Since the Gender Equality Committee was established in 2006, it has been developing ESU’s Gender Mainstreaming Strategy. The committee has carefully observed the current structures and status of ESU, and has analysed every side of it from gender perspective. It has come up with recommendations on how to improve the current situation, and ways to regularly monitor the status.
In December 2007, at ESU’s 53rd board meeting in Vilnius, the board approved of the Gender Mainstreaming Strategy, and with that gave the Gender Equality Committee a permission to launch it’s implementation within ESU’s structures. Implementing a strategy like this does not happen in one day, or six months, but has to be done carefully and during as long time period as needed. The goal is to achieve gender equality and we won’t rest until gender has become the mainstream in all of ESU’s work and structures.
By mainstreaming gender we are assuring that both gender have equal access to opportunities and have equal participation in influencing policies and directions of ESU. A gender mainstreaming strategy seeks to bring women and men into a position where they can take part on an equal basis.
An enviroment where all feel equal, are treated equally, have equal opportunities and where all perspectives are taken in account, is proven to be more efficient and produce more. By underlining the importance of gender equality and making it visible in ESU policy and outwards, ESU can serve as model and a forerunner in the field of gender equality and especially gender equality and higher education. This also has a chain reaction. Gender equality is not an isolated issue and therefore the effects of working on gender equality are manifold as well. When ESU is working on gender equality, it at the same time reassures ESU’s commitment to human rights and equal opportunities for all.
In ESU, as in other organisations, it is not enough to set up a legal framework, stating that there should be gender equality, and think that the problem will automatically be fixed. Of course, gender quotas and other similar measures are needed, but we also need to figure out why we need these measures and this legal framework in the first place. There must be something wrong within the structures of the organisation that causes this inequaliaty. A gender mainstreaming strategy is used to go deeper into the situation, analyse the whole structure of the organisation and find out where and when there is discrimination. What parts of ESU’s structure produce inequality and why?
In order to ensure sustainable gender equality we need to tackle the issue from the core, so it spreads to the margins and the whole organisation becomes gender mainstreamed. ESU has allready recognised that we need to take actions in order to achieve sustainable equality. If we all put our hearts and minds into it, carefully implement the strategy and regularly evaluate the situation in order to tacle possible obstacles, sustainable gender equailty will become a reality for ESU.
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Gender Equality Committee
|
