Report January - June 2008
INTERIM NARATIVE REPORT
January 1st 2008 – June 31st 2008
In 2008, CEE Network for Gender Issues strengthens its role as the main mechanism for exchange of the SDW best practices, transforming itself little by little into the only clearing house for the initiatives of the SD women activists outside Europe and women activists from the PES member parties.
It continues with the train the trainer programs and serve as an information and advocacy centre for the SP/SDP women in the SEE region for Croatia, B&H, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania, for Turkey and EU neighbouring countries - Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus, and North Western Russia.
In the first half of the year, the focus was:
• On organization of the joint SD Child Care campaign in the SEE and EU neighbouring countries.
• On the evaluation of the women’s pacifism and implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 in 7 countries born from the dissolution of the former socialist Yugoslavia (Based on the financial support of the LP Westminster Foundation).
• On active inclusion of SD W all over Europe in the preparations of the PES Manifesto for 2009 and preparations of the NGO support for the SD W pre-electoral campaign in 2009 (CEE Network for Gender Issues Parity campaign initiative was accepted not only by the PES W, but also in the EWL, in European Students’ Association, and seriously discussed in the new EC Expert Group on women in decision making).
• On global promotion of the SD approach to gender budgeting in NY at the occasion of the 52 session of the UN CSW.
• On promotion of SD gender equality approach on all relevant gender equality connected events of the Slovene European Presidency.
• On transfer of the CEE Network experiences to the women activists in Hong Kong – based on the invitation from the National Democratic Institute there.
CEE Network continues its close cooperation with the European Forum for Democracy and Solidarity and the SD foundations. In the first half of the year we have realized cooperation with Olof Palme Centre, LP Westminster Foundation, Alfred Moser Foundation, and NDI. In June 2008 CEE Network became an observer-member of the FEPS – new SD European Foundation for Progressive Studies.
CEE Network also continues its close cooperation with the Gender Task Force, which became a formal gender mainstreaming mechanism of the new Regional Cooperation Council. In 2008, this new body has replaced the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe. In this moment GTF is running two regional projects in 10 SEE countries which include the most active SD W MP-s and all SD Women organizations in this region. Sonja Lokar still serves as a chair of the GTF.
In the first half of the year 2008, CEE Network for Gender Issues directly reached out to more than 1600 highly profiled mostly but not only social democratic, mostly but not only female activists and functionaries as well as NGO leaders, TU women leaders and activists, gender equality experts, party leaders, NGO leaders, MP-s, ministers, and cooperated also with two European Commissioners (Spidla, Wallstrom) , and practically with all SD MEP-s.
List of the CEE Network for Gender Issues activities by date, place and subject:
• January 12, Zagreb, Croatia, Short strategy meeting with the SDP WF of Croatia in Zagreb – 12 Croatia SD women leaders
• January 21, Ljubljana, Slovenia, Lecture to the women social entrepreneurs in Slovenia, on how to cooperate with political actors – 15 participants
• January 23.-24, Prague, Czech Republic, presentation of the Slovene women’s movement for parity to the national conference of the Czech NGO 50/50 – 150 participants, activists from NGO-s, TU, political parties and academia.
• January 29.-30, Brdo pri Kranju, Slovenian ministerial conference on Gender Stereotypes, in the framework of the Slovene EU Presidency, active participation – 150 participants
• January 31, Bled, Slovenia, Fringe meeting with PES W leader dr. Zita Gurmai and SD ministers for labour and gender equality and EU Commissioner Vladimir Spidla, discussing EU policy on gender equality and the preparations for the EU elections in 2009. – 8 participants.
• February 6, Brussels, Belgium, active participation on the meeting of the Steering Committee of the Forum for Democracy and solidarity – 25 participants
• February 24-March 9, New York, CEE Network distributed 100 copies of our publication from 2007 Women in Politics – Stocktaking in SEE. Sonja Lokar, serving as an expert member of the Slovenian governmental delegation which led the EU coordination at the 52nd session of the Commission for the Status of Women worked as a liaison officer for the NGO-s and informed them at two briefings (300 participants) on the state of art of diplomatic negotiations on the Agreed Conclusions, concerning the issue of gender budgeting. She also spoke at the SIW fringe event (80 participants) and on the EWL fringe event (90 participants) , and lectured to the professors at the New York University, on the Euro-Mediterranean Studies. (7 participants)
• March 15, Ljubljana, Slovenia, Lecture about CEE Network work and Stability Pact Gender Task Force work in the SEE region to the Women’s Forum of the Asia Caribbean Parliamentary Assembly, 150 participants
• March 16, Ljubljana, Slovenia, Lecture to the women members of the leaderships of the national students associations in the European Students Association on the issue of the need for special women’s organizations within different forms of general political organization like parties, trade unions, professional associations and even NGO-s. - 31 participant
• March 17, Chishinau, Moldova, strategy meeting with the leadership of the newly established women’s organization within the SDP of Moldova – 3 participants.
• March 18, Bucharest, Romania, lecture on women’s parallel electoral campaigns to the women leaders of regional branches of the women’s organization of the SDP of Romania - 43 participants, short interview for the national TV.
• March 15-March 21, Sonja Lokar was writing and reading public diary for the Radio Free Europe based in Prague,
• April 9, Zagreb, Croatia, Dasa Silovic, CEE Network Board Chairwoman and Sonja Lokar held a strategy meeting with the leadership of the Croatian SDW. – 10 participants.
• April 16-22, Hong Kong, in cooperation with the NDI, Sonja Lokar lectured at the Hong Kong University - 20 participants, trained women NGO leaders - 23 participants, took active part at the national women’s summit - 69 participants and trained women from different political parties - 23 participants
• April 28, Brdo pri Kranju, Slovenia, Sonja Lokar got the position of the reporter from one working group of the EU governmental conference on intergenerational solidarity and succeeded to form social democratic conclusions from this group, later accepted at the conference – 200 participants.
• May 16, Ljubljana, Slovenia, Sonja Lokar took active part at the PES Executive Bureau Meeting – 29 participants. She presented CEE Network for Gender Issue comments on the PES Manifesto 2009 on New Social Europe, and moderated public conference on Economic Independence of Women – 55 participants
• May 17-20, Skopje, Macedonia; Ljubljana Office of the CEE Network and the biggest Macedonian NGO UOWM jointly organized the first sub- regional training seminar of SD parties from the SEE on joint child care campaign. – training 24 participants . Sonja Lokar also spoke in favour of SD women at the big pre-electoral SD rally in Skopje – to some 1500 people.
• May 25, Ljubljana, Slovenia, Sonja Lokar presented to the European Women’s Lobby Executive Bureau CEE Network for Gender Issues proposal on haw to lead Parity in the Law Pan – European Coalition and campaign. – 45 participants
• May 27, Tirana, Albania, in the framework of the new GTF project on mainstreaming in political parties, Sonja Lokar led the meetings with the leader of the SDP, and with the women leaders from the SP and succeeded to get them into this project – 7 participants.
• May 30- June 1, Kotor, Montenegro, in the framework of the GTF project on mainstreaming gender in the work of the parliaments, Sonja Lokar, as a chair of the GTF, trained the women parliamentarians from 10 SEE countries on the issue of gender aspects of active employment policies – 20 participants
• June 2, Brussels, Belgium, Sonja Lokar in her capacity of the SEE coordinator of the CEE Network for Gender Issues became a full member and took active part in the first meeting of the new EC Expert group on women in decision making - 20 participants
• June 6-8, Tartu, Estonia, Tallinn Office of the CEE Network for Gender Issues organized the second sub-regional SD seminar on joint SD Child Care campaign – 24 participants
• June 9-13, Belgrade, Novi Sad, Serbia; in the framework of the GTF new project on mainstreaming gender in political parties, Sonja Lokar spoke to the male and female party leaders of DP, G17+, LDP, League of the SD of Vojvodina, and SPS and persuaded them to decide to take active part in this project. – 10 participants.
• June 21-22, Ljubljana, Slovenia, thanks to the support coming from LP Westminster Foundation, Heinrich Boell Foundation and Slovene Ministry for Defence, CEE Network for Gender Issues Ljubljana Office, and the Institute for Humanities Studies organized an international conference on Women in conflict resolution, bringing together women peace activist from all over former Yugoslavia and discussing also the implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325. The opening speech was given by the former President of Slovenia, Milan Kucan – 45 participants
• June 24-25, Brussels, Belgium; Sonja Lokar represented CEE Network for Gender Issues at the meeting of ENSOF – European Network of SD Foundations -12 participants and at the first Ordinary Assembly of the FEPS (European Foundation for Progressive Studies) – 46 participants.
Reporting: Sonja Lokar, CEE Network for Gender Issues, coordinator for the SEE
