The European Council in Lisbon has laid down an objective of 60% of women being part of the working population by 2010. In an own initiative draft resolution, Ilda Figueiredo of the Women's Rights Committee takes the view that this objective can be achieved only if there is the establishment of a sufficient number of childcare facilities.
The draft resolution stresses the need to establish common indicators as regards childcare structures and the disparity in wages for EU-wide comparison. Lastly, the draft resolution points out that in candidate countries, women's representation in politics is low.
Gender balance in International Criminal Court
The ICC entered into force on July 1 and the process for the nomination and election of judges, prosecutors and deputy prosecutors is under way. Some countries are resisting that procedures be drafted in such a way as to ensure fair representation of women and men, and geographical representation of these mandates.
Therefore, the Women's Caucus, a member of the Coalition for the ICC, is urging all interested persons to send letters to foreign ministers, ministers of justice and women, and to the UN missions to seek their support in developing procedures and practices that will mirror gender mainstreaming and geographical representation among the members of the court.
A model letter is made available by the Women's Caucus for Gender Justice in the ICC. For further information contact Vahida Nainar, e-mail: iccwomen@igc.org or visit http://www. iccnow.org/
Women speak out at seminar on Convention on the Future of Europe
The European Women's Lobby is organising a European seminar, "Convention on the future of Europe: Women Speak Out" on Friday, September 27, in Brussels. The aim of this event is to bring together women across Europe as well as EU political actors involved, in order to debate and assess results achieved so far by the Convention from a gender perspective.
It will also be an opportunity to discuss the best ways to ensure that the voice of women is heard in the debate on the future of Europe.
It will be an honour to welcome in particular Commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou, who will open the event, as well as Ms Anna Karamanou, chair of the Committee on Women's Rights and Equal Opportunities of the European Parliament, and Ms Anne Van Lancker, representative of the European Parliament at the Convention on the Future of Europe.
The seminar will be followed by the EWL annual general assembly on September 28 and 29. The main topics on the agenda of EWL general assembly are: democracy and decision-making, women's human rights (including violence against women as well as sexual and reproductive health) and economic and social life (including employment, social protection, globalisation).
The EWL seminar and general assembly will take place at the Hotel Crowne Plaza, Rue Gineste 3, 1210 Brussels. For more information contact Marie-Anne Leunis e-mail leunis@womenlobby.org or Clarisse Delorme at the EWL secretariat (delorme @womenlobby.org) for the seminar.
World summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg
The Johannesburg Summit will bring together governments, social and environmental NGOs, industry and other stakeholders to debate an action plan for sustainable development. More information on http://www.johannesburgsumi.org/ or http://www.earthsummit2002.org/default.htm.
CSR strategy to promote business contribution to sustainable development
A new strategy on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) which aims to take forward the contribution of business to sustainable development was adopted recently by the European Commission. The policy paper calls for a new social and environmental role for business in a global economy and sets up a "European Multi-stakeholder Forum" for all players, social partners, business networks, civil society, consumers and investors to exchange best practice, establish principles for codes of conduct and seek consensus on objective evaluation methods and validitation tools.
Corporate Social Responsibility is defined as voluntary social and environmental practices of business linked to their core activities, which go beyond companies' existing legal obligations. The strategy will also support CSR in small and medium-sized undertakings (SMEs).
Anna Diamantopoulou, Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs, said: "Corporate social responsibility can play an important role in advancing sustainable development. Many businesses have recognised that CSR can be profitable and CSR schemes have mushroomed.
"The EU can add value in at least two key ways: by helping stakeholders to make CSR more transparent and credible and by showing that CSR is not just for multinationals; it can benefit smaller businesses too."
More information can be found on www.delmlt.cec.eu.int.