Last April 25th-26th the Euro-Mediterranean Women’s Foundation participated in the working groups meeting within the framework of the 2nd Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) Regional Dialogue on Women Empowerment. The Secretariat of the UfM mandated officials, experts and international organisations actively working on gender equality, with the aim to review the progresses done after the implementation of the 2013 Paris Ministerial Declaration.
This dialogue is undertaken in the perspective of the next ministerial conference on women foreseen in 2017 and it identified 4 specific priorities:
- Raise women’s participation in economic life
- Improve women’s access to leadership and decision making positions
- Combat violence against women and gender-based violence
- Change gender-based stereotypes through education and culture
The Regional Dialogue was an important moment to analyze the current situation and the new challenges in strengthening the role of women in society in the Euro-Mediterranean region. The participants discussed transversal issues related to migration flows, regional instability and extremism, highlighting the importance of ensuring that the specific needs of women migrants and refugees are well addressed.
The stakeholders and international institutions present to the meeting pointed out that giving equal rights to women would allow them to play a key role as agents for social change, peace and stability. The Euro-Mediterranean Women’s Foundation was invited as a representative of Civil Society Organizations and it will take part, in the next months, in the 4 working groups outlined above to share experiences and actions that make women active drivers for human development.
This platform is part of the Axis 1 "Strengthening the capacities of equality actors" of the Priority Solidarity Fund "Women for the future in the Mediterranean" funded by the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs and led by the European Institute of the Mediterranean, in the framework of the project “Developing Women's Empowerment” labelled by the Union for the Mediterranean.
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