European & International News

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

European & International News
Socialists & Democrats set equal pay as priority in new 10-point social strategy for the EU

Posted on 22 September 2011 |

[Brussels, 22 September 2011] The Group of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament yesterday published a social policy strategy for Europe, which puts equality between women and men as a high priority, including through setting ’economic freedom’ for all as the first of the 10 key points and returning again to the gender pay gap in the 10th point. Read their press release below.
PROGRESSIVES SET OUT 10-POINT SOCIAL STRATEGY FOR EU
The European Parliament’s main progressive group (...) Read more
European & International News
European Parliament and Council strike deal on EU-wide protection for victims of violence

Posted on 21 September 2011 |

[European Parliament, Brussels, 21 September 2011] Crime victims who have been granted protection in one EU Member State will be able to get similar protection if they move to another, under a draft agreement on the European Protection Order struck by Parliament and Council representatives on Tuesday, after one and a half years of negotiations. This protection would cover, for instance, victims of gender violence, harassment, abduction, stalking or attempted murder. The deal is expected to (...) Read more
European & International News
Women And Girls Lead: a public media initiative to focus, educate, and connect citizens worldwide in support of the issues facing women and girls

Posted on 21 September 2011 |

[ITVS, San Francisco, 21 September 2011] The Independent Television Service (ITVS) announced the roll out of the public media campaign Women and Girls Lead. Women and Girls Lead is a multiyear public media initiative to focus, educate, and connect citizens worldwide in support of the issues facing women and girls. Combining independent documentary film, television, new media, and global outreach partnerships, Women and Girls Lead amplifies the voices of women and girls acting as leaders, (...) Read more
European & International News
Psst! Keep it quiet, but gender equality isn’t just tied to economic growth

Posted on 20 September 2011 |

[Brussels, 20 September 2011] The World Bank recently published world development report on gender makes the case for investment in women, but fails to address how gender equality must go beyond economic growth, argues Rachel Moussié, women’s rights adviser on economic policy at ActionAid International, in a blog posting for The Guardian.
The executive summary of the World Bank’s world development report (WDR) on gender trots out one of the organisation’s most familiar refrains: "Gender is (...) Read more
European & International News
World leaders draw attention to central role of women’s political participation in democracy

Posted on 19 September 2011 |

[United Nations, New York, 19 September 2011] Women make up less than 10 percent of world leaders. Globally less than one in five members of parliament is a woman. The 30 percent critical mass mark for women’s representation in parliament has been reached or exceeded in only 28 countries. At a high-level event today, during the 66th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, women political leaders made a strong call for increasing women’s political participation and decision-making (...) Read more
European & International News
European Public Service Unions warn of impact of econimic crisis and austerity policies on women

Posted on 19 September 2011 |

[European Federation of Public Service Unions, 05 May 2011] At its annual meeting, the European Federation of Public Service Unions’ (EPSU) Women and Gender Equality Committee, debated the impact that the economic crisis and the austerity policies being imposed by Governments across Europe are having on women workers in the public sector and on gender equality generally. The meeting discussed the preliminary findings of EPSU commissioned research on the impact of public sector pay and job (...) Read more
European & International News
EPP Group in European Parliament to hold Public Hearing ‘Girls in Migration: Collateral victims or actors of a world in motion?’

Posted on 15 September 2011 |

[EPP Group, Brussels, 15 September 2011] Girls are increasingly migrating and will continue to do so. Around the globe and according to most recent official data , more than 10 million girls aged 10 to 19 are international migrants. More than a quarter of them live in Europe (including a million and a half in the European Union) and they account for at least 5 million individuals in developing countries. The immigration of girls has been rising steadily in the European Union now covering a (...) Read more
European & International News
European Parliament Adopts Resolution on EU Homelessness Strategy

Posted on 15 September 2011 |

[European Federation of National Organisations Working With the Homeless, Brussels, 15 September 2011] On the 14th September 2011, the European Parliament adopted a Resolution calling for an EU homelessness strategy.
With this Resolution (B7-0475/2011), adopted by a large majority, the European Parliament sends out a strong political message that homelessness is an urgent issue, on which the EU must step up its co-ordination and support of Member States’ policies. This requires building (...) Read more
European & International News
New study finds staff rate female leaders highly but male bosses score them lower than men

Posted on 14 September 2011 |

[Brussels, 14 September 2011] A three-year study conducted by Oxford Brookes University has found that staff rate women managers, and their style of leadership, higher than that of their male counterparts, but that conversely, their bosses rated them significantly lower.
The following are extracts from an article published in The Guardian by Beverly Alimo-Metcalfe, professor of leadership studies at Oxford Brookes University:
“Our major three-year investigation of the nature of leadership (...) Read more
European & International News
New research finds big gender divide in support for quotas among women and men board members

Posted on 14 September 2011 |

[Brussels, 14 September 2011] A new international study of serving board members has highlighted how women and men in leadership positions have a very different opinion of the role and importance of quotas to increase diversity and performance in private companies. While a majority of serving board members are reluctant to fully support enforced quotas, women are far more favourable towards such measures than men, and the majority of women find them effective. In addition, according to the (...) Read more