European & International News

International news globe All the latest news from the European Union, its member states, and beyond.

European & International News
Stop all sex selective practices say MEPs

Posted on 8 October 2013 |

(Brussels 08 October) From the European Parliament’s FEMM (Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee) comes the following resolution- Stop all gender-biased sex-selective practices, say MEPs
Promotion of an educational and social environment where women and men are equal, prevention of sex selection as a business, and combating discrimination against unborn baby girl foetuses are just some of the proposals of the resolution adopted on Tuesday on "gendercide", i.e. the deliberate killing (...) Read more
European & International News
100 Women: What chance does a young girl have?

Posted on 8 October 2013 |

(Brussels 08 October) When a young girl starts out in life, where will her journey take her? Will she have the same opportunities as the boys she grows up with? Will she face more dangers, or fight the same battles? More than 100 years since women began winning the right to vote, many societies are still dominated by men. Millions of teenage girls worldwide do not finish school, beginning their childbearing years as their counterparts in the West are beginning to dream of careers and (...) Read more
European & International News
European Parliament: FEMM committee: Women with disabilities

Posted on 4 October 2013 |

(Brussels 03 October) The Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee of the European Parliament have released a call for member states to do more for women with disabilities.
Women with disabilities suffering from multiple discriminations
Member States need to do more to help women with disabilities, who face difficulties in their daily life such as access to the labour market, to quality healthcare services and to public services and transport infrastructure. MEPs call for better (...) Read more
European & International News
Lampedusa boat sinking ’slaughter of the innocents’

Men and women fleeing persecution and violence

Posted on 4 October 2013 |

(Brussels 04 October) The second fatal boat trip across the Mediterranean in a week has left Italy in three days of national mourning, with fatalities from the most recent boat sinking expected to surpass 111 people. Over 155 people have been rescued from the vessel that caught fire after engine failure just 1km from the Italian coastline. The Tunisian skipper of the vessel has been arrested. Men, women and children drowned as the vessel encountered difficulties which sank within sight of (...) Read more
European & International News
European Commission study: Women in the ICT Sector

Information and communication technologies need women

Posted on 3 October 2013 |

(Brussels 03 October) The Commission department responsible for Communications Networks, Content & Technology (DG CONNECT)) has published the results of a study on Women active in the ICT sector. Getting more girls interested in a digital career and getting more women into digital jobs would benefit the digital industry, women themselves and Europe’s economy. This is the key finding of the European Commission survey on women active in the ICT sector, published today.
According to (...) Read more
European & International News
Equality Ministers launch the Brussels’ Declaration to prevent prostitution

Posted on 3 October 2013 |

[Brussels, 30 September 2013] The French and Belgian ministers in charge of equality between women and men, Ms Najat Vallaud Belkacem and Ms Joëlle Milquet, organized on 30 September an [inter-ministerial conference->http://www.ny65yearslater.eu to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the UN New York Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others. The two ministers launched the Brussels’ Declaration, which calls for a gender (...) Read more
European & International News
Launch of a European network of ministers in charge of equality between women and men

Posted on 3 October 2013 |

[Brussels, 30 September 2013] Following an initiative of Ms Milquet, Belgian Minister for Equality, and Ms Vallaud Belkacem, French Minister for Women’s Rights, a European network of ministers working on equality between women and men was created in Brussels, on 30 September 2013. The two ministers invited their colleagues to discuss the situation of women’s rights in the EU; while they acknowledged the lack of real equality and the progress still to be made, they decided to launch a European (...) Read more
European & International News
Germany: record numbers of female representives elected

Posted on 2 October 2013 |

(Brussels 02 October) From our German Members, Deutscher Frauenrat, comes this article about the record number of women elected to public office in Germany. Angela Merkel will remain Chancellor of Germany, and of the 630 newly elected/re-elected members of the Bundestag, 229 are female. The proportion of women in parliament reached the highest level in the history of the Federal Republic. It is currently at 36.3% and is a 3.4% increase on the 2009 election results.
This increase is due to (...) Read more
European & International News
Emily O’Reilly to begin term as European Ombudsman

Posted on 30 September 2013 |

(Brussels 30 October) Emily O’Reilly will begin work as European Ombudsman Following her election by the European Parliament in July on 1 October 2013. She follows P. Nikiforos Diamandouros, who retires after serving as European Ombudsman for more than ten years. Having served two terms as Irish Ombudsman, O’Reilly will take the oath of independence today in Luxembourg at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg. As the first woman to ever hold this position, the European Women’s Lobby (...) Read more
European & International News
28 September: Demonstrations all over Spain to retain the right to abortion

Posted on 27 September 2013 |

(Brussels, 26.09.2013) Demonstrations have been organised all over Spain to support the International day of Action for Decriminalization of Abortion and to maintain women’s right to choose freely and fully regarding their reproductive and sexual health rights.
The Spanish Platform ’In Defence of Sexual and Reproductive Rights’, Decidir nor hace Libres, >http://www.decidirnoshacelibres.org, of which CELEM is a member, has issued a call to all interested people to join them and demonstrate on (...) Read more