PLATFORM NEWSLETTER
The Northern Ireland Women’s European
Platform
Working towards equality and peace for women on a local,
national European and international level
58 Howard Street, Belfast
BT1 6PJ
niwep@btconnect.com
www.niwep.org.uk
Local/National
2007 Assembly Election –
Women MLAs - Summary
Number of women elected:
18
Party Women
Women
Elected
Candidates
Sinn Fein
8
9
SDLP
4
14
DUP
3
6
APNI
2
7
PUP
1
2
UUP
0
1
SDLP: In the SDLP 40% of candidates were women; but most failed to get elected.
SDLP has one less woman elected than last time. The SDLP's vote management in West Tyrone was poor. The
party had a quota but failed to get a single seat, so Jo Deehan who could have been a fifth woman for the SDLP was
eliminated on the last count.
Sinn Fein: All but one Sinn Fein women were in winnable seats. Sinn Fein
increased its number of women from 7 to 8 (they had just 6 women at the end of the 2003-07 Assembly as Mary Nelis
resigned and was replaced by a man). However, as their number of MLAs has gone up their proportion of women MLAs has
gone down.
DUP: The DUP has one less woman MLA this time (if Arlene Foster and
Norah Beare are counted as DUP for the last Election/Assembly). Norah Beare,
an MLA 2003-07 was not selected in Lagan Valley;
instead the DUP ran 4 male candidates. The DUP managed their vote very well
in Strangord to get Michelle McIlveen elected.
UUP: The UUP had just one woman candidate who failed to get elected.
Just two women went forward for selection.
PUP: Dawn Purvis improved on David Ervine’s vote by + 0.6%.
Alliance: Anna Lo of Alliance achieved a stunning result in South Belfast. Naomi Long increased her vote substantially.
Belfast has 7 women MLAs with two women in three constituencies - South, East and West and
one in North.
7 Constituencies have NO women – most in the East – East Londonderry, East Antrim, North Antrim,
South Antrim, North Down, Lagan Valley,
Newry & Armagh.
18 Women MLAs – Assembly Election 7 March 2007
No increase on 2003 Election which also elected 18 women. At the end
of 2003-07 Assembly there were just 17 women as Sinn Fein had replaced a woman retiree with a man. (Breakdown provided by DemocraShe. For more information visit NIWEP’s
website: www.niwep.org.uk)
Australian Human Rights Expert Appointed Chair of the
Bill of Rights Forum
Leading Australian Human Rights lawyer and activist, Chris Sidoti has been appointed as the independent Chair of the
Bill of Rights Forum to which Annie Campbell from NI Women Aid Federation represents the women’s sector. Annie has been busily preparing a background paper on issue identified by the women’s sector for
Mr.Sidoti before he takes up his post to meet with the Forum which is restricted to such a tight schedule.
Trocaire – Working for a Just World
Trocaire’s Lenten campaign is on the issue of gender equality, with particular reference to United Nation’s
Security Council Resolution 1325 which seeks to protect women and children in conflict and enhance women’s role in peace
building. Part of the programme is to include an overseas visit to the occupied
Palestinian territories in June-July and they are looking for motivated people with time and interest to become involved in
Trocaire’s work on social justice.
If you are interested in finding out more about applying to be one of the participants go to NIWEP’s website
www.niwep.org.uk or contact NIWEP @ niwep@btconnect.com The closing date is the 30 March.
Europe
European Commission and United Nations New Programme to Support Gender
Equality
The European
Commission and the United Nations marked International Women’s Day by launching a programme to support action and advocacy
to step up investments in gender equality as fundamental to the effectiveness of development assistance.
The programme,
“EC/UN Partnership for Gender Equality in Development and Peace,”
will convene consultations in twelve focus countries to explore how the commitment by developing and donor countries to the
Paris Declaration — including its strong focus on national ownership and mutual accountability — is influencing
support for gender equality and women’s empowerment. The Paris Declaration also calls for better coordination of donor
activities and increased Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) to support achievement of the eight globally-agreed Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs). Gender equality is a goal in its own right, and central to the achievement of all the eight MDGs.
To advance
the programme’s purposes, the EC is strengthening its cooperation
with the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organization (ILO). UNIFEM and ILO will work in partnership with EC delegations
in developing countries to identify practical approaches to incorporating gender equality and women’s human rights into
aid programmes supported by the EC. Through this effort, the partners hope to strengthen implementation of gender equality
commitments in national budgets and in national development strategies. Efforts will also include strengthening implementation
of Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security by ensuring that at least four of the 12 countries chosen
for pilot activities will be crisis or post-conflict countries.
The programme will launch a website that offers updates, tools and inter-active features related to gender equality
and aid effectiveness. It hopes to stimulate an increasingly broad range of multilateral, bilateral, national and NGO partners
to become adept at making the case for stronger gender equality programming support. The upcoming Ghana High Level Forum on
Aid Effectiveness in September 2008 will be key venue for groups that are promoting the need for a stronger gender equality
dimension in the aid effectiveness agenda.
The Council of Europe Convention
on Action against Human
Trafficking
Last weekend marked the 200th year since the legal abolition of the slave trade and the UK government responded by
signing the Council of European Convention on Action Against Human Trafficking which will provide a structured framework to
introduce minimum rights and protection for all identified victims of trafficking. The UK
government also published the UK Action Plan on Human
Trafficking that outlines new measures which are to help further
protect victims of trafficking through improved support services, increased awareness campaigns and enforcement activity.
Women driving EU job growth – but
still face barriers to equality
Three out of four new jobs created in
the EU are being taken by women, but important gaps with men remain, according to a new European Commission report. Despite
higher educational achievements, women continue to be employed less – and paid less – than men. The 2007 'Annual
report on equality between women and men' will be submitted to EU leaders at the Spring European Council on 8-9 March. The
report is the first since the Commission launched its Gender Roadmap and EU leaders adopted the Pact for Gender Equality in
March 2006.
Women's employment rate now stands at 56.3% – or 2.7 points
above the 2000 level – compared with a 0.1 percentage point rise for men over the same period, according to the report.
Similarly, the employment rate for women over 55 has risen significantly faster than that for men, now standing at 33.7% –
almost 7 percentage points more than in 2000.
But while the
number of women completing higher education now exceeds men, their employment rate remains 15 percentage points lower than
men's and they continue to face a pay gap of 15%. The increase in female employment is mainly in sectors and jobs already
dominated by women and which are generally less well paid. Women also face greater difficulties in reaching decision making
positions. This is in contrast to the results of Eurobarometer survey published on January 2007 where a large majority of
Europeans said that more women are needed in management positions (77%) and as Members of Parliament (72%). Overall, the 2007
report makes it clear that more can be done to make full use of the productive potential of the workforce.
Work-life balance
is pinpointed as a key area in achieving greater equality between women and men. It is striking that the employment rate for
women aged 20-49 falls by 15 percentage points when they have a child, while that of men increases by six points. In addition,
women have a disproportionately high recourse to part-time work (32.9%) compared with men (7.7%). The report highlights multiple
barriers to a better work-life balance, including lack of childcare provision, financial factors, career setbacks, the risk
of losing one's skills, the difficulties of returning to employment and the pressure to conform to stereotypes.
Since greater
equality depends on a better gender balance in the distribution of private and family responsibilities, reviewing existing
provisions for parental leave is crucial. Gender equality policies also need to be actively supported by Structural Funds
over the period 2007-2013, says the report. In addition, the new PROGRESS funding programme contains a section dedicated to
gender equality. Finally, the report underlines the importance of effectively implementing all relevant legislation.
Alongside the
annual report, the European Commission is publishing two independent studies by academic experts. The first examines the gender
pay gap and will be followed by a Commission Communication planned for the summer. The second looks at the position of disadvantaged
women and the gender dimension of poverty and social exclusion.
International
Security Council reaffirms key role of women in Conflict Prevention
and Resolution
Reasserting how crucial women are in preventing and resolving conflicts
and in peace building, the United Nations
Security Council this month
urged Member States and the Secretary-General to bolster efforts to empower
women and increase
their representation in decision-making. In a
presidential statement, the 15-member Council stressed the "importance of
[women's] equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security"
and the "need to increase their role in decision-making with regard to conflict prevention and resolution."
To this end, the Council urged Member States to enhance women's representation
at "all decision-making levels in national, regional and international institutions and mechanisms" regarding peace and security.
The Council also urged Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to forge ahead with his policy to appoint more women to senior
positions, by naming them as special representatives and envoys, as well as to increase women's participation in UN field-based
operations as military observers, civilian police, human rights and humanitarian personnel.
Council's rotating presidency
this month, read out the statement at a formal meeting held on the eve of International Women's Day, marked each year on 8
March.
Regarding the landmark resolution 1325, which was adopted in 2000 and aims to boost women's role in conflict
prevention, peace-keeping and peace-building operations, Mr. Kumalo said the Council calls on Mr. Ban and Member States, in collaboration with civil
society, to "strengthen its implementation."
The Council's meeting coincided with numerous other events pertaining
to women taking place at UN Headquarters. General Assembly President Sheikha
Haya Rashed Al Khalifa yesterday convened a two-day informal debate on women's empowerment, while the UN Commission on the
Women is currently holding its annual session under the theme of "the elimination of all
forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child."
In today's statement, the Council also said that
it "remains deeply concerned by the pervasiveness of violence against women and girls in
armed conflict," condemning such practices as killing, maiming and grave sexual conflict in these situations and appealing
for an end to impunity for acts of gender-based violence.
The Council
also reiterated the necessity of fully putting into practice international human rights and humanitarian rights law protecting
women and girls during and after conflicts.
Petition for a 5th World Conference
NIWEP has been sent the
following petition:
We, the women of the world, clearly recognise the positive impact that the Beijing
platform, the UNSC Resolution 1325 and other worldwide conferences have had on the lives of women. However, there is a great
need to create the political will needed to fully implement and monitor past obligations to women and girls. This does not
exclude the need to address newly emerging issues. Now is the critical time for the human rights of women and girls to be
addressed, affirmed, implemented! , and never forgotten by the international community. For this reason, the vision of the
5th World Conference by 2010 becomes a need. A 5th World Conference will bring forth actions to grassroots women around the
world; it will strengthen the voice of NGOs and improve government actions for the well being of all. The use of today’s
advanced technologies and the internet will broaden the reach of a 5th World Conference to millions of women, girls, boys
and men in and at all levels of the worlds community through schools, business, and all other institutions.
If you
are interested in signing the petition it can be found at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/5wwc
51 Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW)
The 51st Session of CSW which was based on the theme elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence
against the girl child ended on the 9 March with agreed conclusions which can be viewed and download through a link on NIWEP’s
website www.niwep.org.uk
