Equality at the local level is an essential component of protecting and promoting the human rights of women and girls and several efforts are in force to secure those rights. In line with this, the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) prepared a charter for Europe's local and regional governments to commit themselves to use their powers and partnerships to achieve greater equality for their people.
The Charter stipulates that equality of women and men constitutes a fundamental right for all, and an essential value for every democracy. In order to be achieved, this right needs not only to be legally recognized, but to be effectively applied in all aspects of life: political, economic, social and cultural.
Local and regional governments should take the gender dimension fully into account, in their policies, their organisation and their practices to achieve a working democracy. CEMR keeps in mind that in today's and tomorrow's world, the real equality of women and men is also key to economic and social success.
The role of local and regional governments in promoting gender equality was affirmed in the Worldwide Declaration of IULA (the International Union of Local Authorities) on “Women in Local Government” adopted in 1998. The new world organisation, United Cities and Local Governments, maintains the equality of women and men as one of its principal objectives.
CEMR drafted the charter while considering that equality of women and men implies the will to take action on the three complementary aspects of its achievement, namely the elimination of direct inequalities, the eradication of indirect inequalities, and the construction of a political, legal and social environment supportive to the proactive development of an egalitarian democracy.
Fundamental principles of the charter include: Equality of women and men constitutes a fundamental right
This right must be implemented by local and regional governments in all areas of their responsibilities, including their obligation to eliminate all forms of discrimination, whether these be direct or indirect.
The right to equality of women and men requires that local and regional authorities take all the appropriate measures and adopt all appropriate strategies to promote a balanced representation and participation of women and men in all spheres of decision-making.
Local and regional authorities must promote the elimination of the stereotypes and obstacles upon which the inequalities in status and condition of women are based, and which give rise to the unequal evaluation of the roles of women and men in political, economic, social and cultural terms.
Integrating the gender perspective into all activities of local and regional government is necessary to advance equality of women and men.
The gender perspective must be taken into account in the drafting of policies, methods and instruments which affect the daily life of the local population – for example, through the use of “gender mainstreaming” and “gender budgeting” techniques. To this end, women's experiences in local life, including their living and working conditions, must be analysed and taken into account.
Local and regional governments must draw up equality action plans and programmes, with the financial and human means and resources necessary for their implementation.
Implementation of the charter
The Signatory undertakes to carry out the following specific steps in order to implement the provisions of the Charter:
Each Signatory to the Charter will, within a reasonable timescale (not to exceed two years) following the date of its signature, develop and adopt its Equality Action Plan, and thereafter implement it. |
