection of gender equality related studies, research, information, data and statistics, tools and methods developed, used and published in Europe. In this letter, the EIGE director presents the institute and its projects and calls on organisations to share relevant information on research, best practice, etc.

Sign the petition ‘Equality without Reservations’ of women’s and human rights NGOs in the Arab countries. The campaign aims to urge Arab countries to withdraw reservations to the international Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and ratify its Optional Protocol.

Colette De Troy, Director of the EWL Centre on violence against women, and Marie-José Jonczy, EWL Board member, attended the CAHVIO (Ad Hoc Committee on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence) meeting on 29 June – 2 July in Strasbourg.

Pierrette Pape, Policy Officer in the EWL Centre on violence against women, attended the joint EPLO and International Alert workshop ‘Towards Joint European Advocacy on SCR 1325 in 2010’ on 23 July in Brussels.

Rada Boric, EWL Board member, was invited to present EWL position on trafficking in women at the EESC hearing on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings on 7 July in Brussels.

The European Institute for Gender Equality was officially opened on 20 June 2010. The EIGE is a new EU Agency which supports the EU Institutions and Member States in promoting gender equality, fighting discrimination based on sex and raising awareness about gender issues.

On 8 July 2010 the United Nations General Assembly unanimously decided to establish UN WOMEN. The new UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women aims to accelerate progress in meeting the needs of women and girls worldwide. UN Women will support inter-governmental bodies and Member States to implement global standards as well as working with civil society.
The Gender Equality Architecture Reform (GEAR) Campaign devoted many years since 2007 to advocate for this change. Read the GEAR Press Release. As the new entity is developed, GEAR supporters will continue to advocate for four major elements critical to its implementation:

• Meaningful, systematic and diverse civil society participation at all levels
• Strong, country-level operational capacity and universal coverage
• Ambitious funding with stable and predictable resources aimed at reaching $1 billion within a few years
• Strong leadership at the top with an Under Secretary-General who combines a global vision with gender equality expertise on the ground

Guiding the transition is a Senior Management Team, led by the UN Deputy Secretary-General (DSG) and comprised of the heads of each of the four constituent entities. They are supported by a Steering Committee of senior managers from the four constituent entities and the Office of the Deputy Secretary-General, as well as a Transition Team, made up of seconded staff from each organization, external change management experts and staff from the Office of the Deputy Secretary-General. As part of the transition plan, Task Teams composed of staff from the four entities are operating or being established in all of the areas where the four need to work together, including operations, strategic planning, communications, coordination and in key thematic areas.

The list of candidates for the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women to replace those whose terms are due to expire on 31 December 2010, is available on the UNHCR website.

Rashida Manjoo, Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, released her first report to the Human Rights Council. In addition to providing an overview of the main activities carried out by the Special Rapporteur, the report focuses on the topic of reparations to women who have been subjected to violence in contexts of both peace and post-conflict. More information here.

On 2 June 2010, UN Special Rapporteur Joy Ngozi Ezeilo presented her annual report on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, to the Human Rights Council. More information here.

2010 celebrates the 10th anniversary of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. See the recent initiatives and activities at UN level here, including the Global Day for Action, the online petition and the Un Secretary General report on 1325 indicators.

On 26 July the Council of the European Union finally adopted indicators for implementation by the EU of UNSCR 1325 and 1820. The indicators are stated to be aimed at ’strengthening accountability in implementation of its commitments on women, peace and security, and detecting progress and achievements with regard to those commitments and in implementation of the policy’.

From 2010 – 2012, the Partners in the GENDERA initiative strive to make a change to the balance of gender in research organisations in Europe. By raising awareness in a wide cross-section of today's society, the initiative aims to re-address the balance of gender within research organisations and higher education organisations across Europe. The GENDERA partners collected, systemised and analysed existing policies and programmes in order to identify good practices that are already having a positive effect on ensuring that women get higher in research organisations and higher education institutions and achieve decision-making positions. The Good Practice Database is now online.

Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the EU has launched a declaration to condemn violence against women that is increasing in some areas of Latin America. The EU considers the acknowledgement by the Inter American Court of Human Rights of 1) gender violence as gender discrimination and 2) the Court’s endorsement of the concept of Femicide as Gender based-homicide, as positive achievements for human rights protection.

The 2012 Project is a campaign run in the United States to increase the number of women in legislative office by identifying and engaging accomplished women 45 and older from underrepresented fields and industries such as finance, science, technology, energy, health, environment, small business and international affairs. Following the 2010 census, every congressional and state legislative district in the country will be redrawn, and new open seats will be created what makes 2012 a once-in-a-decade opportunity for women to increase their numbers in office.

A study commissioned by the European Commission on the use of age, disability, sex, religion or belief, racial or ethnic origin and sexual orientation in financial services, in particular in the insurance and banking sectors has just been published. This study is part of the review of the implementation of the European legislation on sex-based discrimination in the area of financial services. The relevant European legislation (article 5 of Directive 2004/113 on gender equality in relation to goods and services) still allows for differential treatment of women and men based on actuarial factors for financial services. See main report and country reports. Please also read the EWL contribution to the debate.

The Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, its causes and consequences is mandated to seek and receive information on violence against women, its causes and consequences from Governments, treaty bodies, specialized agencies, other special rapporteurs responsible for various human rights questions and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, including women's organizations, and to respond effectively to such information. The Special Rapporteur transmits urgent appeals and allegation letters (communications) to States regarding alleged cases of violence against women which she receives. You can submit cases to the Special Rapporteur through the individual complaint form can be used to document cases of violence against women. Read more about the possibility to submit individual complaints.

9 September 2010: The Belgian Presidency of the EU, together with EU Commissioner Ashton, are organising the Brussels Conference regarding the 10^th anniversary of UNSCR 1325 on Women, Peace and Security; ‘10 years of UNSCR 1325: Ensuring Women’s Participation in Peace and Security’. More information here.

22-24 September 2010: The Health and Care Infrastructure Research and Innovation Centre (HaCIRIC) holds an international conference on ‘Better health care through better infrastructure’ on 22-24 September 2010 in Edinburgh. The conference brings together researchers and practitioners from across disciplines and countries to focus on key challenges in the provision of healthcare infrastructure for the 21st century.

22-24 November 2010: The Third International Conference on Women's Safety will take place from November 22nd to 24th 2010 in Delhi, India. It will bring together approximately 200 people from different fields and backgrounds who are actively working to enhance women's safety and equality in urban environments. See the official conference website.

23 September 2010: The Sexual Violence Research Initiative is organising a research seminar on ‘Parenting, Gender Socialisation and the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect in Low- and Middle-income Countries’. The seminar will be held on Thursday, 23 September 2010 in London.

24-26 September 2010 : The Comité pour l’annulation de la dette du Tiers-monde (CADTM) is organising the weekend seminar "Pourquoi le féminisme est-il -encore et toujours- une alternative?“ on 24-26 September 2010.

29 September – 01 October 2010: The 2010 Women PeaceMakers Conference coincides with a momentous year, marking both the 15th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the 10th anniversary of UNSCR 1325. In anticipation of these celebrations, this working conference is situated to develop, distill and disseminate expert opinion from practitioners and policymakers of all levels. Delegates will reflect on the implementation and challenges of UNSCRs on women, peace and security (1325, 1820, 1888 and 1889) and analyze their practical considerations. Find more information on the conference, which will be held in California, USA, here.

5-6 October 2010: The conference ‘Beyond free trade: alternatives for decent work’ for European trade unions and civil society organisations jointly organised by War on Want, UK – WEED, Germany – WIDE, Belgium) in cooperation with GMB, IGBau, UNITE, ver.di, CGIL, FIOM, Solidaires takes place 5-6 October 2010 in Brussels.

19-20 October 2010: The Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID) is organizing a regional meeting for young women from the SEE/CEE/CIS region on October 19th – 20th 2010 in Tbilisi, Georgia, on the topic of resource mobilization and movement building for women’s rights organizations.  If you have any questions about the meeting, please contact AWID directly at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .   Participants should be young women between 18 and 30, active on gender equality whether as organizational staff or volunteers or as independent activists.

8-9 November 2010: The EuroNGOs Conference “Gender and SRHR at the Heart of the MDGs” takes place on 8-9 November 2010 in London, UK and is looking for applications from members, partners, and interested parties to present at the parallel sessions as outlined below. Presentations and discussions at this year’s conference will focus on how Gender and SRHR are inextricably linked and contribute to achieving the MDGs and beyond. Panel discussions with representatives from bi- and multilateral donor institutions will look into current gender and SRHR policies, programs and budget allocations as well as needed improvements in this area. In addition and complementary to the plenary sessions, a call for presentation outlines for the parallel sessions is opened. For further information on the conference objectives, please visit the conference webpage.

22 February – 4 March 2011: The 55^th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) will take place on 22 February – 4 March 2011 in New York. The CSW Priority Theme 2011 will be ‘Access and participation of women and girls to education, training, science and technology, including for the promotion of women’s equal access to full employment and decent work’. The Commission will also evaluate progress in the implementation of the agreed conclusions from its fifty-first session on ‘The elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child’.

Janice Raymond, Professor Emerita of Women's Studies and member of the Board of Directors of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW) has published an article on ‘The Swedish Approach to Trafficking, Prostitution and the Sex Industry’.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released a report entitled ‘Trafficking in persons to Europe for sexual exploitation’ on 29 June. More information here.

The recently published ‘Women's Economic Opportunity Index Report’ sheds light on the economic situation of women all around the globe. The index is a pilot effort to assess the laws, regulations, practices, and attitudes that affect women workers and entrepreneurs.  See full 142 page Report.

The Center for Women’s Global Leadership provides fundraising suggestions for the ‘16 days of activism against gender violence’ campaign. (French & Spanish Translations available from the Center for Women's Global Leadership 16 Days - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) The 2010 campaign theme of the 16 Days of activism against gender violence (25 November - 10 December) is ‘Structures of Violence: Defining the Intersections of Militarism and Violence Against Women’. More information here.

A singular focus on rape hampers efforts to combat sexual gender-based violence in conflict, according to new findings in a report on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). To improve the situation of women, it is also necessary to understand the context in which violence is being committed and to work with men and boys, both as perpetrators and as victims of gender-based violence. Read more here.

Discover ‘One Step Too Far’, a campaign video produced by the Welsh Government to tackle the sexist behaviours that lead to violence against women.

Please visit http://www.notever.co.uk/ to discover the new anti-rape campaign in Scotland, watch the video, read the articles (including this one on the video clip), etc.

Amnesty International issued its report assessing the 6 years of action ’Stop violence against women’. The Stop Violence against Women Campaign was Amnesty International’s first long-term global thematic campaign. More information here.

The journal Gender & Development has published a special issue on the economic crisis. Articles are available for free download.

The AIDS Accountability Scorecard on Women is the first-ever independent assessment of how well governments respond to the specific needs and vulnerabilities of women in the context of the AIDS epidemic. Read the full report.

The Think Tank for Action on Social Change (TASC) published Life and Debt 2010: Financial Exclusion in the Age of NAMA.  This pamphlet was originally published in early 2009, based on papers delivered to a seminar on financial exclusion organised by TASC and the National Women's Council of Ireland.  The papers have now been updated, and a summary of policy recommendations included.

The publication ‘Funder Collaboratives: Why and How Funders Work Together’ is a guide towards better strategies for funder collaboratives. Download the document for free (after short registration).

The World Health Organisation has published ‘Making Pregnancy Safer Resources’ including the WHO Technical consultation on postpartum and postnatal care and Packages of interventions for family planning, safe abortion care, maternal, newborn and child health.

The third edition of the IPS Gender and Development Glossary, a tool for journalists and writers, is available.

The European Peacebuilding Liaison Office (EPLO) has published the 2010 report on ‘UNSCR 1325 in Europe: 21 Case Studies of Implementation’.

The World AIDS Campaign has published a Position Paper on Gender Equality (available in English and 7 other languages). The purpose of this Position Paper is to share with partners, policy makers and donors, the ideas, commitments and standards of the World AIDS Campaign in relation to promoting gender equality, women’s rights and sexual and reproductive health and rights.

The video of the UN Human Rights Council Session on 13 June 2010  in Geneva contains multiple issues on women and girls.

Women Thrive Worldwide has published a fundraising guide for grassroots women’s organisations in developing countries to assist organisations to deal with the often complex world of international assistance and fundraising. From practical advice based on years of experience in professional fundraising in the USA to detailed instructions on how to write grant proposals, budgets and reports, the principles and methods introduced are applicable globally and can be tailored to local environments.

The Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS), a European progressive political foundation, has published the second issue of the FEPS online scientific magazine Queries, on the topic of The next wave of emancipation. Those who are also involved in the reflection procedure on current emancipation and gender equality issues, are invited to send comments and suggestions on Queries – Next wave of emancipation.

Calls for Tender:

The Fundamental Rights Agency has launched a call for tender to identify a contractor to conduct the pre-test study for the survey on violence against women. The closing date for the call is 20 September 2010 (no later than 17:00).

Professionals in the field of gender equality are encouraged professionals to submit their tenders following a Call for Tender “Data collection and research services on fundamental rights issues” “  launched by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) and the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE). The aim of the Call is to identify Contractors to provide the research and analysis services (in English) that correspond to the Work Programmes of both agencies and any ad hoc research projects. The call covers the following deliverables on gender equality issues:

• Bulletins providing information on developments at national or EU level in specific gender equality areas
• Ad hoc information requests in the field of gender equality
• Social thematic studies on social and policy aspects of gender equality
• Social qualitative fieldwork research of gender roles based on in-depth interviews, focus group interviews, observation, case studies
• Legal thematic studies on gender-based discrimination
• Reports of various sizes on various gender equality issues (often at short notice)
• Comparative analysis of gender equality related legal practice, national policies, action plans, measures, social situation or combination of the above.

This call is divided into a number of lots, which refer to the Member States, legal and policy information at EU and international level, and scientific comparative analysis. Tenderers can apply for one or more lots. Interested parties working on different areas concerning gender equality can submit their tenders to the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights by 21 September 2010. Please see the FRA website for more detailed information regarding the Call and the technical specifications.

Calls for Applications:

The European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed) and the Anna Lindh Foundation (ALF) launch the Third Edition of the Sea of Words Literary Competition. This year’s theme “Justice, Equality and Inclusion in the Mediterranean and in Europe” is in line with the objectives of the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion. Applicants must be under 30 years of age and residents in one of the forty three countries of the Union for the Mediterranean, and write in one of the languages of the countries of the Union for the Mediterranean. The short-stories should be submitted by e-mail before midnight 15 September 2010. For more information, please visit the website.

Rebecca Ann Lind from the University of Illinois at Chicago, editor of the third edition of the race-gender-media reader, calls for contributions. The reader will present an array of scholarship designed primarily to introduce undergraduates to considerations of race and gender in the media. Read more here.

A multidisciplinary research group from G. D'Annunzio University of Chieti-Pescara, Italy, is carrying on a survey on female stereotypes all around the world. In particular, stereotypes relating to some specific areas such as emotion and temperament, education, job, politics, body image and sexuality shall be investigated. Please fill in the questionnaire and spread to other networks.

L’Associazione Culturale Punti di Vista calls for applications for the international workshop on “The Politics of Food: Gender Roles & Environmental Changes” that will take place 17 – 24 October 2010 in Bolsena, Italy. Up to 15 participants are admitted with full scholarship and reimbursement of travel expenses. Priority will be given to teachers, former or present students of women’s studies, development workers or volunteers. The workshop will be held in English. Those interested to participate should send before 13 September: 1) a CV in EU format in English (see template) 2) a motivation letter and 3) a short statement (max 1000 characters) on what the candidate plan to use the acquired knowledge. Applications should be sent to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The European Commission is supporting the Social Innovation Exchange (SIX) and Euclid Network to identify 10 large-scale successful examples of socially innovative initiatives, with the aim of raising the profile of social innovation across Europe and creating an impact beyond the established social innovation community. The 10 selected projects will be used by the European Commission as case studies in future communication about social innovation in the EU. The projects will also be featured in an official European Commission publication on social innovation which will be distributed across Europe. Download more information, visit the This is European Social Innovation webpage and have a look at some of the entries that we have already received from across Europe. Deadline: 3 September 2010.

Call for Submissions:

The 9th International Filmmor Women's Film Festival calls for submissions. The objectives of Filmmor Women's Film Festival which starts every year in the second week of March in İstanbul and goes on in different cities are to increase the visibility of women and their experience, their success and productivity as well as their problems; to increase both the potential and areas for women to express themselves and women's productivity in these areas; to expand the exchange of ideas and experiences among women both national and internationally. Deadline for submission of entries is 1 November 2010.

The Center for Women's Studies, University of York, calls for submissions to “A Carnival of Feminist Cultural Activism: Conference and Festival”. This carnival (3-5 March 2011) is part-festival, part-conference. The organizers seek to bring together artists, activists and academics from many nations to learn from each other, celebrate our creativity, and advance feminist work. You are invited to send in proposals and ideas for performances, academic papers, presentations, exhibitions & workshops. Deadline for submissions: October 31, 2010.

The Alexandria University Faculty of Law (AUFL) and The Protection Project at The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies are pleased to invite scholars and professionals to submit proposals for the third annual conference, “Women’s Rights in Egypt and Arab States,” which will take place December 1 – 2, 2010 in Alexandria, Egypt. The conference will bring together professors of law, religion and social sciences and representatives from NGOs and other elements of civil society to discuss a broad array of topics related to the rights of women in the Arab world, including Islamic law, personal status and family laws, and labor and political rights, among others. Please submit paper abstracts (300 – 500 words) and author biographies by August 15, 2010.

Training:

The “European training for lawyers on LGBT rights” will take place in Florence on 7-10 October 2010. It is organized by the Equal Jus project, which is a project funded by the European Union for the establishment of a European Network for the Legal Support of LGBT Rights. See the website (currently under development) for information on the project.

The Training session “How to access European Commission grants?” on 2010 European subsidies takes part on 25 and 26 October 2010 in Brussels.

In September, World Pulse will be launching the second year of Voices of Our Future, an online training program in web 2.0, citizen journalism, and empowerment for emerging grassroots women leaders. Through this program, women will receive mentoring, knowledge, and skills to amplify their voices and bring attention to the issues important to them.  Applicants must join the Voices of Our Future Applicants Group on PulseWire before September 14^th. To participate, or for more information please visit the VOF Applicant Group page.

Jobs:

The European Institute of Gender Equality, in Vilnius, Lithuania, has extended the dead-line for application for the position of Senior Researcher/Analyst, temporary Agent (AD8) until 12 September 2010.

The European Disability Forum is looking for a policy officer with good knowledge in social, employment policies and human rights.

Inclusion Europe, an organization representing people with intellectual disabilities and their families, is looking for a European Social Policy Trainee for a six months work experience in Brussels. Interested candidates are asked to apply by submitting a detailed CV to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Closing date for applications 22 August 2010.

Grants:

The government grant is an opportunity for a free grant following the economic recovery process. Since the recession is a worldwide problem, this grant opportunity is open to any individual that is 18 and above worldwide.

European Women's Lobby / Lobby européen des femmes

T: (+32) 02/217 90 20 · F: (+32) 02/219 84 51 · E: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ·

A: 18, rue Hydraulique, B-1210 Brussels/Bruxelles, Belgium/Belgique ·

www.womenlobby.org

The European Women’s Lobby (EWL) is the largest umbrella organisation of women’s associations in the European Union (EU), working to promote women’s rights and equality between women and men. EWL membership extends to organisations in all 27 EU member states and the three candidate countries, as well as to 21 European-wide bodies, representing a total of more than 2500 organisations.

Think before you print / Réfléchissez avant d'imprimer