Equality of women and men in local life

Barcelona now joins other major Spanish cities that have signed the European charter for equality of women and men in local life.

 

The mayor of Barcelona, Jordi Hereu i Boher, signed the charter on 16 October 2009, alongside.the meeting of the Women Elected Representatives Committee of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR). Over 100 Spanish local governments out of a total of 912 in Europe have already signed the charter.

 

The seminar also aimed to discuss specific topics that are covered in the charter including Article 22 on violence against women. Concrete examples of local actions were cited and presented.

 

The chair of the committee on equality of the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP), Ana Barceló Chico, presented the 'Local authority guide for the creation of awareness and prevention of violence against women". The guide is available in French, English and Spanish.

 

The mayor of Ugao Miraballes, Isaskun Landaida, member of the Association of Basque Municipalities (EUDEL), described the actions undertaken by the new network of Basque municipalities to fight against violence against women. The association has also published a guide addressed to Basque municipalities that gives an overview of actions to be taken on gender-based violence.

 

Alicia García Rodríguez, presented the Committee of Regions' Opinion on 'Priorities for regional and local authorities to prevent violence against women and improve support for victims". A description of the European Commission's work in the field of gender equality was provided by the representative from DG employment, social affairs and equal opportunities, Juan Luis Barbolla Casas.

 

The Director of Statutory Affairs and Institutional Relations of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), Emilia Saiz, and the European Expert on gender equality from the United Nations, Françoise Gaspard, also took the floor to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.