We are writing to you in partnership with National Alliance of Women Organisation, Engender and Wales women to ask you for your involvement in the consultation or discussion which we believe is very important for the women’s sector in Northern Ireland and across the UK at this time.

You will know that the Women’s National Commission (NWC) was abolished at the end of last year.  You may also know that the Government Equalities Office (GEO) is consulting on how, post-WNC, Government can best engage with women.  Here is a link to the consultation Strengthening Women’s Voices

Listening to women was one of the key roles of WNC and they did important work in relation to public appointments, women and the economy, black and minority ethnic women, violence against women.  They also fulfilled central functions in preparing the UK shadow report to CEDAW (the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women).  You can see more of this in their legacy document which shows the steps they had taken to make their work really relevant to all of the UK, including the devolved nations, by working on a four nations basis.

NIWEP believes that the current GEO consultation should hear women’s voices clearly on two matters:

• how women across the UK see themselves organising
• what we want to see GEO doing to listen to women

We are planning a number of events to help and to make sure these matters are reflected in the response to the consultation.  We therefore are asking you for your thoughts on the plan of action and for your involvement in it.

• some meetings and discussions have already taken place amongst women’s groups, inclosing the former WNC partners.  NIWEP will bring together a synopsis of the views from these discussions
• there are various relationships which exist between women’s groups and Government (that is, with GEO and with OFMDFM) and within Government so NIWEP will map these, as far as we can go, so we can begin to see what there is to build on
• we will develop a means, with your advice, to have ongoing discussions, maybe through a blog or an email link
• we will hold discussions with groups and networks
• we will hold a world café discussion in Cookstown
• we will bring all the Northern Ireland views to a roundtable hosted by the UKJCW (UK Joint Committee on Women) to be held in Cardiff on the 7 May – parallel work is taking place in England, Scotland and Wales through their networks of women
• the UKJCW will then publish the principles, ideas and requests so we can use the consultation in responding to the GEO

In the meantime, the UKJCW as well as NIWEP has been invited to a GEO meeting in London on 12 April which is a follow-up to CSW held in February of this year, but it is also going to discuss what is happening post-WNC.  NIWEP, as part of the ULJCW, is preparing a series of questions – probably questions rather than a position at this stage – to set out concerns and interests from across the UK.

We hope you will be involved and look forward to working with you on these issues.

The recent proposal of the European Commission (October 2008) to increase the minimum length of maternity leave and to extend the mandatory period, currently at two weeks, to six weeks, has sparked debate among feminists and others as to whether women should be singled out in this way as this form of leave only relates to women.  The main problem is that the maternity leave proposal is just one of three proposals currently on the table part of the European ‘package’ of measures to reconcile private and professional life but those proposals are being dealt with in different ways. Two of these proposals, namely amendments to the 1992 Maternity Leave Directive and repeal of the 1986 Directive on Self Employed workers and their Assisting Spouses are both being discussed by the Council and European Parliament (Women’s Rights Committee) as part of a co-decision procedure. The third proposal, amending the 1996 Parental Leave Directive is being discussed by the Social Partners who are invited to make proposals in the form of a Social Partners Framework Agreement. It is without a doubt that it is this third proposal that holds the key to shifting the traditional division of (paid and unpaid) work between women and men in which women’s over representation in caring for family members has led to obstacles and discrimination in other areas of life (employment, decision-making.) Another problem is that the Social Partners’ discussions are not open to other actors and therefore influencing this process is difficult with the result that the other two proposals, and particularly the one on maternity leave is considered to be the opportunity for changing the unequal division of paid and unpaid work in which women and men are far from being equal.  Should maternity leave pay the price for the failure to engage men in their share of care?

The European Women’s Lobby believes that women must not pay this price. Women’s increasing participation in the labour market must not occult the reality of many women’s lives; any attempt to undermine women’s right to an improvement in maternity provisions would reinforce the already prevailing image of a labour market organised around a the male life-cycle, disregarding the role of women as workers and the fact that the structure of the labour market must take into account the reality, aspirations and needs of both women and men. The EWL is proposing amendments to the maternity leave proposal which includes 24 weeks fully paid leave of which the six mandatory weeks are not subjected to any previous work record; fully paid additional leave in exceptional circumstances relating to the health of the mother and/or child and a one-year protection period for women returning to work.

In relation to self employed women and assisting partners, EWL amendments include six week mandatory (maternity) leave and the obligation of Member States to provide social security coverage to assisting spouses (changing this to assisting “partners”).

Proposals for one-month fully paid paternity leave has been included into the proposal for parental leave as well as the sharing of parental leave amongst partners by guaranteeing non transferable periods of leave and that leave for the care of children and/or family members is fully paid to ensure that men take their share of care. Information: Collins@womenlobby.org