GRTU representative Abigail Mamo has this week attended the – Joint Announcement and symposium on Good Practices in Gender Mainstreaming. The project falls under the European Union Programme for Employment and Social Solidarity PROGRESS (2007-2013), which was awarded for implementation to the National Council for the Promotion of Equality (NCPE) and the Ministry for Education, Employment and the Family (MEEF). The Symposium was part of the official launch of the project.
This is a new project which aims to also deliver an understanding of gender mainstreaming. The EU has introduced the principle of equality between the sexes ever since the Treaty of Rome in 1957 and has its legal base embedded in the treaty of Amsterdam. Gender mainstreaming is the principle to arrive to gender equality. Today the EU has issued a Women's Charter which constitutes an important milestone on the subject. In Malta Equality and Gender mainstreaming have been on the agenda for long and Government has made various commitments in conjunction with the NCPE.
The aim of the project is directly aimed at the implementation of Gender mainstreaming in public administration, creating an understanding and guidance in achieving it. This will include training from a team of consultants and meetings with the heads of Ministries and Departments. The project will evaluate the effect of policies on gender mainstreaming and how this is dealt with at Ministerial level .
Gender mainstreaming is a strategy to achieve gender equality. Treating people equally does not mean treating people the same as people are different. Gender mainstreaming means the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies and programmes, in any area at all levels. In order for gender mainstreaming to work men must understand it is also to their advantage.