• Home
  • About
    • Governance & Structure
    • The AER Executive Board
    • The AER Secretariat
    • Statute & Strategies
      • AER Statute
      • AER Procedures
    • The History of AER
  • Members
    • Who are AER’s members?
    • Member Directory
    • Join AER!
  • Mutual Learning
    • About Mutual Learning
    • The Knowledge Transfer Forum
    • Working Groups
      • Ongoing Working Groups
      • Past Working Groups
  • Advocacy
    • About Our Advocacy Work
    • The Bureau
    • The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
    • AER Political Priorities 2020-2025
    • Intercultural Regions Network
  • Projects
    • About Our Projects
    • Ongoing Projects
    • Look for Partners
    • Completed Projects
  • AER Programmes
    • AER Eurodyssey
    • AER SUMMER ACADEMY
    • AER Youth Regional Network (YRN)
    • AER Observatory on Regionalisation
  • Events
    • AER events
    • Other events
  • AER stands with Ukraine

Assembly of European Regions

Connecting regions, inspiring Europe since 1985

You are here: Home / Archives for Gender equality

This is the tag for all posts relating to Gender equality.

An integrated approach to the Sustainable Development Goals

4 March, 2019 By Editor

The Committees’ Work Programmes for 2018-2019 demonstrates a strong commitment towards the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). One of the main topics members decided to work on last Spring, was the use of the Sustainable Development Goals as a policy framework.

Experience exchange and advocacy

In this context, the AER Working Group on Energy and Climate Change exchanged experiences during a workshop in September 2018 in Novi Sad, Vojvodina (RS).

Working Group Chair Eva Hallström also attended a meeting represented AER at the 1st OECD Roundtable on Cities and Regions for the SDGs, which took place at the OECD Headquarters in Paris. The roundtable brought together cities, regions, national governments, international organisations, private sector and other key stakeholders to identify trends and challenges in the localisation of the SDGs, including the experiences and key findings from the pilots of the programme “A Territorial Approach to the SDGs”.

The 2030 Agenda

Since its inception in 2015, the UN Sustainable Development Agenda (Agenda 2030), calls on governments, businesses and citizens to collectively mobilize to end all forms of poverty, fight inequality and tackle climate change. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals are designed to promote prosperity while protecting the planet.

Using the SDGs as a policy framework

AER members are working with the Sustainable Development Goals in the regions. This is why they are interested in learning from peers how they use the SDGs so they can improve the efficiency of policies and avoid pitfalls. Indeed, regions and cities are key actors for addressing the most urgent societal challenges European economies are facing as well as for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals. In Europe, regions and cities hold competencies in the provision of basic and social services, health, education, urban planning and resource, and waste management, among others. However, there is no one size fits all when it comes to the mainstreaming process. Each region needs to take into account their own realities and circumstances. ​

The need for an integrated approach

The OECD stresses the importance of an integrated approach in the implementation of the SDGs. Many SDGs are interconnected with each other; an integrated approach implies managing trade-offs and maximising synergies across targets.

For example progress in achieving SDG 1 No poverty, has direct and indirect positive impacts on health and wellbeing (SDG3), Quality education (SDG4), Gender equality (SDG5), Clean water and sanitation (SDG6), and potentially also leads to reduced inequalities (SDG10).

On the other hand, for instance, using coal to improve energy access and deliver on SDG 7 Affordable and clean energy, would accelerate climate change and acidify the oceans. This would undermine SDG 13 Climate action and SDG 14 Life below water. It would also exacerbate other problems such as damage to health from air pollution, which in turn would affect SDG 3 Good health and wellbeing.

A first step towards integrated implementation is to understand the linkages among the SDGs, both at the goal level and among targets. In this effort, several tools have been designed to tackle integration and policy coherence.

Different tools for different needs

Many stakeholders struggle with the use of the Sustainable Development Goals as a framework for regional policy-making. In this context, the European Commission published on January 30th a Reflection Paper on a Sustainable Europe by 2030: the paper reviews challenges and debates on how the Sustainable Development Goals can be best achieved and how the European States and regions can best contribute by 2030.

David Tremblay identified gaps for an integrated implementation and analysed different tools for addressing SDGs connections. Among them, the SDG Acceleration toolkit is an online compendium of methodologies and guidance for analysing interconnections among the SDGs, assessing how to contribute to help stakeholders at all levels understand synergies and trade-offs and identify and unlock barriers for strategising, prioritising and accelerating progress.

AER 2019 Spring Committee Plenaries

Multiple times per year, AER brings together regions, so that they may stand stronger together, and grow in a space of experience exchange.

The AER Working Group on energy and climate change is chaired by Eva Hallström, County Councilor from Värmland (SE). Delegates will meet on March 27th, on the occasion of the 2019 Spring Committee Plenaries in Örebro for a workshop on implementing the SDGs at regional level. This will allow regional representatives from all over wider Europe to exchange experiences in the implementation of the SDGs at regional level and their integration into policies, plans, and strategies. Participants will discuss experiences in order to bring back new ideas back home for policymaking and identify opportunities for joint initiatives.

Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

Are you interested to work on community resilience within the Turkey and EU grant scheme?

14 March, 2018 By Editor

The Hatay Municipality (TR) is working on the submission of a project under the Town Twinning Action between Turkey and the EU Grant Scheme and is urgently looking for European partners to complete the partnerships.

The overall objective of this project is to enhance knowledge on community resilience. The main goal is to prepare a city resilience status report to influence policy makers of cities involved. The project would cover the following areas:

  • resilience to climate change
  • wellbeing and quality of life, especially housing and traffic
  • cultural resilience
  • the management’s enhancement of environment and natural resources

The project would allow the partners to discuss and develop a set of simple models but also to gain an understanding of the principles of resilience theory in different areas and exchange of good practices, that could be applied to future projects.

Hatay Municipality is looking for partners that could join the project, meaning European cities experienced in the implementation and evaluation of community resilience, both on a social and environmental perspective.

If you are interested to learn more about this project or to be involved in the partnership, please come back to us by 20th March 2018 at the very latest.

Contact

European Projects

Agnese Pantaloni

Phone: +32 2 400 10 52
E-mail: a.pantaloni(at)aer.eu
Skype ID: agnesepanta
Languages: it, en, pt

Articles by Agnese


  • EU funding
  • Calls for projects and tenders
  • Partner search

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Follow AER!

Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

Silver Economy Awards support Talents, Contributions and Participation of Older Persons in Society

29 September, 2017 By Editor

Tuesday, September 26, 2017 – 14:26

The 2017 theme of the International Day of Older Persons is crucial to build an inclusive, fair, and sustainable future for us all. The Silver Economy Awards are meant to support this call, by tapping of talents, contributions and participation of older persons in society.

As outlined by the United Nations, “preparing for an ageing population is vital to the achievement of the integrated 2030 Agenda (for Sustainable Development), with ageing cutting across the goals on poverty eradication, good health, gender equality, economic growth, reduced inequalities and sustainable cities”.

The Silver Economy Awards will contribute to these efforts by promoting & rewarding innovative solutions led by public authorities, businesses, and civil society organisations from across Europe. Applications are welcomed from the broad spectrum of areas that make up the European Silver Economy including those supporting older persons’ civic and social participation.

Ensuring that everyone, regardless of age, can participate in the society is not only essential to older persons’ well-being, but also imperative for building a more sustainable and fair society. We look forward to receiving applications showcasing innovative ICT-based products and services supporting this pledge.

Online submissions are open until 15 November 2017. More information, including details of the application process, criteria and support webinars is available at www.silvereconomyawards.eu.

Contact: [email protected]

More information hereFollow AER!

Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

#ShineBright Antalya

16 June, 2017 By Editor

On the occasion of the 2017 AER MYFER Award, the region of Antalya, in Turkey presented its project of School League.

The initiative aims at creating social inclusion among young people through sport. It targets school-aged youngster, especially children with fewer opportunities within municipalities of Antalya: Muratpasa, Konyalti and Dosemealti. Sport competitions create equal opportunities and raise awareness on the relevance of physical education in the process of inclusion.

During the competitions, all youngsters will participate and play together regardless of their gender or social background.

The project plays a great part in the integration of different social groups together, gender equality and the implementation of key skills development for young people. Plus, around 4000 from 230 schools participated!

For more information visit the School League website.

 

Photo credits: Ottomanartist @VisualHuntFollow AER!

Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

MYFER Award ceremony

1 June, 2017 By Editor

The Most Youth Friendly European Region Award ceremony took place yesterday in Sankt Pölten, Lower Austria on the occasion of the 2017 AER General Assembly.

This ceremony, chaired by Sonja Steen, outgoing President of the AER Committee for Culture, Youth and Education, highlighted the efforts region make to become more youth-friendly territories. Youth participation and inclusion are very high on the AER agenda and the award is a way of raising awareness on this topic while shining a light on successful and transferable examples in the regions.

…And the winner is

Jury Members unanimously awarded the MYFER award to Vojvodina (SRB) for their project on sex and relationship education for high school students.

The MYFER Special Prize went to Catalonia (ESP) for its tailor-made Youth Guarantee programme which combats early school leaving and increase the employability of Young people not in education, employment or training.

The MYFER Jury gathered on 16 May 2017 in Brussels and was composed of representatives from the AER Youth Regional Network, Eurochild, the European Youth Forum (EYF), the European Youth Parliament (EYP), and the Advisory Council on Youth of the Council of Europe Youth Department.Evaluation criteria include aspects such as sustainability, equal opportunities, social inclusion and gender equality as well as the impact of the initiative in the region and the role played by youth in its implementation and development.

Evaluation criteria include aspects such as sustainability, equal opportunities, social inclusion and gender equality as well as the impact of the initiative in the region and the role played by youth in its implementation and development.

Vojvodina: a holistic approach for healthy sex and relationships

This project started in 2013, after a survey of high school students returned alarming results indicating poor knowledge among sexually active teenagers. As regular school curricula in the country do not include sex education the region took action and implemented an extra-curricular programme for students.

This comprehensive sex and relationship education programme includes 14 one and a half hour workshops, a trainer’s guide and a book for students. Classes discuss sexuality, attraction vs. love, communication, gender roles, equality, sexual and reproductive rights, anatomy, AIDS and STIs, contraception and family planning, access to gynecology and urology health services etc. Gender-based violence and sexual abuse are also specifically addressed.

Young people are not mere beneficiaries: they are engaged and empowered to be actors of change: 30% of trainers are indeed peer trainers, enabling young people to be both recipients and providers of support.

This highly transferable initiative started with a pilot project for 10 schools. 2 years later it already involved 77 schools across the region. In total 150 trainers were trained, ensuring sustainability and long term impact.  After 3 years, 11865 young people from all over the region have been empowered through this action, for healthy sex and relationships.

Linked article: Serbian Province launches sex education classes

Catalonia: social innovation for empowered youth

Confronted with the daunting task to curb a 48.9% unemployment rate for young people under 25 in 2013, this region developed its own Youth Guarantee model based on social innovation, with two highly successful programmes.

The “New Opportunities” programme targets early school leavers. Creative methodologies is used to offer job guidance, training, mentoring and insertion. After a short period of personal and vocational guidance exploration young people follow personalised itineraries of up to 2 years.

The “Unique” programme focuses on increasing employability. Major landmarks of this programme are the training activities outside the classroom, the work on transversal competencies and the ongoing tutoring.

Youth from very diverse backgrounds, at risk of exclusion or with higher education, receive customised support for training, employment or to set up their own business. The close cooperation with local social and economic stakeholders from an early stage prove instrumental in supporting the youth and bringing innovation to the local economy.

Moreover, specific actions are being carried out for youths with functional diversity and over 660 youths with disabilities are being hired at special employment centres.

 The unemployment rate dropped by 16,6% in 3 years. Over 42700 young people have participated in one of these two programmes, and 19,940 are currently working.

MYFER: snapshots of a Beautiful Europe

“Every second year the MYFER award enables AER to seize a picture of how regions build a progressive Europe with and for youth. While the two winning regions are particularly in the spotlight, all participants presented inspiring examples of how to make regions youth-friendly” says Sonja Steen, whose region organised the award this year and who was also the Chair of the Jury.

Each participating region received a detailed feedback on major assets and elements which can be further improved from the Jury members. These examples will be highlighted via the AER website to continue to disseminate good practices and encourage other regions to import successful ideas.

Moreover, the AER Youth Regional Network will be involved in the development of the upcoming edition of the MYFER award, because AER takes youth seriously.

 

 

 Follow AER!

Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

Gender Budgeting: the example of Vojvodina

16 May, 2017 By Editor

In AER, the topic of Equal Opportunities is mainstreamed across the thematic work in the Committees.This is an opportunity to engage in mutual learning, share challenges and celebrate good practice. One of the topics, which was addressed on the occasion of the AER events on Equal Opportunities was gender budgeting, a practice which has been successfully implemented in Vojvodina.

What is gender budgeting?

The European Institute for Gender Equality, which has also repeatedly contributed to the work on Equal Opportunities in AER, defines gender budgeting as a gender-based assessment of budgets, incorporating a gender perspective at all levels of the budgetary process, and restructuring revenues and expenditures in order to promote gender equality.

Gender mainstreaming

The Autonomous Province of Vojvodina strives to contribute to strategic gender mainstreaming of public policies and intensifying the inclusion of institutions and civil society organizations in the creation of gender – sensitive programs. The region also highly supports the integration of a gender perspective into budget planning and distribution and works to improve the transparency of the budgetary process in general.

Benefits for all citizens

The concrete benefits of these reforms for all citizens, both women and men, include:

  • Clear recognition of the concrete needs of both women and men, especially those from vulnerable groups
  • Decreasing gender inequality
  • Social and economic empowerment of women
  • Balanced economic and social development
  • Better quality of life of all citizens

Gender budgeting, a long-term public policy instrument

Ana Tomanova Makanova, AER Vice President for Equal Opportunities, explains “the Autonomous Province of  Vojvodina has undertaken pioneer steps in the field of mainstreaming gender with the use of gender budgeting as a tool to assess the impact of programs on women and men”. The long-term vision is that gender mainstreaming and gender budgeting must become a regular practice of the provincial administration. This will be implemented by trained civil servants who will have full political support of their superiors.

Gender-responsive budgeting is a key public policy instrument to advance substantive equality between women and men. It is also an indicator of government commitment to women’s rights and gender equality. Moreover it is one of the most effective ways to accelerate progress towards equitable societies.

Fostering gender budgeting through definite projects

AP Vojvodina has implemented the project “Towards Gender Budgeting in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina” from 2008. to 2011. This was one of the first projects dealing with the issue of gender budgeting within the framework of public administrations, and one of the first ones in South Eastern Europe.

The project focused on determining the gender impact of provincial bodies’ support programs in the field of employment. Additionally, it developed recommendations for the programs’ improvement in the aspect of gender equality. The Government of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina adopted these recommendations in August 2009, as well as the conclusion referring to the gender mainstreaming of provincial programs, projects and activities. The governement keeps gender disaggregated records of program beneficiaries and also adopted a strategic approach in this field.

Since the implementation of the project “Towards  Gender Budgeting in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina”, Vojvodina has been actively using gender budgeting and gender mainstreaming in all public policies.

Related articles

The regional perspective on “Women in emergency situations”

 

Autumn Bureau & Equal Opportunities Forum

 

 

 

Photo credit: Josh Felise @Unsplash https://unsplash.com/@jfeliseFollow AER!

Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

MYFER Award jury meeting

16 May, 2017 By Editor

Today, Tuesday 16 May early in the morning the jury of the Most Youth Friendly European Region Award met in Brussels, Belgium. Together, they evaluated the 10 shortlisted applications. After passionate debates, the  jury selected MYFER 2017’s grand winner. The winner will be publicly announced on  31 of May at the AER General Assembly in Austria. A special prize will also be awarded.

Candidates 

Ten candidates from various regions applied for the prize:

  • AP Vojvodina, Serbia : “Health education on reproductive health of high school students in the region of Vojvodina”,
  • Hedmark, Norway : “Youth County Council of Hedmark”,
  • Lower Austria, Austria : “Youth coaches for Lower Austria communities”,
  • Umbria, Italy: “Creative Camp”,
  • County of Vrancea, Romania : “Grow up in Vrancea – remigrated children in Vrancea county – educated, supported, counseled!”,
  • Umbria, Italy : “Business at school”,
  • Antalya, Turkey : “School league”,
  • Antalya, Turkey : “GEDAM”,
  • Catalonia, Spain: “New opportunities and unique programs”,
  • Canton of Fribourg, Switzerland : “Je participe ! / Ich mache mit!”.

Rules & Criteria

The Jury members evaluated thoroughly all the applications. The candidates were rated according to specific criteria such as the impact and regional dimension of the initiative, the involvement of youth in managing and developing the initiative, its sustainability and the level of social inclusion, gender equality and the respect of equal opportunities.

Diverse initiatives

The MYFER award gathers very diverse initiatives, promoting the principles of tolerance and equal opportunities. Additionnally, the award plays a precious part in raising awareness on youth inclusion in policy definition and implementation.

The projects presented this year reflect this diversity. Some, focused mainly on fostering youth participation and consultation in local politics. Others, touch upon very specific subjects, such as sexual health education or improving younger generation’s enrollment in businesses and entrepreneurship. Most of the applications emphasized clearly the importance of education and schooling.

In the end, each program greatly participated in promoting young people’s involvement in society, public matters, and politics. All initiatives worked hard to foster cooperation, youth inclusion, strong education, good health and employment.

Jury members

Sonja Steen, Chair of the MYFER Jury, President of the AER Committee for Culture, Youth and Education

Giovanni Briganti, President of the AER  Youth Regional Network Committee for Education and Culture, Member of the Youth Council of Brussels-Wallonie

Tinna Ros Steinsdottir, Child participation and network development Officer at Eurochild

David Garrahy, Head of policy and advocacy for the European Youth Forum

Sam Van Hoof, President of the European Youth Parliament Belgium, Member of the European Youth Parliament

Valentin Dupouey, Member of the Advisory Council on Youth, Council of Europe Youth Department

Organisations represented

Youth Regional Network (YRN)

Created by the Assembly of European Regions, the Youth Regional Network (YRN) is a platform of regional-level youth parliaments, councils and organisations from the wider Europe. YRN provides a truly unique forum giving young people from diverse regions a collective voice on the European stage while introducing a European dimension to youth policy in those regions.

Eurochild

Eurochild is a network of 165 organisations and individuals working in and across Europe to promote the rights and well-being of children and young people. Eurochild’s work is underpinned by the UNCRC and aims to work for and with children to promote their rights and well-being in policy and practice. This work feeds into Eurochild’s vision of a society where children and young people grow up happy, healthy and confident and respected as individuals in their own right.

European Youth Forum

The European Youth Forum (YFJ) is the platform of youth organisations in Europe. Representing 104 youth organisations, both National Youth Councils and International Non-Governmental Youth Organisations, we believe youth organisations are the tool through which we empower, encourage, involve, represent, reach out and support young people. The Youth Forum brings together tens of millions of young people from all over Europe, organised in order to represent their common interests. We advocate for a Europe with stronger youth organisations, more youth participation, social and economic inclusion, youth rights and sustainable development.

European Youth Parliament (EYP)

The European Youth Parliament (EYP) is a unique educational programme which brings together youngsters from all over Europe to learn, exchange and debate. The EYP is an organisation for young people, by young people with a mission is to inspire and empower young Europeans to become open-minded, tolerant and active citizens.

Council of Europe Youth Department

The Youth Department of the Council of Europe provides funding and educational support for international youth activities aiming to promote youth citizenship, youth mobility and the values of human rights, democracy and cultural pluralism. It seeks to bring together and disseminate expertise and knowledge about the life situations, aspirations and ways of expression of young Europeans.

The Advisory Council on Youth is a Council of Europe body made up of 30 representatives from youth NGOs and networks in Europe which provide opinions and input on all youth sector activities of the Council of Europe. It also ensures that young people are involved in all activities of the Council of Europe. It is a unique structure world-wide for the active participation of young people at such a high decision-making level.

Information on MYFER

Most Youth Friendly European Region Award (MYFER)

Related articles

Awarding youth-friendly practices in European Regions

Follow AER!

Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

URGENT partner search: project for groups at risk of discrimination

15 March, 2017 By Editor

Abi Foundation – a Romanian non-profit organisation active in initiating and supporting projects in the field of education, culture and sports – is working on the launch of a Diversity Chart in Romania and is looking for European partners to join their project that will be submitted within the call for proposal ‘Action grants to support national or transnational projects on non-discrimination and Roma integration’ (REC-RDIS-DISC-AG-2016).

This call focuses on supporting activities for racial or ethnic minorities, persons with disabilities, older/younger people, religious minorities and LGBTI people, and it is structured on the following priority areas:

  • Fighting against discrimination based on sexual orientation in society and promoting the rights of LGBTI people;
  • Diversity management in the public and private sector: identification of existing practices, measurement of diversity management benefits, and awareness-raising;
  • Roma: activities aiming to raise awareness and combat harmful stereotypes of Roma and supporting thereby their integration into mainstream society;
  • To raise awareness about intergenerational solidarity and non-discrimination on the basis of age (in particular of young people).

The main activities of this project will be the identification of existing practices, measurement of diversity management benefits, and awareness-raising among the public and private sector.

If you are interested in joining this project led by Abi Foundation, do not hesitate to contact AER Secretariat by 17th March.

 Follow AER!

Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

#BeBoldForChange for the 2017 International Women’s Day

7 March, 2017 By Editor

March 8, 2017 marks the 106th year that International Women’s Day (IWD) is recognised. IWD is a worldwide event that celebrates the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women, and calls for gender equality. Since full gender equality has yet to be achieved, IWD calls for women across the world to come together to force the world to recognise these inequalities. 

In order to overcome some of the current barriers blocking the way to full gender equality, let us #BeBoldForChange by helping to forge a better working world – a more gender inclusive world. On the occasion of the 2017 International Women’s Day, AER President Dr. Hande Özsan Bozatli urges all member regions to foster women’s participation and activism in the social and political spheres across all cultures: “Men and women alike must stand firm and take bold actions to support gender equality and education is a powerful tool to make this fundamental human right a reality”.

To this date, AER has been active on gender equality issues for many years; in fact, the current Equal Opportunities Group started off as a Working Group on Gender Equality. In 2006, AER confirmed its commitment to the promotion of gender equality by adopting the Kiruna Declaration. This past year, AER organised an Equal Opportunities Forum on “Women in Emergency situations” in Timis County. 

 Join us and #BeBoldForChange, as this year’s theme calls us to do. 

Follow AER!

Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

Women entrepreneurship and citizenship in Guadeloupe

23 January, 2017 By Editor

As women entrepreneurship is an important issue in which the Assembly of European Regions is involved, we featured the Youth Women Win project in one of our success stories from a member region – Guadeloupe (FR). The project, which is spearheaded by Arrimage Good’iles in collaboration with C for C NGO and Groupe One, is funded by the Erasmus+ programme and aims to give vulnerable young women the means to create their employment and access to real economic independence.

AER is pleased to invite you to the closing conference of Youth Women Win. The conference, which will be held on 30 January 2017 by Arrimage Good’iles in Gosier, Guadeloupe, aims to present the results of the project. C for C NGO and Groupe One will share their professional experiences in the field and also information on innovative tools to support female entrepreneurship. If you are interested in participating in the Youth Women Win conference, please RSVP at [email protected] as soon as possible. More information on this conference is available in this invitation.

In the same vein, AER wishes to share another invitation from Arrimage Good’iles regarding a transnational seminar on the topic of “Women Citizenship”. This seminar, which will be held on 27 January 2017 in Gosier, Guadeloupe, will focus on best practices on women citizenship in the framework of the MEYTIC project “Mobilise the European Youth for citizenship and democracy”  funded by the Europe for Citizens program. If you would like to attend the “Women Citizenship” best practices seminar, please RSVP at [email protected]

Please find attached the invitation for the “Women Citizenship” transnational seminar as well as a document regarding the transnational activities that took place on occasion of a previous meeting “EU Council Conference & Simulation” organised in Brussels on 26 November 2016.Follow AER!

Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

Come discover a Turkish Women Lobby Association

16 December, 2016 By Editor

Under the framework of the topic of Equal opportunities and Inclusion, lies the topic of Gender Equality, which has been a key priority of AER for many years.

In this vein, we are sharing information on the About All Women Lobby Association (AWLA or TÜKAL in Turkish), a leading Turkish Women Lobby Group. Founded in May 2006, AWLA is a NGO which provides support to Turkish Women by using their knowledge and experience to determine the future of Turkey in national and international fields. AWLA’s goal is to create and identify a Woman Status in Turkey, which does not fully exist yet.

AWLA’s doors are open to all individuals and institutions. Should you be interested in getting in touch with them, please contact Mathieu Mori.Follow AER!

Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

AER at European Day of Persons with Disabilities 2016

2 December, 2016 By Johanna Pacevicius

Ángel Bonafé Osca, Director of the Valencian Institute for Social Action and María Sorzano Castellón, European Project Manager represented AER on 29 and 30 November at the European Day of Persons with Disabilities 2016 organised by the European Disability Forum and the European Commission in Brussels.

UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities: 10 years!

20161130_115302The conference evaluated the progress made in the EU to promote the rights of persons with disabilities, based on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This topic has been dealt with extensively at AER in the Committee on Social Policy and Public Health in previous years. A handbook for regional policy-makers was for instance published in 2010 which is a very hands-on guide on how to translate principles into action. It typically features 13 concrete steps a regional politician can take, such as

  • “If your country has not ratified the Convention yet, inquire on the reasons why it has not, propose to launch a debate on this issue and lobby for your national government to ratify the Convention and its Optional Protocol.”
  • “Review draft legislation to assess conformity with the Convention.”
  • “Liaise with civil society groups, including organisations representing persons with disabilities and human rights organisations.”

AER mainstreamed the topic across its activities and the 2011 edition of the AER award for the Most Youth friendly European Region (MYFER) was focused on “social inclusion of youth with disabilities”

Evaluating the progress

The European Day of Persons with Disabilities 2016  was structured around five pillars:

  1. An overview of the 10th Anniversary of the UN Convention
  2. UN Convention and a Social Europe. Poverty, Social Protection and Employment
  3. Accesibility and freedom of movement within the EU
  4. The Right to Independent Living
  5. Women with Disabilities

From a medical model to a human rights model

20161129_101152Speakers insisted on the importance of the transition from a medical model to a human rights model of disability. A new approach to disability policy making is needed.

They were critical about the European Pillar of Social Rights as it has not taken into account the human rights of persons with disabilities vision and does not refer to 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The UN Convention should be used as an instrument to mainstream the rights of persons with disabilities into other European directives. It is, therefore, necessary for EU legislation to be harmonised with the UN Convention.

One of the current challenges is to include the UN Convention perspective in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

They also insisted the legal nature of the European Pillar of Social Rights should be specified and include the rights of women and children with disabilities in it.

Expanding the reach of European Pillar of Social Rights needs furthermore to be expanded beyond the eurozone countries.

Independent living

In the panel on independent living, speakers were particularly critical of the fact that the ESF was used in some countries for “Institutionalization” rather than for improving independent living. For the period 2014-2020, ESF is available to promote deinstitutionalisation and community living.

Women with disabilities

In this panel, speakers underlined the fact that nowadays no specific actions are being taken to fight for the rights of women and girls with disabilities. There is also a lack of the role of women in public life. For its part, the European Commission explained the priority  areas for action for the period 2016-2019:

·     Increasing female labour-market participation and the equal economic independence of women and men.

·     Reducing the gender pay, earnings, and pension gaps and thus fighting poverty among women.

·     Promoting equality between women and men in decision-making.

·     Combating gender-based violence and protecting and supporting victims.

·     Promoting gender equality and women’s rights across the world.

 

Annual Access City Award

accessibility-cityThis year the Annual Access City Award was presented by the Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility, Marianne Thyssen together with European Disability Forum President Yannis Vardakastanis, Belgian Actor Pascal Duquenne  and  Beatrice Vio, Italian Olympic Athlete. The winner was the City of Chester (UK). The 2nd prize was the City of Rotterdam (NL) and the 3rd prize went to Jurmala (Latvia).

 

 

Moreover, the following projects received a special mention:

–        Smart Cities to Lugo, Spain.

–        Continued Commitment to Accessibility in difficult geographic circumstances to Funchal, Portugal.

–        Continued Commitment to Accessibility in challenging times to Alessandria, Italy.

–        Accessible work environments to Skellefteå, Sweden.

 

article written by María Sorzano Castellón, María Sorzano Castellón, European Project Manager, Valencian Institute of Social Action

Other related articles

Follow AER!

Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

COP22 – AER at the forefront of regional climate change fight in Marrakech

17 November, 2016 By Mathieu Mori

After the COP 21 in Paris last year that led to a historic agreement in the reduction of 40% of greenhouse gas emissions by 2013, the COP 22 in Marrakech is the COP of implementation measures. With the danger of a State like the United States withdrawing its engagement, the mood is bleak in the COP corridors. Another illustration of the importance of local and regional governments. When States fail, we can make a difference, as cities and regions are responsible for 80% of climate change adaptation and mitigation measures.

To show the commitment of European regions to fight climate change, AER came with a strong delegation : President Hande Özsan Bozati, Vice President Magnus Berntsson, Youth Regional Network President Gloria Vitaly and AER Secretary General Mathieu Mori. AER was invited to speak at no less than 3 high level meetings and was co-organiser of one meeting on climate change financing during COP 22.

The AER delegation delivered 4 messages during this COP :

1) Regions must be formally involved in COP negotiations

AER President, Dr Hande Özsan Bozatli intervened at the Climate Summit for Local and Regional Leaders to say that AER was glad to see, COP after COP, the increasing recognition of the role of cities and regions to fight climate change. It is now time that we are invited at the climate negotiation table.

2) Regions need to be innovative in their financing of anti-climate change measures

AER Vice President, Mr Magnus Berntsson (Västra Götaland-SE) defended during a co-organised event with the R20, the necessity for regions and associations of regions to look for innovative sources of funding. Of course institutional funding such as Structural and Investment Funds are crucial which is why AER lobbies for a continued cohesion policy (see campaign on Cohesion Policy post-2020 lead by Lower Austria) and organises sessions of information for its members on investment instruments (see EFSI information session on 30 November). However, AER looks at other opportunities such as partnerships with foundations and private partners in its « 100 solutions projects campaign ».

3) European and South Mediterranean regions hand in hand to fight climate change

As a member of the Committee of the Regions’ Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly (ARLEM), AER President was a speaker during the meeting of the ARLEM commission for sustainable territorial development. The occasion to call for regions from both sides of the mediterranean to work together for a better environnement. The AER President encouraged South Mediterranean regions to join AER as associate members. This invitation was also personally made at the occasion of a meeting with Mr Laenser, President of the Association of Moroccan Regions.


4) Women and Youth to lead the fight against climate change

In a world still men dominated, worldwide women leaders met at the COP22 Women Summit in the. AER President spoke of the need for more women, in all regions and from all walks of lives to engage in politics to defend the values of tolerance and green peace. The President of the Youth Regional Network was part of the Marrakech delegation and felt that much more could be done to have young people involved in the issue. Very little youth organisations were represented at the COP22. Some food for thoughts for next year’s COP. AER encourages its YRN and all young people across its regions to be bold, creative and active in its fight against climate change. In the end, this fight is fought for them and their children. Some of our messages have been included into the Marrakech roadmap for action that was adopted at the occasion of the Summit of local and regional leaders.

 Follow AER!

Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

Strengthen young women’s support toward entrepreneurship

1 August, 2016 By Editor

The Assembly of European Regions is always very proud to share information about the success stories in its member regions. Today, we would like to highlight a project from Guadeloupe (FR) called Youth Women Win.

Why ?

Worldwide, including Europe, young women are the first affected by unemployment, with an average rate of 52%. Youth Women Win aims to give to the vulnerable young women the means to create their employment and to access to real economic independence.

Youth Women Win goals are:

  1. STRENGTH the support for vulnerable young women towards entrepreneurship,
  2. PROMOTE the inclusion of the gender dimension in the entrepreneurial culture,
  3. EXCHANGE good practices for entrepreneurship, transfer of innovative methodological tools and networking.

“Youth Women Win” is an innovative project that bring together partners of island from the ACP-EU region – Guadeloupe , France, Madagascar –  and mainland regions such as Belgium.

Outputs

“Youth Women Win” offers to the professionals who coach young women towards entrepreneurship, support and tools taking into account the gender dimension:

  • A Guide to Good Practices on awareness raising and coaching
  • A briefcase of tools on the support of young women entrepreneurship
  • A web information and exchange platform provides professionals and young women a range of tools and methodological guidance to develop young women’s leadership.

Partners

  • Arrimage Good’iles, Guadeloupe – coordinator
  • C for C NGO, Madagascar
  • Groupe one – Belgium

Events

The final Conference will be held in Brussels during the month of December 2016.

Follow us on Facebook.

Contact

Arrimage Good’iles
Courriel

Presentation

Follow AER!

Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

Urgent partner search for a project on the role of older women in societies

15 June, 2016 By Agnese Pantaloni

The AER member Donegal County Council is urgently seeking partners to participate in a funding bid to the recent DEAR funding call Lot 4 “Global Learning Education and Campaigning and Advocacy Projects led by a local authority”.

Donegal County Council is a local authority in the north west of Ireland and has responsibility for the delivery of a range of public services to a population of some 160,000 citizens.  The Council has significant experience of EU projects across a range of programmes, including Interreg A,B,C strands, Peace programmes and more recently participation in the LADDER programme supported by the EU.

The OWLS (Older Women Learning and Sharing) project seeks to deal with issues of migration, gender equality and climate change and to recognise the important role played by older women in society and in development education particularly.

The project will develop a mentoring role for older women in community units across varying cultures within the partner regions and focus on principles of DEAR as they relate to existing communities, both the indigenous and minorities elements of the partner regions.

Donegal County Council is looking for the last partners to complete the consortium, both local Authorities and Civil Society Organisations.

If you are interested to join this project proposal or ask additional information, please contact as soon as possible AER Secretariat (deadline for submitting the project proposal is 21st June).Follow AER!

Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Next Page »
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
Tweets by @europeanregions

Library

Statutory Documents
AER Strategies
Minutes
Media Kit
Activity Reports
Newsletters
European Regions Map

Join AER!

Become a Member

Job Opportunities

Sign up for our Newsletter

Search

Website map

Brussels · Strasbourg · Alba Iulia

A Network, a Partner and a Voice of European regions, since 1985 · Copyright © 2023 · Assembly of European Regions · [email protected] · Log in