EWL News

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EWL News
Solidad Blanco, in memoriam

Posted on 18 October 2013 |

(Brussels 18 October) It is with great sadness that the European Women’s Lobby learned of the tragic death of Solidad Blanco who passed away following a car crash in Spain at the weekend. Solidad Blanco was Head of the European Commission’s Gender Equality Unit at the time when the EWL was in its early years. We could count on the unconditional support of Solidad both for our organisation and for women’s rights in Europe. In recent years, Solidad worked on environmental issues. Her openness, (...) Read more
EWL News
International Day for the Eradication of Poverty 2013

Posted on 18 October 2013 |

(Brussels, 17 October, 2013) The EWL’s Mary Collins, Social and Economic Policy Officer spoke of the female face of poverty in Europe yesterday in the context of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. In response to the Commission proposal on the "Social Dimension of the EMU" a discussion was hosted by the Greens European free Alliance in the European parliament.
Poverty and social exclusion severely impede upon women’s empowerment and economic independence, preventing them (...) Read more
EWL News
Overdue! 3 year anniversary of Maternity Leave Directive

Posted on 18 October 2013 |

(Brussels, 18 October 2013) Three years have passed since the European Parliament adopted its position on the directive for which no formal response has been received from the Council. The Maternity Leave Directive is to be adopted through the co-decision procedure which requires two parties to negotiate and agree namely the European Parliament and the European Council.
With just less than a year before the May 2014 European Parliament elections, the EWL urges the Council to show its (...) Read more
EWL News
EWL Board Seminar: back to the future

Posted on 18 October 2013 |

(Brussels, 17 October 2013) As part of the EWL board meeting that took place over the weekend of the 11-13 October, the EWL’s secretariat organized a seminar called Back to the future – Strategies to strengthen feminist principles and funding for women’s rights and gender equality in Europe
Three panels explored a range of topics related to coming out on top of the current turbulent economic atmosphere for women’s organizations and how to breach the topic of feminism with decision-makers at (...) Read more
EWL News
First ever Women’s Congress to be held in Hungary

EWL members Hungarian Women’s Lobby lead the way

Posted on 16 October 2013 |

(Brussels 16 October) The first ever Women’s Congress in Hungary since the democratic transition is organized by the Hungarian Women’s Lobby. The event is inspired by the success of the Polish Congress of Women (Kongres Kobiet). The Polish Congress has been organized yearly since 2009, getting high visibility and media attention, mobilizing and uniting a large number of women from all over the country, and generating legal and policy changes in Poland.
The Women’s Congress aims to bring (...) Read more
EWL News
EWL Executive and Board meets in Brussels

Posted on 11 October 2013 |

(Brussels, 11 October) The second annual board meeting of the European Women’s Lobby is taking place in Brussels today and over the coming weekend. This will be the last board that will be attended by outgoing Secretary General, Cécile Gréboval, who has been involved in the Lobby for over seventeen years. We’d like to thank Cecile for all of her years of dedication, commitment and activism. We’ll have more to report on the EWL board meeting next (...) Read more
EWL News
Women on Boards - the vote

Follow it live online

Posted on 11 October 2013 |

(Brussels 11 October) On Monday 14 October 2013 from 15.00 – 15.30h in ASP 5 G-3 the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality and the Committee on Legal Affairs will have a joint committee meeting to vote on the draft report on "Gender balance among non-executive directors of companies listed on stock exchange". The two co-Rapoporteurs, MEP Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou (EPP) and MEP Evelyn Regner (S&D) presented the working document in June.
The reasons why we believe, here at the (...) Read more
EWL News
A French draft bill calls for the criminalisation of the purchase of sex

Posted on 11 October 2013 |

[Paris, 11 October 2013] On Tuesday 1st October, the socialist group of the French Parliament announced that it will table a proposal of law aiming at reinforcing the protection of prostituted persons and addressing the demand for prostitution. This bill proposal follows up on a new parliamentary report on prostitution, unveiled on 17 September 2013, and presenting 40 recommendations to abolish the system of prostitution.
The new proposal of law is the outcome of a parliamentary reflection (...) Read more
EWL News
Ivo Josipović, Croatian President, becomes a ’Friend’ of the EWL

Posted on 11 October 2013 |

(Brussels 11 October) The European Women’s Lobby, like many other NGO organisations, is pushed to find resources and funding. One of the innovative approaches that the EWL has adopted is our ’Friends’. Our latest Friend is none other than the Croatian President, Ivo Josipović. We were honoured tomeet with President Josipovićwhen we had our General Assembly in Zagreb in May this year. Following up on our vist, EWL Executive Member, Rada Borić shared the good news with us this week.
As a Friend of (...) Read more
EWL News
EWL Members WAGGGS plan Twitter take over for day of the girl child

Posted on 10 October 2013 |

(Brussels 10 October 2013) European Week of Action for Girls 2013 - Making the invisible visible: Girls as drivers of change
Girl Guide to take over UN Women’s Twitter accounts on 11 October
Did you know half of the world’s population, over 3.5 billion people, is under 25? And half again are girls and young women? This is a powerful force of energy, capacity, innovation and knowledge, but which still remains largely untapped. Whether it is poverty, hunger, unemployment, conflicts, HIV/AIDS (...) Read more