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International Women's Day: Figures & Initiatives

sunday 8 march 2009

The Robert Schuman Foundation, in recognition of International Women’s Day, collected and compiled statistics on the gender parity in European government(s).
In the twenty-seven national governments, on average, one out of four ministers is female (twenty-five percent). Finland leads the way with over fifty percent of its national government comprised of female ministers. Sweden and the Netherlands also have a strong female presence, with over forty percent representation. France, however, is under the European average with 18.5 percent female representation.
While the average female representation of the European Parliament rests around thirty percent, one-third of member states’ parliamentary delegation is composed of more than forty percent female. The French delegation is comprised of thirty-five females out of seventy-eight total delegates (or forty-five percent). With the European parliamentary elections approaching quickly (June 2009), the President of the European Parliament has emphasized that although female representation has risen—sixteen percent in 1979 to thirty-one percent in 2009—further progression must be achieved.

source: The Robert Schuman Foundation

The European Commission Launches Campaign against Wage Inequalities between Men and Women
The European Commission has launched an EU-wide campaign to help tackle the gender pay gap. Across the EU economy, women earn on average 17.4% less than men. The simple concept of 'equal pay for work of equal value' is at the heart of the campaign being launched in the context of International Women's Day on 8 March to raise awareness of the pay gap, its causes, and how to tackle it.

source: European Commission

Children's Drawing Competition on Gender Equality
For the third year in a row, the European Commission launches an international
drawing competition on gender equality on the International Women's Day, March 8, under the patronage of the Belgian Princess Mathilde. The competition calls on children all over the world to express their vision of gender equality. Two drawings per region will be selected by a jury of European children, and a prize equivalent to €1,000 for each region, will be awarded to the winners.

source: European Commission

European Parliament Welcomes Simone Veil, former president of the European Parliament, in recognition of the International Women's Day.
>Read more on the EU's 30-year campaign for gender equality

>The Council of Europe has also, in honor of International Women's Day, put in place several initiatives aimed at created greater gender equality.

>Check out the program of events of the European Institutions here in Strasbourg for International Women's Day.