EWL members meet in Brussels for bi-annual EWL Board Meeting
[Brussels, 18 February 2020] The Board of EWL recently gathered in Brussels for one its bi-annual meeting. It was a key moment for EWL’s Board, which includes 41 representatives from EWL’s National Coordinations and European-wide organisations, to discuss our collective work in 2020 and EWL’s next Strategic Framework.
Taking place from 14 to 16 February 2020, Board members spent 2 days in Brussels together with the EWL Secretariat to strategise on our work for women and girls’ rights in Europe, now and in the future. The event included a number of open conversations and group work, formal discussions, networking over dinners and lunches, and a creative moment to engage in the 2020 edition of One Billion Rising (OBR), a global campaign to end violence against women.
Members arrived in Belgium on Friday and met for dinner in central Brussels. On Saturday morning, we spent some time discussing members’ activities at national, regional and international level across all of EWL’s strategic aims. We also held discussions on key areas of EWL’s work in 2020, including on the EU Strategy on equality between women and men, EU legislation on violence against women and girls, the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, EWL’s Purple Pact for a feminist economy and gender mainstreaming in EU policies. This was a chance for EWL members and the Secretariat to explore ideas for advocacy and political strategising in 2020 in these areas of work. The afternoon of Saturday was dedicated to EWL’s next Strategic Framework, which we are developing in 2020. Facilitated by the consultants who are coordinating our strategic planning process, the session was an opportunity for members and staff to discuss the challenges and opportunities the new strategy needs to explore and address, using learning from the review of our current Strategic Framework 2016-2020.
As part of EWL’s engagement in the 2020 edition of One Billion Rising, we held an artistic workshop on Saturday where members developed a set of key paintings calling on EU action to end male violence against women and girls. During the weekend, members also presented the artistic pieces that they have developed and the events organised in the framework of the One Billion Rising Campaign in order to escalate political consciousness and urge to action to end violence against women. You can read more about EWL’s engagement in One Billion Rising here and check out the photo album of our OBR activities on 14-16 February here.
The Board met again on Sunday morning where they discussed a number of topics, including EWL membership fees, our young women’s engagement plan for 2020 ad EWL’s framework for a feminist culture. The Board Meeting ended with a lunch on Sunday and members headed back home in the afternoon.
It was a busy weekend packed with discussions and exchanges, preparing us all for the key moments and opportunities of 2020, including the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action, the launch of the EU’s ‘Gender Equality Strategy’ and the celebration of EWL’s 30 birthday. Our next Board Meeting takes place in Paris, just before the start of our annual our General Assembly from 3 to 6 of July 2020.
