European Charter for Equality of Women and Men
The European Charter is a public declaration of intent by a municipality on the principle of gender equality for women and men. It gives the municipalities some guidelines on how a gender equality policy can be integrated into work at a local authority level. At the same time, it is an invitation for a whole city to support gender equality for women and men in their specific and different circumstances.
- The following fields of action, where municipalities can become active, are mentioned and explained in the European Charter:
- The balanced participation of women and men in (political and public) decision processes
- Improving the equal participation of women in working life
- The equal sharing of public resources for women and men
- Eliminating gender stereotypes
- Combatting gender-specific violence
Gender equality action plan for Leipzig
By signing the EU Charter, the city of Leipzig has committed itself to drawing up a gender equality action plan within two years and updating it every two years.
Following some lively discussions involving all the political groups, the first gender equality action plan for Leipzig was passed by a large majority in the council meeting on 11 November 2015 (with only 3 votes against and 2 abstentions). The Department for Gender Equality has the general task of implementing this policy. We, the employees, are looking forward to working with many people of like mind and facing interesting challenges.
The catalogue of measures can be viewed in the council information system under no. VI-DAS-01650.
The gender equality action plan contains the goals of the city of Leipzig, planned measures as well as the establishment of responsibilities, resources needing to be made available, a timetable and measurement parameters for the evaluation process.
The following goals for developing a gender equality action plan in Leipzig have been designated by the Mayor of the City, Burkhard Jung:
- Women and men should be involved in political decision processes and jointly shape the city’s future.
- Women and men should develop Leipzig jointly so that it becomes an internationally recognised business and academic location with cosmopolitan views and with activities and services that promote gender equality for women and men.
- Women and men benefit equally from the town twinning relationships and use the international contacts as a platform for sharing experiences with regard to issues of gender equality for women and men.
The Advisory Board for Gender Equality at the city of Leipzig formulated the first priority areas for a gender equality action plan in Leipzig:
- Combining family and work
- Local politics and urban planning
- Safety in the public sphere and domestic violence
- Gender-sensitive reporting
Alongside these priorities already determined, the process of drawing up an initial gender equality action plan is an open one and new additional spheres of action may emerge during the course of this process – through input from the Advisory Board for Gender Equality, associations and many other players or local people from Leipzig, who are gradually being contacted. Become involved! Be part of the implementation process!