WUNRN
CEE
NETWORK FOR GENDER ISSUES
Levstikova 15, 1000
Phone: +386 1 2444 119, Fax: +386 1 2444 123, Mo:+386 40 885860 - sonja.lokar@siol.net
Women’s Lobby of
February 19- 21, 2009
Short Report
Women's Lobby of Cyprus invited me in my capacity of the CEE Network for Gender Issues Executive Director, to actively participate in their seminar on EU elections with the title: »Women in Decision Making: Overcoming barriers, Creating Change«.
The seminar, which was an essential part of the EWL 50-50 campaign in
The seminar took place in the EU House in
EU woman Commissioner from Cyprus, Androulla Vasilliou and Myria
Vasiliadou, Secretary General of the EWL, originating from Cyprus, were the
personalities attracting the attention
of the public to this event.
The seminar was well covered by the national electronic and printed media, but the Carnival parade was shown instead of the reports from the seminar in national prime TV news.
After the seminar, I also gave an interview to the
Background:
Cyprus has 800.000 of inhabitants, growing share of educated and employed women but big pay gap (26%), lousy institutions for balancing work and private life (which is now somehow bridged by massive domestic work of immigrant women, who take care of their households, children and dependent adults while Cypriot women work outside the homes), and one of the worst EU records on women in political decision making bodies at all levels.
Cyprus has 21% of women councilors, and only 3 women mayors in 33 communities, 14.29% women MP-s, only one woman minister, not one woman MEP and a woman Commissioner. Only 18% of women have higher positions in state administration, and only 20% of entrepreneurs are women.
In 2006, after a long strife, women succeeded to establish a committee
for
Four parties (Communists, Democrats, Rally, Democrats and Socialists)
have established women's party organizations, but it came out that these
organizations are not properly funded and have to do all their work on
voluntary bases. There is no regulations obliging parliamentary parties to use
a part of their budget for political empowerment of their women men members.
Media ignore women’s party organizations, this is why they are invisible even
for the civil society activists not to speak about general public, but they are
the ones to formulate party
The seminar:
The seminar was opened with a substantive speech of the Cypriot
Commissioner for health, Androulla Vassiliou, who proved to be a serious
supporter of
Myria Vassiliadou,(she is a Secretary General of the EWL, coming from
Lively discussion followed.
The following questions were opened:
After the coffee break, participants got the opportunity to listen and
to discuss the issue of women in decision making and party electoral programs
for forthcoming EU elections with the woman
Chairwoman of the Parliamentary Committee for Gender Equality and the
representatives from the following parliamentary parties: EDEK (Communists, now
in power), Democratic Rally (right wing, EPP), Democratic Party (center),
Socialist Party (PES sister party) and Cyprus Green Party. The first two parties sent male
representatives.
The first round of the speakers’ presentations was rather general and showed that parliamentary parties are aware of the problem and admit that something has to be done, but they were very wage about possible solutions.
The most concrete was the representative from the Democratic Rally, who
stood for the use of party quotas, for the code of conduct of public media, and
for development of the institutions supporting parents to balance career and
family and private life. The representative of the Democratic Party insisted
especially on
After the very concrete question from Miria Vassiliadou, (EWL) what these parliamentary parties intend to offer to the women voters and how many eligible (enough visible and respected) women candidates they intend to put on their lists, the participants got some more concrete answers.
The most clear and rather progressive was the position of the
Democratic Rally – EPP sister party. Its vice president announced that his
party intends to target women voters with a special programmatic letter, and to
have at least one well known woman candidate and maybe even two on their party
list. Communists, the governing party, up till this moment did not have
anything concrete to offer – neither the electoral promise to women voters, nor
the names of women candidates they plan for their list. Socialist Party
presented the PES Manifesto chapter on
The idea of financial fines for the parties who do not succeed to get
elected agreed target of women candidates was rejected by all party
representatives.
Concluding remarks:
The seminar reached the principal goal.
All parliamentary parties have understood that during this EU electoral
campaign, they would be under the
pressure and scrutiny of the women's civil society movement and that they will have to think
about
Only two parties stand a chance to get elected two MEP-s: Communists and Democratic Rally.
My impression is that the Communist might not have enough strong woman candidate, that Democratic Rally will try seriously to bring in a very respected new woman MEP, while all three smaller parties which can not get more than one MEP elected, will focus on their most visible and popular male candidate.
Only with considerable additional effort, with more balanced
presence of male and female candidates in the media, and open campaigning that preferential votes
should be given to the woman candidate on the chosen party list, women's NGO-s might achieve that the new
Cyprus national delegation to the EP acquires at least one woman MEP (17%).
Reporting: Sonja Lokar,
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