06/03/2009
Celebrating International Women's Day
The PES has designated the weekend 7-8 March, which includes International Women’s Day (8 March), as its first ‘European Day of Action’ for the 2009 European elections.
PES member party events are already underway in various corners of the European Union. Yesterday the Austrian Social Democrats began their launch of their "Fairness for women" campaign in central Vienna with many more events to follow over the weekend. Meanwhile in Belgium the Parti Socialiste were distributing roses to raise awareness of women's issues across Brussels and Wallonia. In Nicosia, the Cypriot Social Democrats held a press conference on parental leave and to review a successful recent street campaign on women's rights, while in Athens a conference is being held today by Greek Socialist Party PASOK on the PES manifesto commitments on gender equality, and the record of the Socialist Group in the European Parliament on women’s rights. Earlier in the week the Irish Labour Party launched a Gender Parity Bill with a proposed sanction of reducing payments from the state to political parties if they fail to move towards gender parity in terms of candidates selected to contest national elections.
Tomorrow activities include:
• An awards ceremony in Budapest organized by the Hungarian Socialist Party Women’s Section in which Commissioner Vladimir Spidla will be presented a prize for his contribution to gender equality, and in particular for his efforts in putting the gender pay gap on the EU agenda. PES President Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, PES Women President Zita Gurmai and Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany will speak at the event;
• leaflets with extracts of the PES manifesto will be handed out by activists from PS France take parting in the demonstration in Paris “All together for women’s rights”;
• a conference on “Social Protection for Motherhood in Bulgaria” organized by the Union of Socialist Women for Parity and Solidarity;
• PES Secretary General Philip Cordery will present the PES manifesto commitments on gender equality to the congress of the Estonian Social Democratic Party;
• PES activists will be handing out flyers in Berlin, Norrkoping (Sweden), Poznan (Poland), Dublin, Athens and elsewhere;
• members of the Belgian socialist parties PS and SP.a will take part in the protest “Tous ensemble pour les femmes en République Démocratique du Congo”.
International Women’s Day Events organized over the two days of this weekend by PES member parties are confirmed in at least 25 EU member states: consult the full list of activities.
Zita Gurmai, President of PES Women, said “The PES manifesto commits us to champion gender equality because that is what we believe in. We will work in the coming years to improve parental leave, fight the trafficking of women for sexual exploitation, achieve equal political representation of women and men, support implementation of EU child care targets – and defend those child care targets from attacks from the Czech Presidency and other conservatives.”
You can follow reports from PES member party International Women’s Day events on the PES website throughout the weekend.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Julian Scola, Communications Advisor - Media & Campaigns
Party of European Socialists, Rue du Trône, 98, B-1050 Brussels
Mobile +32 486 117 394
julian.scola@pes.org
