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Gender Policies in the Eu – What's Next?

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GENDER POLICIES IN THE EU – WHAT'S NEXT? Report of the study session held by the Federation of Young European Greens (FYEG) in co-operation with the European Youth Centre of the Council of Europe European Youth Centre Strasbourg 4th – 10th December 2011 This report gives an account of various aspects of the study session. It has been produced by and is the responsibility of the educational team of the study session. It does not represent the official point of view of the Council of Europe. 1 2 DJS/S (2011) 20 Strasbourg, June 2012 GENDER POLICIES IN THE EU – WHAT'S NEXT? Report of the study session held by the Federation of Young European Greens (FYEG) in co-operation with the European Youth Centre of the Council of Europe European Youth Centre Strasbourg 4th – 10th December 2011 Acknowledgements Merja Kähkönen, Course Director, Reporter Report committee: Grigori Yeritsyan, AnnaSofia Alexandersson, Iva Sinani, Adela Kutláková, Matilde Folkesson, Peter Sagát, Kolia Bénié Hector Sanjuán, Preparatory Team Member, Rapporteur Federation of Young European Greens 31 Rue Wierz, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium tel: +32 (0)2 62 60 72 7, fax: +32 (0)2 62 60 72 9 E-mail: [email protected] website: www.fyeg.org 3 Table of Contents 1. Executive summary ............................................................................................................. 6 2. Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 8 3. Main outcomes of the study session .............................................................................. 10 3.1 Monday: Introduction & past policies ......................................................................... 16 3.1.1 Me & gender. Stories from participants ................................................................. 16 3.1.2 History of groundbreaking gender equality policies in the European Union ......... 16 3.1.3 Gender equality in the media ................................................................................. 17 3.2 Tuesday: Current problems ........................................................................................ 18 3.2.1 Council of Europe gender equality recommendations and discussion ................. 18 3.2.2 Gender equality in youth organisations ................................................................. 18 3.2.3 Gender in the labour market: theatre ..................................................................... 19 3.3 Wednesday: In depth .................................................................................................. 20 3.3.1 Ecofeminism ........................................................................................................... 20 3.3.2 Equal share of parenthood ..................................................................................... 21 3.3.3 The role of men in gender equality ........................................................................ 22 3.4 Thursday: Future solutions ......................................................................................... 22 3.4.1 Council of Europe presentation .............................................................................. 22 3.4.2 Gender and youth: policy proposals ...................................................................... 22 3.5 Friday: Future solutions & evaluation ......................................................................... 24 3.5.1 The future of gender policies ................................................................................. 24 3.5.2 European Youth Foundation .................................................................................. 25 3.5.3 Designing actions ................................................................................................... 25 3.5.4 Vote on statement .................................................................................................. 26 3.5.5 Evaluation ............................................................................................................... 26 Follow-up activities .................................................................................................................... 28 4. Final conclusion and recommendations ........................................................................ 29 Appendix 1. Reader for the study session .............................................................................. 31 Appendix 2. List of participants ................................................................................................ 40 Appendix 3. Programme ............................................................................................................ 41 4 5 1. Executive summary The Federation of Young European Greens (FYEG) organised a study session with the title “Gender policies in the EU – What's next?” with the support of the Council of Europe in the European Youth Centre in Strasbourg on the 4th–10th of December 2011. Altogether 29 participants from 15 different countries gathered together to discuss gender policies from the youth point of view and to find solutions to the problems depicted. The study session's objectives were to learn about the EU directives and Council of Europe’s recommendations on gender equality in Europe, to create an understanding about implementation of gender regulations nationally, to find the youth approaches to gender related problems, to figure out policy proposals for the future and to formulate concrete projects on gender equality to be implemented by the participants' organisations. The programme of the study session consisted of introduction to the topic and exploration of the past and current gender policies in Europe, discussion of problems related to gender, plunging in-depth in some topics (ecofeminism, men's role in gender equality) and formulating future solutions, proposals and actions to gender issues. The study session contributed especially to the Council of Europe’s youth sector specific priority 1.3 “Promoting gender equality through youth policy and youth work” since it dealt with the position of especially young women in our society and the discrimination they face on a daily basis in all kinds of environments (labor market, media, institutions, etc). The study session also explored the possibilities of youth to take action against discrimination. This study session was a part of FYEG's long-term work on gender issues carried on by the gender working group of FYEG. The youth sector priority 3.4 "The role of youth work and youth policy in promoting inter- generational dialogue and solidarity" also played an important part in the programme of the study session, which focused on studying the past and the present of gender equality policies (i.e. labour market) and in discovering what are the new needs for the future and how youth are affected by all of them. The study session also examined the policies in the different participating countries and aimed to create a solid background for participants and their organisations by gaining knowledge and sharing best practices in order to push for changes in policies at the national and European level. The study session resulted in a statement, written and adopted by the participants, about the problems and solutions related to gender which were discussed during the study session, proposals for gender policies from the youth point of view as well as plans to lobby for them, and future projects and actions to be taken by the participants' organisations to advance gender equality. The participants of the study session also had the opportunity to take part into a street action demanding gender equality, thus taking concrete action for gender equality already during the study session. The study session supported FYEG in its long-term work for gender equality by offering a possibility for networking and creating new chances for cooperation and by strengthening the Gender Working Group of FYEG. Participants benefited from the study session by acquiring 6 knowledge of the gender policies and their implementation in the EU and Council of Europe member states, by learning skills to design actions, by improvement of intercultural cooperation skills, by getting knowledge of the Council of Europe and the funding possibilities of the European Youth Foundation, by learning to know the work done by FYEG and its Gender Working Group, by hearing about the upcoming gender regulations, by learning the basics of ecofeminism and by acquiring experience of different working methods. The follow-up of the study session consisted of publishing the statement formulated and adopted by the participants, publishing the results of the study session on the FYEG website for the participants and other members of FYEG to use, and of continuing the work on gender issues and for gender equality in the FYEG Gender Working Group, supported by the enthusiasm of the old and new members who participated in the study session. FYEG is also willing to support the participants' organisations in implementing the policy proposals and concrete actions planned during the week. The study session was successful according to the feedback received from the evaluation. According to the written evaluation, all participants were more than 50 % satisfied with the study session in general, and more than half of participants were more than 75% satisfied. The evaluation shows that the chosen programme elements were interesting and relevant for the participants. Many would
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