actions
Agenda UWE AGM 2014 Bucharest 7 September
The board is pleased to post the extended agenda for the Annual General Meeting on Sunday the 7th of September at the New National Library of Bucharest starting at 13.30 hours. We now have added the balans and audition report. Due to holidays and late delivery of the report they were posted later. Our apologies. The other material was posted end of June. Also we have two candidates for the two Vice Presidents Isabelle Trimaille and Elena Flavia Castagnino. https://uweboard.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1865&action=edit
Deadline for resolutions was 15 July; we received none. Deadline for candidates was 1 August. Invitations for the Meet and Greet or hosting an AGM are still welcome. Call for Hosting UWE 2015 and Meet and Greet
The morning of the third day of the conference (7 September) is dedicated to sharing information and the reports of the NFA’s. Each NFA will have approx 15 minutes to tell the other members about their plans, activities and membership strategy. So please prepare something to share and make the material available to be posted on the website. So check the latest agenda here. The links will lead you to the minutes, several calls among which the call for candidates.
For the Board,Preview
Edith Lommerse President
Program 7th of September
9.30 Welcome
(informal meeting)
– Sharing reports NFA’s (max 15 minutes)
– Presentation candidates Vice Presidents: Isabelle TRIMAILLE UWE VP candidate AGM 2014 (1), Isabelle TRIMAILLE UWE 2014 cv_en
EFCB letter UWECV Elena Flavia Call for Candidates.def
– UWE action plan presentations mg working groups . the second day of the conference will be mostly dedicated to the topics of the draft action program which had four themes: Women on Boards, Support Implementation Istanbul Convention, Gender Sensitive parlements and Cooperation and Communication among women.
12.30 lunch – voting
13.30 second part AGM (formal)
1. Adoption agenda
2. Minutes minutes Istanbul please send us your comments or language suggestions before so we don’t need to spend much time on the minutes.
3. Jans Gremmée award
4. Reports
a. Overall
b. Vice Presidents
c. Financial (material will follow asap) election of members financial committee Balans. budget2014-15 AO
5. Proposal action plan 2015-2017 (posted shortly see also material informal part in the morning )
6 Proposal Meet and Greet and next AGM: Call for Hosting UWE 2015 and Meet and Greet: we have a proposal from Finland and from Germany inviting us. Also a tentative proposal from the Netherlands to host a meeting in The Haque.
Next AGM up till now no official invitations.
7. Orientation future UWE and IFUW: The UWE board proposes to dedicate some time to come up with a common strategy on our policy towards IFUW and the future of UWE. Present during the Conference will be a staff member of IFUW and two boardmembers of IFUW. Elsbeth Navarinin and Catherine Bell the chair of the IFUW.
Central Question: How do the NFA’s view the relation between UWE and IFUW and could we develop a common strategy towards IFUW?
Elements:
- We have the same mission as IFUW but our focus is mainly on Europe (Council of Europe and European Institutions) because the focus of IFUW is on the whole world and the UN. Does IFUW have enough time and energy for European problems?
- Several of the NFA’s in UWE have discussions with the IFUW about the fees and are contemplating to leave IFUW which would also mean leaving UWE.
- Some NFA’s have left UWE because they couldn’t or didn’t wish to pay the dues of IFUW. In our constitution is written any member of UWE needs to be a member of IFUW. Could we contemplate to enlarge the possibility of membership without membership of IFUW for instance Friend of IFUW?
- UWE now has 17 countries , there is room for more:)
- UWE is not part of the governing system of IFUW and doesn’t get any support (material or immaterial)
- The UWE AGM during the meeting of IFUW was almost impossible to manage as the IFUW Board didn’t plan a proper UWE AGM (They offered a space in a restaurant during lunch).
8. Proposal dues 2015: 0,46 cts per capita
We have the resolution of the Scottish NFA which was accepted in Helsinki for a per capita dues. For one year we had an amendment of The Finish and the Dutch association for 1 euro per head till a thousand members after that 0.25 cents per capita. The board did propose a budget last year in Istanbul but confusion arose partly due to shortness of time in Istanbul. For this reason we used the same fee 92014) as the last year (2013) which was accepted by the AGM in Istanbul. We now have calculated the budget for 2015 and and divide this per member (2014) . the per capita fee for 2015 is 0,46 cts per member. Our sincere apologies for the confusion. Budget 2015 and fee 2015 The balans is presented under the reports and contains a slight mistake which we will clarify during the AGM.
9. Result of the elections
10. Any other business.
Audition report finance: contrary to the decision of the AGM in Helsinki a auditor was used in 2012 (costing aprox. 1000 Euro of which the Finish association paid 400 euros) and in 2013 the treasurer found her own financial committee as the AGM in Istanbul did not dedicate examiners)
TAKE ACTION TODAY!
You will find here the list of MEPs who have already endorsed EWL Manifesto. Let’s get much more until the European elections! Thanks for your support! As the European Parliament elections are getting closer, we need to make sure that women’s rights and gender equality will be at the core of the policies and work of the new European institutions. Let’s join forces to contact all candidates and make sure that they support the Manifesto of the European Women’s Lobby “Act now for her future, commit to gender equality!“.The more candidates support EWL Manifesto, the more gender equality will be taken into account both in the European elections discussion, and in the new European institutions. Getting many supporters is therefore important at all levels: it will help you to address women’s rights at local and national level, and it will help all of us to push for a Europe that promotes gender equality.You can use the template message below to contact them, and please inform us of their answer! You can also send twitter messages to your candidates, using this template:@xxx Ready to commit to #genderequality? Listen to #EuropeanWomensVoice and say YES to our #EP2014 Manifesto! @EuropeanWomenDear xxx,In a month, women and men from all over Europe will vote for new European institutions. We turn to you to ask you to listen to the voices of women’s organisations: do you want a Europe which fosters gender equality and promotes and protects women’s and girls’ rights? Last month, on the occasion of International Women’s Day, the European Women’s Lobby unveiled its Manifesto for the European elections “Act now for her future, commit to gender equality!“, which comprises concrete and realistic demands for a Europe realising gender equality and supporting women’s human rights (see the Manifesto attached). These demands are based on the reality of women’s lives, as experienced by our members and all the women and girls that our member organisations are supporting and assisting every day in all parts of Europe.
Will you be the champion of gender equality and endorse EWL Manifesto “Act now for her future, commit to gender equality!”? Realising equality between women and men is crucial at all levels, from the local to the European. We hope that you will show your commitment and endorse EWL Manifesto.
On behalf of the millions of women and men in Europe, who believe in gender equality as a tool for social justice, solidarity and dignity, we thank you for your attention, and hope to read your answer soon.
Best regards,
YOUR NAME
University of Women Europe “Meet and Greet” in Amsterdam, successful and inspiring!
Aside Posted on Updated on
A job well done team UWE! Excellent venue, brilliant setup and excellent execution of a successful UWE meet and greet in Amsterdam. Thoroughly enjoyed the full 4 days. Yes we went a day early to see what all the ‘background’ was about and I’m glad we did. Indeed it was fantastic the warm welcome offered by Gerda with Edith, Vera and Mary Josè 🙂 ElenaFlavia (Siracuse)
It is one of the many positive evaluations UWE received after two intensive days at the first UWE Meet and Greet in Amsterdam. Over 40 representatives of the branches of UWE from France, Romania, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Finland, Switzerland, Ireland and UK met for a two-day gathering aiming at exchanging information about joint actions at European level. Here an impression of the Meet and Greet.
It started with a welcoming reception hosted by the UWE president Edith Lommerse to celebrate Europe day as the UWE was founded with the specific purpose to encourage European higher educated and university women to participate in the progressive development of European society. The “Meet and Greet” event was an opportunity to UWE members to get to know more about the work of the EWL and discuss possible collaboration in informal setting mixed with a social and cultural program.
EWL Acting Coordinator Pierrette Pape was invited to present the work of the EWL (see PPT presentation), while the Vice-Presidents of UWE explained the possible ways for UWE to be engaged at EU and Council of Europe levels.
UWE members warmly applauded the EWL video clip on the impact of austerity on women. It is a great clip to watch and use on a screening evening with members to increase awareness of the effects of austerity policies currently undertaken at the EU and many countries in Europe. Research shows it is women who suffer the most of these policies and that’s also why it is so important to vote and underwrite the manifesto for The European Parliament Elections.
Amongst the different issues of interest for the members of UWE, violence against women experienced by educated women is a concern which led UWE to decide to develop a two-year project in order to map and raise awareness on the scale of domestic violence faced by educated women in Europe. Some members also mentioned the situation of migrant skilled women. Contact person Uta Krope explained the approach which aims at learning together with an elaborate powerpoint which has lots of links to interesting information of the diverse approaches. Next learning conference is in Bucharest Romania from 5-8 June. More info see: U-DOMESTIC VIOLENCE MET BY EDUCATED WOMEN-1
After the presentations the group discussed themes for UWE to be proposed at the BUcharest Conference 5-7 september after a proposal from the UWE board four themes were seen as potentially good themes to put into practice for the UWE as a whole.
- Support implementation of EVAW and raise awareness
- Training Gender Sensitive approach to society
- Women in decision making (in boards and at educational institutions)
- Cooperation and communication (internal and external)
Along the four themes several working groups formed which will be presented in a different article. Besides in-depth discussion on the implementation of women’s rights, UWE members had the chance to do an architectural tour of the Eastern Docklands of Amsterdam, Dutch honorary member Angeline Joordens took care of two tours in the pouring rain as there were so many members interested. Thank you Angeline!
In the evening several local presidents came to meet the UWE representatives at the reception hosted by the Amsterdam Branch of the Dutch VVAO. President Rosy van der Vlies explained the importance of meeting and working together thanking UWE President Edith Lommerse for this opportunity to contribute:”I gladly volunteered after she twisted my arm”. After a lively dinner where still more Dutch members appeared it was late when the day was ended with a warm applause for the organisation.
Next day a smaller group was instructed by Uta Krope on new ways of cooperating and disseminating information by Uta Krope. She showed several new and more practical ways of cooperating digitally and made it abundantly clear that emailing with attachments is old fashioned and not very effective. She is always happy to assist and provided an interesting PP with useful tips and tricks. Uta Krope:”If you have seen the instruction once you will know what is is about and after three times watching a video instruction on Youtube ánd trying, you will be able to do it! ” More info see web-2-introduction-amsterdam version for blog. Thank you Uta!
While the rain was pouring down the group went to the North of Holland to visit a Chrysanthemum farm Dekker which provides 30 percent of the Chrysanthemums of the world. Mister Erik Floris was so kind as to inform us extensively of the growing process and the different types of flowers.
Find another story on the Meet and Greet on the website of the EWL: http://womenlobby.org/news/ewl-news/article/university-of-women-europe-meet?lang=en
EU elections vote for change. Support Parity Democracy- The Lobbying Kit now available in 6 Languages
The European elections are coming up. Time to realize women represent only 35% in EU parliament. Time for change. More figures? http://paritydemocracy.eu/
The Lobbying Kit, published around 2 months ago in the framework of the 50/50 Campaign, is now available on the campaign website in 6 different languages. In addition to the French and English version, you can now use it in Greek, Lithuanian, Czech and Romanian.
The Lobbying Kit is aimed helping national (women’s rights) organisations and dedicated individuals in their demand to ensure the equal representation of women and men in political decision-making ahead of the coming European elections. It provides arguments to show why parity democracy is important for all of us and model lobbying letters in order to address national political parties, heads of governments and prominent supporters.
To download and use the new versions, please click here.
Sign the petition: Establish 2016 as European Year to End Violence against Women and Girls!
As we all know, to date, the EU has no binding legislation regarding violence against women. This is critical, as violence against women is a human rights issue and affects approximately 45% of all women across Europe. An estimated one-fifth of women in the EU suffer from violence within the home and more than one in ten women is a victim of sexual violence involving the use of force. Seven women die every day from domestic violence in the EU. The EU must therefore raise awareness on the issue and affirm its political commitment to end violence against women. By establishing a European Year to end violence against women and girls, the EU would play a leading role in raising awareness on violence against women, and at the same time propose concrete measures to act against the perpetuation of violence against women.
EU Years are key policy tools to develop strong policies and involve all actors on a specific issue. The EP has adopted on 25 February 2014 the legislative resolution of MEP Parvanova, demanding EU action to combat violence against women, including an EU Year. This is why the European Women’s Lobby and its 2000 member organisations in 31 European countries want to see such year be established in 2016, and we need to prove to the EU institutions that everyone cares about it and that we want a Europe free from violence.
So Please follow the link and sign the petition!
http://www.change.org/petitions/european-commission-president-barroso-establish-now-a-european-year-to-end-violence-against-women-and-girls? (if the link doesnt work, copy it into your browser)
To:
President of the European Commission Mr Barroso, European Commission
Project Elimination Violence against Women,Council of Europe and EWL succesful
2013 ended with an incredibly successful joint project of the European Women’s Lobby and the Council of Europe, as events around the project “Act against Rape! Use the Istanbul Convention” have been organized in almost all European countries (28) and gave visibility to the demands to sign the Istanbul Convention. Which as we wrote before was one of the projects our Vice President Marie José worked on for a long time; more info https://uweboard.wordpress.com/2013/11/22/write-to-your-authorities-urging-to-use-the-istanbul-convention.
Purpose of the actions is to highlight the need for improvements and discuss the taboos. The project will continue as not all European countries have been able to sign, ratify and implement this important Convention. In the Netherlands the government intends to ratify the convention mid 2014. One of the issues was the necessity to implement the Convention also in the Caribbean part of the Netherlands which needed more time to work on the necessary infrastructure.
The actions have made it clear once again that Violence against Women (VAW) is to be eliminated. Another milestone drawing attention to the Elimination of Violence against Women is the launch of the results in March of the European survey on VAW – done by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA). The results will show a high rate of VAW in Europe and the necessity to work on the Elimination of Violence against Women.
Write to your authorities, urging to use the Istanbul Convention!
- letter nfa for signing and ratification Istanbul Convention 2013
- letter nfa for ratification Istanbul Convention 2013
- letter nfa for implementation Istanbul Convention
The UWE Board would like to draw your attention to a very important theme. From 2008 onwards our Vice President Marie José Jonczy has been involved in the negotiation of the Istanbul Convention of the Council of Europe, being a member of the delegation of the board of the European Women’s Lobby to which she belongs as UWE representative. Besides the huge number of women and girls that are subject to violence in this world, it is still a big taboo amongst both men and women that also high educated women are subject to violence against them. A large group of University Women of Europe are now working on a project coordinated by Finland and Germany which is looking into this matter and will ask for your cooperation soon https://uweboard.wordpress.com/european-project-domestic-violence-met-by-educated-women/ .
The Istanbul Convention is not only to combat violence but also to prevent it and provides the necessary remedies to victims. The Convention took a long time to draft and was difficult to negotiate as some delegations wished to have a convention against violence in general which would reduce the strength of the convention for women. The scope of the first article of the convention is to combat and prevent violence against women and a second paragraph could extend the scope to all violence. The delegation spoke for hours to get the point across that the strength of the convention is to be found in the focus on combating and preventing violence against women and girls. It also includes no marriage exemption for rape and the implementation and development of specialist services to support women with legal assistance and free legal aid. The key to combating violence against women is not crime control. It is making sure that women and men are equal partners, have the same rights and responsibilities, the same opportunities and that their contribution to society is equally valued and respected. An important element is to make the lack of consent an constitutive element of crime. More info in different languages can be found on : http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/standardsetting/convention-violence/brochures_en.asp.
The Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence was adopted by the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers on 7 April 2011. It opened for signature on 11 May 2011 on the occasion of the 121st Session of the Committee of Ministers in Istanbul. It will enter into force following 10 ratifications. Unfortunately now in November 2013 the Istanbul Convention is only signed and ratified by six countries. Time for action!
The Council of Europe and the European Women’s Lobby have joined forces in this project to promote the Istanbul Convention as a concrete tool for change to eradicate all forms of male violence against women and specifically rape. Under the common slogan “Act against rape! Use the Istanbul Convention!”, a series of public events will take place in 33 countries all over Europe during the 16 days of activism against violence against women between 25 November and 10 December.
We have written three possible letters: to ask for signing and ratification, to ask for ratification and to emphasize the necessity to implement the Istanbul convention. Please make sure to check the status of the signing and ratifying on the convention on http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/Commun/ChercheSig.asp?NT=210&CM=1&DF=&CL=ENG
We ask you to support the European action against rape and the use of the Istanbul Convention. The draft letters which are enclosed can serve as a model to be send to your respective authorities. Please make it known to the EWL and the UWE Board that you have taken action in favor of the protection of women and support a Europe free from violence for women and girls.
UWE Vice President, Mr. Marie José Jonczy
UWE President. Drs. Edith Lommerse MMO
University Women of EUROPE 