News

From 31 January to 1 February, Social Platform’s delegation of 16 people representing member organisations and staff took part in the annual Stakeholder Consultation Meeting of the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) in Vilnius.

Together with Social Platform, members of the European Women’s Lobby, the Men Engage Europe Network and the European Economic and Social Committee were also invited to this meeting. As each year, it was a great opportunity to meet different organisations and to discuss priorities and synergies in our work.

Very many relevant and interesting themes, such as Beijing +25, shrinking space for civil society, community policing and femicide, gender budgeting, how to incorporate an intersectional approach in the cooperation with stakeholder, the European Parliament elections and #MeToo, were on the agenda. You can see he detailed concept note here.

Silvana Roebstorf, our Policy and Project Officer, who was in Vilnius said: “I would like to highlight one particular session on the gender pay gap and its link to work-life balance. During the workshop, EIGE introduced the main findings of a report they are currently finalising on the topic. Unfortunately, the findings are confidential and cannot be shared until the official release in May 2019, but I highly recommend having a look at the report once released, as it includes many unexpected findings and strongly highlights the disadvantage women face in relation to their pay level.”

“In addition to this report, EIGE will furthermore work on updating their Gender Equality Index and Gender Statistics Database, institutional mechanisms for gender mainstreaming, produce a paper on the integration of newly arrived third country nationals through education and continue to work in the area of gender-based violence in 2019.”

Juris Lavrikovs, our Communications and Campaign Advisor, who also was at this meeting: “It is always great to meet and have more time and discussions with the national civil society representatives and activist working on the ground! Getting away from EU Brussels bubble is a must for people working here – to get some reality checks, listen to the concerns and priorities on national level. The communications between local, national and European organisations is vital to connect the citizens to EU processes and the other way around.  I was particularly thrilled to debate upcoming European Parliament elections and how collectively we can offer hopeful, engaging and optimistic narrative and to engage citizens to vote actively to ensure the next European Parliament fully embrace and promote more and better social Europe.”

Image: Social Platform delegation meeting European Institute for Gender Equality in Vilnius