MCWO: working for more worth for women BusinessCommerceIndustryTrade 23 January 2005|0 Simonne Pace talks to Dr Romina Bartolo, one of the co-founders of the Malta Confederation of Women's Organisations, set up last May, on how women in Malta can be enabled to give their rightful contribution to society, despite lack of encouragement Three women have joined forces to set up the Malta Confederation of Women's Organisations (MCWO), an organisation aiming to encompass all women and women's organisations. It is chaired by Dr Romina Bartolo, a young and enterprising lawyer and mother who is EU information officer at the Union Haddiema Maghqudin. Anna Borg and Maria Bartolo Galea, who are involved in training at the Employment and Training Corporation, were also instrumental in setting up the MCWO. Speaking exclusively to The Sunday Times last week, Dr Bartolo said the idea of creating a women's organisation, which, ideally, should incorporate all women's organisations in Malta, originated at a Copenhagen conference in November 2002. The conference, which Dr Bartolo attended, featured Equal, a programme which funds projects for the social inclusion of people with problems, like the disabled and ex-convicts, in the labour market. "Considering that Malta has the lowest percentage of women workers in Europe, we face a big problem. According to the Lisbon target, we should reach 60 per cent employment for women by 2010. Malta lags at 34 per cent, so we are way behind," Dr Bartolo explained. At the conference, organised by the presidency of the European Commission, there were also representatives of the European Women's Lobby (EWL), the largest women's organisation for gender equality in Europe. This group brings together over 3,000 women's organisations in democratic structures, working to achieve equality of women and men and to ensure that gender equality and women's human rights are taken into consideration in all EU policies. Representatives of all EU member states, except Cyprus and Lithuania, are in the EWL. However, the EWL is mostly interested in new countries. Non-EU member countries, like Bulgaria and Turkey, however, are still EWL members. EWL elects a president and three vice-presidents every two years. This time round, it elected as vice-president a woman from Latvia, specifically to represent the new member states. Latvia was an EWL member even before Malta joined the EU. "Since not all women's organisations formed part of the National Council of Women, we wanted all cross-sections of women, starting with housewives, all the way up to professionals," Dr Bartolo said. "The EWL showed an interest in us to join. We haven't stopped since." The three women worked hard all summer to draft the statute and to try to get started. Now that they are officially set up and held their first meeting last May, their organisation has quite a few members. MCWO members include the UHM and the GWU, representing the majority of women workers, Malta Women in Business, Soroptimists International, the Malta Council of Disabled Persons, the Association of Breastfeeding Counsellors, Women's Study Group, the Attard Ladies Cultural Club, Female Employees Maltacom, MAS (Social Action Movement), together with a group of independent members. The National Council of Women is not a member. "Forming part of the EWL, which is funded by the European Commission, gives us a stronger voice and more power to lobby both in Malta and Brussels, especially when it comes to presenting issues to our government," Dr Bartolo told The Sunday Times. There is a work plan. Two main issues - women and work, and law reforms - will be tackled by the MCWO. Inheritance and succession laws and the law on domestic violence will be looked into. Pension reforms and NI contributions, as well as laws covering cohabitation, will also be studied. The MCWO will also tackle issues like housewives' financial dependence on husbands, family and work-life integration, training programmes for women with disability, childcare and longer school hours, career break leave and contributions, encouragement of maternity leave by employers, the ratification of the ILO convention that states that breastfeeding women should be allowed time for breastfeeding, investing in the family and enabling women to work. "Inheritance laws are rigid and this could complicate matters for the woman. It is practically impossible in Malta, unlike other countries like the UK and Australia, for husband and wife to leave each other heirs to the inheritance if the couple has children. "In many cases, the woman outlives the husband and is forced to remain financially dependent on the children, who aren't always reliable," Dr Bartolo said. A document was issued last year on regulations for childcare centres. No law on childcare has been drafted yet and childcare centres in Malta aren't licensed or regulated. What is the solution for parents who both work? Many couples rely on the help of grandparents, but many grandparents, who are still very young, also work. If childcare centres are regulated or licensed, at least parents have their minds at rest that their child is in a safe in an educational environment. Few workplaces in Malta, like the ETC and the University, have childcare centres. "If, with the new laws, childcare centres will turn out to be more expensive than they already are, fewer people will be able to afford them, especially if the mother is on the minimum wage," Dr Bartolo explained. "Childcare should remain accessible to everybody's pocket. Licensed childcare centres could enable more women to work." She went on to say that another problem for women was part-time work. Although new incentives for women returnees were announced in the last Budget, employers could still see part-time work as problematic. "Through work the woman does not only gain financial independence but total independence," Dr Bartolo said. "If your husband dies, you can do it on your own. There are still women who cannot manage their money simply because they have always been dependent on someone." Living the frenetic life we live also doesn't help. Getting married, buying a house and paying off loans, which seem to get bigger and bigger, are all taking their toll. Reduced working hours or part-time work, which are not available in all workplaces, could definitely enable and encourage more women to work. "Sadly, many employers in Malta are not in favour of part-time work or reduced working hours," Dr Bartolo said. Not many women work around the clock in Malta, unlike Holland, where the system really works well because most women cannot work a 9 to 5 job. In fact, the percentage of women in the workforce in Holland is very high. This suits the employers just fine because they employ people who work the hours that need to be worked. This flexibility works well and children also spend long, quality hours with the father or in care. "Employers in Malta very often see flexibility as an extra cost. Many women leave their jobs and the whole family suffers. The woman also doesn't feel fulfilled. "Our government is investing in education. It sees that more women than men pursue tertiary education. Where is all this leading? At the end of the day, Government's investment in education is funded by taxation. "One studies for oneself, but one wants to give something in return to one's country. If a woman stays at home, her children will probably benefit from what she has learnt, but when a woman does not work she stagnates and misses that once-in-a-careertime boom," Dr Bartolo said. A woman is very often forced to quit or take a break in her career. The third option is: do not have a family. In fact, we are seeing that women are having children much later in life and that the fertility rate of women is also going down. Recent studies have shown that in Northern European countries, where the employment rate of women is very high, the fertility rate is also high. In countries like Sweden, Finland and Norway, where women are offered many benefits and family-friendly measures, women are also paid for parental leave. In Malta, it is taken for granted that the woman takes parental leave. "Even in countries in Eastern Europe, more women than men work," Dr Bartolo stressed. "Most women in Latvia do two or three part-time jobs. The Church in Latvia is also very much in favour of women and work. If there is a well worked out plan between the man and the woman, and the family does not suffer, then there is absolutely nothing wrong. "The man in Malta is still seen as the breadwinner and the woman's place is at home. However, it still does not make sense that the man does two jobs and the woman doesn't work. The children are still suffering because they are not seeing enough of their father. We need to work hard at this mentality. The mother could also be the breadwinner." Training programmes are also being planned by the MCWO for women with disability who, say, have a double disability. Through proper professional training, these women could find a job more easily. Another issue is school hours, which in Malta are relatively short. In countries like Belgium, children are kept at school doing extra-curricular activities. School premises are also used to their full potential. If school hours in Malta were to be longer, it would make it much easier for working mothers. Hopefully, solutions in this regard will be found. "The law on women's National Insurance (NI) contributions should also be amended to encourage more women to work.