Uncategorized
Report on pay openness in Finland
Thanks to our members in Finland, we share with all of you the news that a report on pay openness, compiled by Ombudsman for Equality Jukka Maarianvaara, was submitted to Minister of Family Affairs and Social Services from Finland on 16 October. It should be an inspiring tool for other countries fighting with the same issue: the gender pay gap.
According to the Press Release published by Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, the main conclusion of the report was that the individual employee’s right of access to pay data should be improved.
According to Maarianvaara, the Act on Equality between Women and Men should be amended by including more detailed provisions on pay surveys to reveal unfounded differences in employees’ pay. The purpose of pay surveys is to find out whether women and men are treated equally in terms of the pay.
Maarianvaara stresses that the key means to promote pay openness is legislation. Appropriate legislation enables to take account of the rights of employers and all employees in an equitable manner, also including matters such as personal data protection. The legislation is supplemented by measures by labor market organisations and at workplaces.
“The right to equal pay for equal work or work of equal value and to non-discrimination are fundamental rights. Increased openness of data on what people are paid for their work is a necessity in order that this fundamental right is a reality. It is also important to keep in mind that other fundamental and human rights are not an obstacle to wider pay openness”, says Professor Kevät Nousiainen.
How to proceed?
The thorough work by Maarianvaara brings forth problems relating to pay openness and means to solve these. Pay discrimination is difficult to verify if sufficient pay data is not available says Minister Annika Saarikko. Often the pay surveys at workplaces are not detailed enough and the staff representatives do not have sufficient access to pay data to make comparisons.
More efficient means are needed to bridge the pay differences between women and men, and pay openness is one of these. Maarianvaara’s excellent work deserves concrete action as a follow-up.
”What I will do is invite a tripartite working group to draft a proposal on legislative amendments required to strengthen pay openness. The term of the working group must be such that the proposals are available to be used at the government formation talks next year. The working group can base its work on Jukka Maarianvaara’s report, but other means may also be considered”, says Minister Saarikko.
Minister Saarikko appointed Maarianvaara to compile the report in April 2018.
The University Women of Europe has filed collective complaints for application of the Social Charter in the 47 countries members of the Council of Europe stating women are not treated equal as they earn structurally less than men for equal work. As an international INGO, UWE is allowed to submit a collective complaint of violation of the European Social Charter.
More information about this and other useful links here at our page:
https://uweboard.wordpress.com/collective-complaint-equal-pay-for-equal-work/
UWE Meet and greet 2019 – SAVE THE DATE
Dear all,
We are pleased to invite you to the next UWE Meet and Greet event in Dundee (City of Discovery) on 17th – 19th May 2019. The University of Dundee and the City Chambers are already confirmed as venues for this event which will be a combination of Discussion, Friendship and Culture
This year, our Conference theme is “My Identity. My Story“.
Dundee is currently very much on the map with the opening of the new V&A Museum leading renewed showcasing of the city as a whole. Dundee has long been famous for Jam, Jute and Journalism, cities change as do people. Change has inspired our theme: our stories and how these interplay with our many identities, not least as women.
We are looking forward to meeting you, speakers will be announced very soon along with the information about the registration etc. and we hope that a number of you will be able to join us in Scotland next year.
The Conference is open to all members of the University Women of Europe and their friends.
 |
Anne Negre President |
 |
Fiona Sutherland President |
Nominations for Women of Europe Awards 2018
We are once again invited by European Women’s Lobby to send nominations for Women of Europe Awards 2018 – deadline 30 September. The call for nominations has just been launched, all our UWE members can nominate one candidate per category.
Please send us an email to boarduwe@gmail.com until 28 September, containing following information:
About the Awards
The Women of Europe Awards are organised by the European Movement International and the European Women’s Lobby, building upon the national awards of several National European Movement Councils. The awards are handed out annually to honour women striving to advance the European project in their professional or private capacity. The role of women in the European project remains largely unrecognised, and the awards highlight the contribution of women in promoting and advancing European issues, and to increase the presence and involvement of women in debates about Europe and its future.
Read about last year’s Awards here.
2018 Prize categories:
- Woman in Power – showing extraordinary political leadership in Europe
- Woman in Action – undertaking extraordinary actions at grassroots level in Europe
- Woman in Business – advancing European integration with entrepreneurial spirit
- Woman in Youth Activism – for women aged 15 to 30 strengthening the voice of young women in Europe (organised in cooperation with the European Youth Forum)
Nominations
You must nominate your candidates by 28 SEPTEMBER , the UWE Board will fill the nomination form and send it to European Women’s Lobby until 30 September.
University Women of Europe as member organisation of the European Women’s Lobby is eligible to nominate one candidate for each of the four categories. Nominations by members of member organisations or non-members are ineligible. In case of overlapping memberships, the limit of one nomination per category remains.
Award Gala
The Awards will be handed out in Brussels at the end of November. An exact date will be communicated in the coming weeks.
BEST vs WORST COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD FOR WOMEN
New research published by Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security and the Peace Research Institute of Oslo’s Global placed Syria the no 1 worst country in the world for women. While the the lowest-ranking countries on the index are historically more unstable and volatile, nordic countries dominate the best countries for women’s list with Denmark on top, according to a ranking by U,S. News & World Report.
The index measures women’s well-being — based on factors such as justice, security, and inclusion . You can explore here Women, Peace and Security Index by country, dimension, story, download report and download data — in 153 countries.
TOP 10 BEST COUNTRIES FOR WOMEN
1. DENMARK
Denmark’s progressive government and societal structure enables its citizens to socially mobilize across multiple arenas; women and men both enjoy access to mostly free medical care, and higher education is also free. Additionally, the country is home to a new intersectional party called Feministisk Initiativ (or F!).
2. SWEDEN
Since the ranking’s inception, Sweden has never finished lower than fifth in the Gender Gap rankings. Nearly two-thirds of all university degrees in Sweden are awarded to women, its policies regarding parental leave are flexible (and expand to spouses), and government-run bodies such as the Secretariat of Gender Research serve only to enshrine the values of equality across all platforms.
3. NORWAY
Norway earned a perfect score in overall citizenship, and ranks 2nd of 144 countries in the 2017 Global Gender Gap Report. The country has even been called “a haven for gender equality.” Norwegian political parties even introduced voluntary gender quotasway back in the 1970s.
4. NETHERLANDS
The Netherlands has long been a pioneering country for gender equality; itsemancipation policy of 1978 ensured that parental leave, care, income, power, decision, education, and salaries remained equal between men and women, and in 2011 they instituted their “LGBT and Gender Equality Policy Plan” to legally advocate LGBT and all-inclusive gender equality.
5. FINLAND
1. SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC
Since March 2011, Syria has been engulfed in what has been referred to as “the worst humanitarian disaster of our time.” Rape and torture in secret prisons, malnutrition, andgender-based violence is reportedly an everyday reality.
“Gender-based violence continues to undermine the health, dignity, security and autonomy of its victims in Syria,” said Panos Moumtzis, the Regional Humanitarian Coordinator (RHC) for the Syria Crisis. “It’s imperative we do more.”
2. AFGHANISTAN
According to a Human Right’s Watch report, only 37% of Afghan women are literate, a third of girls are married before they turn 18 (and sometimes forced out of education), the country’s maternal mortality rate is high, and women’s civil liberties are overall restricted.
3. YEMEN
According to the United Nations Population Fund, approximately 2.6 million women and girls in Yemen are at risk of gender-based violence, with 52,000 women at risk of sexual violence, including rape. According to World Report 2017, women in Yemen do not have equal rights to divorce, inheritance, or child custody as men in Yemen.
4. PAKISTAN
Violence against women and girls remains a serious concern in Pakistan, with offenses like child marriage, rape, murder “honor killings,” acid attacks, and domestic violence reportedly remaining prevalent.
5. CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
The CAR has been embroiled in violent armed conflict since 2013, and instances of violence against women, including rape, have been reported by the UN. “Numerous cases of violence against women, in particular sexual abuse and rape, have been reported in all of the localities that Seleka combatants have passed through,” the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, Rashida Manjoo, reported in 2013.
6. DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
Congo has the potential to be one of Africa’s richest nations, due to its wealth in natural resources— however, it remains one of the world’s least developed countries, with at least 7.5 million in dire need of humanitarian assistance: nine out of ten people in DRC need urgent humanitarian aid. In 2010, a UN representative referred to Congo as the “rape capital of the world,” and another study alleged that 48 women are raped there every hour.
7. IRAQ
A 2010 United Nations fact sheet stated that one in five Iraqi women were subject to domestic violence, and a 2012 Ministry of Planning study found that at least 36% of married Iraqi women have experienced some form of abuse at the hands of their husbands.
8. MALI
According to a list compiled by ONE campaign, less than half (38%) of girls in Mali have completed primary school. Only 9% of women have parliamentary roles (a bleak figure compared to Rwanda, which has 64%), and 72% of the population lives on less than $2 a day.
9. SUDAN
According to a profile from UNICEF, 34% of women aged 15 to 49 in Sudan believe that a husband/partner is justified in hitting or beating his wife under certain circumstance, and that 34% of women aged 20 to 24 were married or in a union by the time they were 18.
10. NIGER
Only 17% of women in the world poorest country Niger aged 15 to 24 are literate, according to a list compiled by ONE campaign (a non-profit aiming to fight extreme poverty and preventable disease). Additionally, Save the Children released a 2016 report of the best and worst places for girls based on five indicators, which included child marriage and adolescent fertility rates, and Niger, where 76% of young women were reportedly married before they were 18, and one in five adolescent girls gave birth a year on average, scored the last place in a list of 144 countries.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
https://wunrn.com/2018/08/worst-countries-in-the-world-for-women-research/
Opportunity for young people to attend the Austrian EU Presidency gender equality conference – apply by 12 August
The Austrian EU Presidency is organising a conference of gender equality ministers on 11 and 12 October 2018 in Vienna on the topic of gender and youth. This summer, they launched a call for application for young people aged 16 to 30 to attend the conference. The Austrian Presidency and the European Commission are funding travel and accommodation costs for up to two young people per EU Member State. It would be great if you could please share this opportunity with your networks as soon as possible. Interested candidates need to complete an application through the database of the European Youth Forum (YFJ) by 12 August : https://database.youthforum.org/public/event-details/event/822
Please spread the news about this opportunity with all your networks of young feminists.
——————————————
About the conference
Hosted by the Austrian Presidency of the Council of the European Union together with the Austrian National Youth Council & the European Youth Forum, the conference ‘Gender Equality and YOU’ aims at inspiring a positive, open and future-oriented dialogue about gender equality.
The conference will provide a space for exchange and discussion at eye-level among young people, youth representatives, ministers, representatives from NGOs and public administration, international and EU bodies:
- Discussing young persons’ visions for the future of gender equality in their countries and in the EU
- Exploring perceptions and experiences between persons from different generations and Member States
- Identifying needs for change to strengthen gender equality
The eligibility criteria for a financed participation are:
- resident of an EU member state
- having a strong interest in the topic of gender equality
- able to work in English
- aged between 16-30 years
More information is available here: https://bit.ly/2McJ0mT
Application to be completed through the database of the European Youth Forum (YFJ) by 12 August : https://database.youthforum.org/public/event-details/event/822
2018 GWISB Seminar
BFWG is honoured to host the inaugural meeting of the English speaking subgroup of UWE:
Graduate Women International Ireland Scotland and Britain (GWISB)
Patrice Wellesley-Cole, President of BFWG invites you to a seminar:
‘A Celebration of 100 years of Women’s Suffrage in the UK’
(—-and 90 years of all women getting the vote)
On: Saturday 22nd September 2018
Venue: Chancellors Hotel, Moseley Road, Fallowfield, Manchester M14 6NN
0161 9077414 www.chancellorshotel.co.uk
Programme:
Registration: 10.30 Tea, Coffee & Biscuits; Welcome: Patrice Wellesley-Cole
Chairman: Jenny Morley, Coordinator of European Relations
11.00-12.00 Lyndsey Jenkins, BA, MA, MSc Biographer, writer & historian, D Phil student at Wolfson College, Oxford, & BFWG Scholarship Awardee
‘Votes for Women’, Radical cause and rallying cry: histories of the British Women’s Suffrage campaign
There will be an opportunity for questions and reflective discussion after the presentation.
12.00-13.00 Carrie de Silva MA, LlB
Principal Lecturer at Harper Adams University, Vice President of BFWG
‘People & Property’: the extraordinary career of the first woman chartered surveyor
There will be an opportunity for questions and reflective discussion after the presentation.
13.00-14.30 Buffet Lunch and networking in the Conservatory Lounge
14.30-15.30 Dr Lauren Arrington BA (Hons), MA (Hons), D Phil (Oxon), FRHistS Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Irish Studies, University of Liverpool
‘Lessons from the First Wave’
A long view of #MeToo and intersectional feminist discourse
There will be an opportunity for questions and reflective discussion after the presentation
15.30-16.00 Future plans: Chaired by Aisha Alshawaf, Vice President of UWE
Discussion of frequency, topics and next venues for GWISB meetings
16.00 Tea, Coffee & refreshments
*Optional: Evening meal at Carriage Restaurant (Chancellors)
19.00-22.00 Chef’s choice of three course set menu (wine not included)
*For Members and guests staying overnight there is a further option of a Sunday morning visit to Pankhurst Centre (details TBC)
(A donation will be made to the Centre depending on the number of participants)
A special rate of £74.95 pp B&B (single occupancy) has been agreed, subject to availability. Please contact the hotel directly for details and to book quoting ref (213525)
*********************
To Register please complete form below and return it with a cheque made out to BFWG to: Aisha Alshawaf, 9 Tankerton Heights, and Whitstable CT5 2BW UK
If you are paying by BACS transfer please ensure your name and ‘September Seminar’ appears in the reference line: NatWest Clapham Junction, 66-68 St John’s Rd, SW11 1PB
E mail: aisha.alshawaf@bfwg.org.uk with any enquiries.
*****************************************************************************************************
Booking form
Name…………………………………………………………………………….
Email………………………………………………………………………………..
Tel……………………………………………Mobile………………
Address………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………
Special dietary requirements ………………………………………………………………………………….
Federation and Association/Independent………………………………………………………
Day delegate rate including buffet lunch and three course dinner………… £73
Day rate including buffet lunch but excluding dinner…………………………… £48
Additional dinner ……………………………………………………………………………..£25
Total =
Please indicate if you are paying by cheques or BACS………………………………………….
Are you interested in the Sunday am visit to the Pankhurst Museum?…………………….
All bookings will be acknowledged by e-mail
(If you require postal acknowledgment please include a SAE)
Closing date 03/09/2018
Call for applications: International Marie S. Curie FRIAS COFUND Fellowship Programme (FCFP) 2019/20
For the sixth time the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies ( www.frias.uni-freiburg.de) which is the University of Freiburg’s international research college publishes a call for applications of the international Marie S. Curie FRIAS COFUND Fellowship Programme (FCFP), now for the academic year 2019/20.
About 25 fellowships will be awarded through a highly competitive, strictly merit-based selection process.
This programme offers outstanding international researchers, both on the junior and the senior level, an opportunity to apply for an extended research stay here at the Institute.
Thanks to Dr. Katrin Brandt (FCFP Project Coordinator) – FRIAS, we share this information asking you to consider this opportunity for yourself and/or to pass it on to colleagues to whom this call might be of interest.
The programme, which is co-financed by the European Union’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie Programme, is open to all disciplines; the financial conditions are internationally competitive.
Fellowships of 3 to 10 months may be applied for in the senior scheme, while in the junior scheme the fellowship duration is 12 months. Successful applicants will conduct their fellowship between September 2019 and September 2020.
For the fellows at FRIAS, the programme offers outstanding research opportunities, not only in the research environment of a leading European research university, but also with the added advantage of being part of a community of fellows from different disciplines.
FRIAS provides its female researchers with targeted information on attractive offers relating to mentoring, coaching and training. Special attention is given to fellows who plan to come to Freiburg together with their families. FRIAS makes every effort to provide tailor-made solutions with regard to suitable accommodation, child care and educational facilities.
Further information can be found at: www.frias.uni-freiburg.de/fcfp-fellowships.
The deadline for application is September 15, 2018.
FRIAS is looking forward to your application and feels indebted to you for passing on this information to your colleagues!
To receive more news from FRIAS, heere you can subscribe to the monthly electronic newsletter FRIAS Express
