Ei-iE

EI is convening its First World Women’s Conference,‘On the Move for Equality’, from 20-23 January 2011, in Bangkok, Thailand. The registration process is now open and EI encourages all its members to attend the event.

The conference aims to bring together union leaders, equality officers, and chairs of women’s committees, as well as those responsible for gender issues within trade unions. Diversity is respected and encouraged so the conference is open to both men and women. Young female trade unionists are also strongly encouraged to be included in all union delegations, and a special effort is being made to enable the participation of women from the regional EI women’s networks to achieve a balance of regional representatives.

The conference will be interactive and participatory in nature, and will focus on three key themes:

Connecting and Strengthening the EI Women’s Networks: The event will bring together all regional EI women's networks to share plans, analyse obstacles, celebrate successes and plan joint actions.

Taking Stock of the Status of Women in Today’s World: Thirty years since the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) was adopted, it is time to take stock. What is the participation of women in unions? What gains have been made by women at work? How can education unions contribute to equality for both men and women, for boys and for girls?

Advancing and Empowering Girls and Women Through Education: Investing in, and educating, women and girls is one of the most effective means of breaking the cycle of poverty. What are the means of increasing access to and relevance of quality education and training in order to contribute to overcoming gender barriers? What other investments are necessary?

The prevailing context of global crises, of financial and economic recession, food security and climate change, will form a backdrop to deliberations, including an exploration of their impact in terms of exacerbating the challenge of achieving gender equality.

The conference is also a vehicle to inform, stimulate and move forward in the collective means of achieving gender equality, particularly within and through unions, in education and society. It will provide the space and opportunity for participants to share and contribute to a forum, the outcomes of which will inform EI’s work on gender in years to come. It will also provide a basis for discussion at EI’s Sixth World Congress in July 2011.

While the conference was originally scheduled to take place in May 2010, it was postponed to January 2011, because of the unstable political situation in Thailand during the early part of 2010.

The pre-registration process for Conference has now been re-opened. Please see the circular sent to members on 02 September 2010 for details and register as soon as possible.

For further details visits the EI World Women’s Conference website: www.ei-ie.org/women2011 or if you have any further questions, please email: [email protected]