Brussels, 04/02/2005 (Agence Europe) - The Beijing+10 Conference in Luxembourg on 2 and 3 February, organised by the Luxembourg Presidency, provided an opportunity for recalling the goals for equality between men and women as set out at the United Nations conference in Beijing ten years ago. The conference assessed progress in the EU and the Member States over the past decade, looking at what still needs to be done and setting out areas for future improvement. The conference also stressed the scope of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), urging its full implementation. The conference provided an opportunity for EU Member States and other countries to boost coherence so they can speak with one voice at the Beijing Platform for Action 10th anniversary international meeting at the United Nations, New York, in March. The conference conclusions have been submitted to ministers for equality who will be adopting a common statement in Luxembourg on 4 February, explained Luxembourg's minister for the family, integration and equal opportunities, Marie Josée Jacobs, after Wednesday and Thursday's conference.
Summing up after the conference, Marie-Josée Jacobs raised the following issues: 1) the policy for gender equality is not a policy in isolation. The gender dimension cuts across the board and has to be integrated into all policies. Participants stressed the importance of the link between implementing the Beijing Platform, the Cairo Action Programme, the Copenhagen Declaration and the Millennium Development Targets (that the 191 UN Member States committed themselves in 2000 to implement by 2015); 2) Equality between men and women is vital for full employment, economic growth, increasing social protection and eradicating poverty; 3) gender equality should make a vital contribution to implementation of the Lisbon Objectives for employment and for social cohesion; 4) to actively promote equality between men and women, all the different instruments of the gender equality policy have to be mobilised, and there has to be a guarantee of full implementation of EU legislation in this field.
The areas where efforts were recommended include developing tools like gender impact assessments and establishing budgets incorporating gender perspectives, creating and implementing Action Plans, and encouraging expertise in equality issues and training, said Jacobs. The conference insisted on a regular progress report on the basis of indicators and for men to be actively involved in discussions about sexual equality.
At the opening of the conference, Marie-Josée Jacobs stressed the connection between the ten year review of the Beijing Platform and the Millennium Development Targets, and recalled the Luxembourg government's commitment to the CEDAW. Pointing out that the EU's aim of developing a social model striking a balance between growth, employment and social cohesion had to be based on equality between men and women, Jacobs said the Luxembourg Presidency would ensure the gender dimension was not sacrificed on the altar of economic imperatives.
European Social Affairs Commissioner Vladimir Spidla said the European Commission was making equality between men and women one of its priorities. He said the five-year mid-term review of the Lisbon Strategy was mitigated, but progress had been made in one area, namely the percentage of women in employment has increased by almost one and a half points, while the percentage of men in employment has decreased. The pay gap is often still too big (around 15%), he said, noting that equality between men and women is more than ever a central element in the strategy to put Europe back on track fro growth and job creation. He said the EU had to pursue policies to eliminate the pay and training gap, develop childcare systems and reconcile home and working life.
Issuing a warning about demographic ageing in Europe, Vladimir Spidla said that between 2000 and 2025, the working population in Europe would fall by 12 million, and by 2035 it will have fallen by 30 million. Without a resolute equality policy, Europe will not be able to compensate for these losses, said Spidla, and Europe's economic growth could be jeopardised. This is the biggest risk to the success of the Lisbon Strategy, he added. The Commissioner stressed a major challenge - reconciling home and working life. He said that men rarely took advantage of existing options (a 2004 Eurobarometer poll revealed that 84% of men entitled to parental leave had not taken it). For this reason, said Spidla, we have to give men the option of being fathers and playing an active role in bringing up their children and their children's lives. The Commissioner said he would soon be unveiling a Green Paper on demographic changes that will clearly pose all these questions. He concluded that the EU played a big role in promoting equality between men and women and promoting women internationally. The EU's foreign policies should complete and support its internal policies, he added, noting that the EU had to ensure political coherence to construct humane and balanced globalisation.
The President of the European Parliament's Women's Rights and Gender Equality Committee, Anna Zaborska (EPP-ED, Slovakia), said promoting women meant promoting peace because peace was not only lack of war but also a state of justice. Zaborska said there was 'value' in equality and stressed the importance of women being involved in programming, implementing and assessing EU and national public policies.