Wednesday 9 July 2014, 13h – 18h
Conference in the European Parliament, Brussels
Room A1 G-3
[9 July 2014] Final conference of 50/50 and Parity Democracy for Europe Campaign: No Modern European Democracy without Gender Equality!
Ahead of the May 2014 European Parliament elections, the European Women’s Lobby and partner organisations have been running parity campaigns to raise greater awareness of the importance of gender parity in politics.
Now, we know that the percentage of women in the European Parliament stands at almost 37%, this is a very small increase of 1,75% in comparison to the European elections in 2009. “At this pace it will take half a century until we reach gender parity” EWL Secretary General Joanna Maycock already stated with regards to these results.
This event will address the outcomes of the 2014 European Parliament elections from a gender perspective.
We hope that by the end of the day, you will have gained a better understanding of the state of play with regards to women in politics at national and EU level.
How can you support campaigns to boost women on their political path to ensure that more women reach political decision making positions across Europe?
At this event we will further discuss the impact of the Parity Democracy and European EWL 50/50 campaigns to measure the progress of these campaigns.
This conference on gender parity will test a series of principles that we have been developing around parity democracy.
What are the challenges ahead and why it is important to have equal representation of women and men in positions of power?
We are delighted to announce that a keynote speech will be held by Jessica N. Grounds, former Executive Director and Co-Founder of Running Start, who will share US perspectives on achieving greater participation of women in politics.
Find here the programme of the day here & more information on the speakers.
Read the European Women’s Lobby Press Release on the European Parliament 2014 election results here
Media representatives with and without accreditation to the EU institutions are kindly requested to register here.
Notes to Editors:
For Media Enquiries – contact Elvira Buijink buijink@womenlobby.org, +32 2/210 04 40
The European Women’s Lobby (EWL) is the largest umbrella organisation of women’s associations in the European Union working to promote women’s rights and equality between women and men. EWL membership extends to associations in all 28 EU member states and 3 candidate countries, as well as to 21 European-wide bodies, representing a total of more than 2000 organisations. www.womenlobby.org @EuropeanWomen
Partner organisations
Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies
Romanian Women’s Lobby
Forum 50%
Women Employment Information Centre
With the support of
United States Mission to the European Union
Funded by
The EU’s Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme
The Progress Programme of the European Union
Open Society Foundations
