Regional cooperation through the eyes of journalists in the South - Arabic
Strengthening the Role of Women in the Neighbourhood
1. BACKGROUND NOTE March 2011
Children’s visions of gender equality: winning entries from Algeria, Egypt, Syria and Ukraine
from the 2010 and 2009 editions of EuropeAid’s Gender Equality drawing competition
Strengthening the role of women
Neighbourhood cooperation to achieve gender equality
E
quality between men and women is a fundamental right of the Charter of Human Rights, but also a fundamental value of the EU’s
Founding Treaties and the Lisbon Treaty.
The promotion and protection of women’s rights figures highly in EU external policy. In line with this commitment, the Foreign
Affairs Council in June 2010 adopted the EU Action Plan on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Development for the
period 2010-2015, underlining that: “The EU reiterates its strong commitment to gender equality as a human right, a question of social justice
and a core value of the EU development policy.”
Strengthening the role of women in society is one of the key issues addressed by the Euro-Mediterranean partnership, with a
pledge to take measures to achieve gender equality, preventing all forms of discrimination and ensuring the protection of the rights of
women.
In the last years, a concerted effort has been underway towards this end, underlined by the Conclusions adopted by Ministers of the
Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) at the second Ministerial Conference on Strengthening the Role of Women in Society held in Mar-
rakech on 11-12 November 2009.
Following on from the first Euro-Med Ministerial Conference on ‘Strengthening the Role of Women in Society’ in Istanbul in 2006, Minis-
ters in Marrakech spelled out the cornerstone of the policy, underlining the need for “actions at national, sub-regional and regional levels,
targeted towards improving women’s status, strengthening the role of women in political, civil, social, economic and cultural life, and combating
ENPI INFO CENTRE - GENDER EQUALITY PRESS PACK: BACKGROUND NOTE www.enpi-info.eu
3. Features and interviews: click on the image to download the PDF
Gender equality: find out more
Useful links http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/sp/gender-toolkit/index.htm
EuropeAid Cooperation and Development: Gender webpage Monitoring the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Dis-
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/what/gender/index_en.htm crimination Against Women (CEDAW)-2007 http://www.enpi-info.eu/
European External Action Service – Euromed and Women mainmed.php?id=45&id_type=9&lang_id=450&subject=12
http://eeas.europa.eu/euromed/women/index_en.htm EuropeAid Feature - Masarat - A journey through Palestinian women’s
European External Action Service – Women’s Rights in EU External lives http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/documents/case-studies/pales-
Policy http://eeas.europa.eu/human_rights/women/index_en.htm tine_gender-equality_masarat_en.pdf
EU and Gender Equality webpage ENPI Info Centre feature: Combating discrimination and violence
http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=418&langId=en against women
Enhancing Equality between Men and Women in the Euromed region http://www.enpi-info.eu/files/features/a105038%20ENPI%20Gen-
fiche http://www.enpi-info.eu/mainmed.php?id=241&id_type=10 der%20Descr.%20Lebanon%20Syria%20Palest.v.2%20ENG.pdf
Enhancing Equality between Men and Women in the Euromed region ENPI Info Centre feature: Breaking the wall of silence
project website http://www.euromedgenderequality.org/ http://www.enpi-info.eu/files/features/a103024%20ENPI%20Pales-
ENPI Info Centre – Gender webpage http://www.enpi-info.eu/ tinian%20Audiovisual%20(en).v.2.pdf
thememed.php?subject=12 Culture and Communication, Key Factors for Changing Mentalities &
Gender Drawing Competition (EC-2010) http://ec.europa.eu/europe- Societies - Study by the Anna Lindh Foundation for the 2006 Euro-
aid/what/gender/drawing-competition-2010_en.htm Mediterranean Ministerial Conference on ‘Equality of Opportuni-
ENPI Info Centre – Photos on gender http://www.enpi-info.eu/list_ ties’ http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/euromed/women/docs/
galleries_med.php?subject=12 alf_0406_en.pdf
ENPI Info Centre – gender publications http://www.enpi-info.eu/ Women as Full Participants in the Euro-Mediterranean Community
list_type_med.php?id_type=9&subject=12 of Democratic States - EuroMeSCo Report - April 2006 http://www.
euromesco.net/images/02.pdf
Documents Women and Economic Development in the Mediterranean - Institut
UfM Second Ministerial Conference on Strengthening the Role of de la Méditerranée, France http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/
Women in Society – Conclusions (Nov. 2009) http://ec.europa.eu/ euromed/women/docs/women_0406_en.pdf
external_relations/euromed/women/docs/2009_11_conference_ Euromed Women’s Conference Barcelona + 10 (Nov. 2005)
en.pdf http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/euromed/women/docs/ar-
EEAS Istanbul Conference follow up webpage http://eeas.europa.eu/ ticle_en.pdf
euromed/women/gender_followup_en.htm
EU Action Plan on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Press contacts
Development for the period 2010-2015 http://www.consilium.euro- DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities - Press offi-
pa.eu/uedocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/EN/genaff/115157.pdf cers http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/communication/about/contact_us/
EU Toolkit on Mainstreaming Gender in development cooperation ec_spokespersons/employ_en.htm
ENPI INFO CENTRE - GENDER EQUALITY PRESS PACK: USEFUL LINKS www.enpi-info.eu
4. International Women’s Day 2011: some events in partner countries
8 March 2011 is the hundredth anniversary of International Women’s Day, marked for the first time in 1911. Across the EU’s Neighbourhood
partner countries, activities will be held to highlight EU involvement in promoting women’s rights. Some of the events are listed below:
ISRAEl
International Women’s Day activities in the framework of EU-supported projects under the programme: “Investing in People - Gender Equality”
Maan/WAC women’s march for fair employment. In the framework of the EU supported project Job Opportunities for Arab Women in agri-
culture, a march of Arab and Jewish women protesting for fair employment will set out from Rothschild Boulevard. in Tel Aviv, and end with a big
rally in the Meir Park where various artists will perform. When: 8 March, 16:00; Where: Rothschild Blvd. Tel Aviv
The UNICO students’ organization, a partner in the Equality for Women in Israel: Adopting a Holistic Approach project, will carry out the fol-
lowing activities on 8 March
“Breaking the Glass Ceiling” Panel- A panel of leading women in various fields will discuss the “glass ceiling” from different perspectives: busi-
ness, politics, media and academia. The panel will be held at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) in Herzliya at 14:30.
“Female beauty as a key to success”- The event will examine the relationship between the “glass ceiling” and the ideal of beauty. The film “killing
me softly” will be screened followed by a discussion about female representation in advertisements. At Tel – Hai College, Upper Galilee 18:00.
“Made in Dagenham”- Screening of the movie “Made in Dagenham”, Based on the true story about a group of women who decided to go on
strike in a local Ford factory in England due to poor working conditions. At Ben Gurion University, Beersheva 20:30.
“Between Feminism and Chauvinism”- An all day activity at Haifa University will examine the terms that define the “edges” of Gender Discourse:
Feminism and Chauvinism. The discussion will integrate students and their opinions in order to find new concepts and ideas regarding old and
new terms in Gender Discourse. Haifa University, 10:00-16:00
JORDAN
Aat Network & AlBalad Theatre – International Women’s Day Festival, co-funded by the EU
Performances, 8pm: 20-22 March: AWT II: In the lost & Found, play by Lana Nasser; 23 March: Ana Hurra, from Palestine, by Valentina Abu Oqsa.
Workshops, 5-8pm: March 8-12: “Language of Gesture”, Algerian artist Taous Khazem; March 21-23: “Unfolding Stories”, Dr. Fadi Skeiker, Syria/Jordan
Community Outreach: 12 March: Special event for young women from Gaza Camp-Jarash & Al-Ghore.
Films, 8pm: March 8 The Kingdom of Women, March 9 The Absence of Mr and Mrs B, March 10 Kul Yome Eid, March 22-23: Audio Video Art
Project, by Muna al Mufti Steve Al-Alai.
Where: All events are held at AlBalad Theatre, Jabal Amman
lEBANON
On the Occasion of International Women’s Day, the Lebanese NGO KAFA (enough) Violence & Exploitation is launching its Regional Lobbying and Media
Campaign on Lifting the Reservations on Article 16 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) within
the framework of the EU-funded project “CEDAW from Theory to Practice”. The event will include testimonies from victims of domestic violence and will
be addressed by EU Head of Delegation Angelina Eichhorst.Financed through the Investing in People programme, the project aims at coordinating ef-
forts in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria to promote implementation of CEDAW and push governments towards lifting their reservations on the convention.
When: 7 March, 3pm; Where: Hotel Crowne Plaza, Hamra, Beirut
OCCUPIED PAlEStINIAN tERRItORy
Three projects related to women and human rights will be organising events on International Women’s Day.
In Gaza, the National Centre for Community and Rehabilitation is organising an event in honour of disabled women under the project
Combating discrimination and Human Rights Abuse of marginalized children and women
In East Jerusalem, the ‘Al Maqdese for Society Development’ organization will honour distinguished women (the EU funds one of their
projects about ‘ending exploitation in East Jerusalem’ under the Human Rights programme)
The Psycho Social Counseling Center For Women (under one of the EU’s Partnership for Peace programmes: Women can do change) will
be presenting the results of a needs assessment for women in the West Bank on a workshop on 15 March.
UkRAINE
International Women’s Day – History in Photos
A photo exhibition presented by the EU Delegation in Ukraine together with the United Nations in Ukraine, with the support of the State Services
for Youth and Sports. The exhibition illustrates how the image of women and their role in society have altered during the last hundred years.
When: 3-13 March; Where: National Centre for Business and Cultural Cooperation “Ukrainskiy Dim (Ukrainian House)”, the Great Exhibition Hall. 2,
Khreshchatyk Str., Kyiv, 01601
This press pack (2011) was prepared by the ENPI Info Centre (www.enpi-info.eu), an EU-funded Regional Information and Communication project highlighting the
partnership between the EU and Neighbouring countries. It does not represent the official view of the EC or the EU institutions.