Gender equality

Women and men working in the local and regional government sector, as well as in general, should have equal power to shape society and their own lives.

Such was the main message coming out of a workshop on equality, diversity and non-discrimination, which allowed participants to exchange on policies for the improvement of gender imbalance in local and regional governments.  Indeed, figures from some of the larger European countries show that the percentage of women working in the sector varies from 46.6% in Spain to 75.1% in the United Kingdom.

In this context, participants discussed the Guidelines to drawing up gender equality action plans in local and regional government, adopted in 2007 by the European Social Dialogue Committee, and exchanged on ideas for follow-up and implementation.  It came out of the discussions that the direct use of these guidelines has been limited as they were seen by some as an added layer of complexity.  However, others stated that the guidelines were seen as useful in complementing existing national legislation.

Moreover, the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) presented its newly launched Observatory of the Charter on Equality of Women and Men in Local Life.  Workshop participants agreed that the Social Dialogue Committee will work closely in cooperation with this Observatory in order to provide key proposals from the point of view of employer representatives and trade unions.

The workshop was held on 16 May 2012 in Brussels, Belgium, in the framework of the social dialogue project on “The future of the workplace: providing quality jobs, modern and sustainable workplaces in local and regional government”.  The project is headed by CEMR and the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU).

The next workshop, which is to discuss migration and mobility within local and regional government administration, will be held online on 21 June 2012.

1st workshop on alternative funding mechanisms for the local and regional government sector

2nd workshop on recruitment and retention with a special focus on youth and elderly employment

3rd workshop on lifelong learning, training and skills development