TANYA HUGHES DIRECTOR BALLYBEEN WOMENS CENTRE PARTICIPATION OF

TANYA HUGHES DIRECTOR BALLYBEEN WOMEN’S CENTRE

PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN: POLICY AND PRACTICE

GENDER MAINSTREAMING ECOSOC action, including legislation, policies or programmes, in all areas and at all levels. It is a strategy for making women’s as well s men’s concerns and experiences an integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political, economic and societal spheres so that women and men benefit equally and inequality is not perpetuated. The ultimate goal is to achieve gender equality. ’ (Agreed Conclusions of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, 1997/2 p. 28 cited in Hannan 2000).

GENDER MAINSTREAMING CONTEXT International Commitments CEDAW 1325 European Commitments Treaty of Amsterdam (1999) Directives on Equal Treatment European Commission Roadmap on gender equality 2006 -2010 Local - Northern Ireland Southern Ireland Section 75 National Development Plan Gender Matters 2000 -2006

PRACTICE

BARRIERS TO WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION SYSTEMATIC/STRUCTURAL Under resourcing and funding of organisations and initiatives to support the development of women’s organisations Weak local government Lack of adequate gender mainstreaming approaches Insufficient use of gender analysis of across all sectors An implied assumption that gender equality has been achieved Under representation of women in government and decision-making bodies

BARRIERS TO WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION PRACTICAL Lack of childcare Women’s caring role Timings of meetings , events etc Transport How meetings are run Use of jargon/technical language without clarification General lack of support to ensure full participation PERSONAL Lack of confidence and self belief Lack of / inadequate understanding of issues, systems Lack of skills and competencies and education

4 C’s CULTURE CONFIDENCE CHILDREN CASH

BALLYBEEN Second largest housing estate in N. I Population exceeding 10, 000 Strong single identity Protestant culture Area objectively defined as disadvantaged – Polarisation as a result of the conflict Unemployment Low academic achievement High incidence of lone parents Poor health & teenage pregnancy

BALLYBEEN WOMEN’S CENTRE Mission Statement Ballybeen Women’s Centre is an integrated service provider committed to enabling women, young people and children to realise their full potential and fulfil their aspirations through the promotion of health, personal and socio economic development COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT & CAPACITY BUILDING CULRTURE & DIVERSITY CHILDCARE & FAMILY SUPPORT EDUCATION & BWC CORE AREAS OF WORK TRAINING HEALTH

PARTICIPATION “. . . concerned with how unequal distribution of power affects people’s lives and how they can influence decision-making which affects them. Participatory democracy implies that the power to make decisions should not be left to a small number of people, but that power should be more equally shared among citizens, so that everyone has an opportunity to influence collective affairs” (Community Workers C 0 -operative 1998)

ENGAGING WOMEN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PEER EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS SUPPORT PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT NEEDS ASSESSMENT EDUCATION & TRAINING WOMEN ONLY SPACE CHILDCARE

OUTCOMES Personal Development and Progression Building Social Capital Local Knowledge & Targeting Local Ownership/Self Help Partnership Social Fabric Increased Resources Employment Social Economy

LESSONS POLICY & PRACTICE PROCESS MOVING BEYOND THE LOCAL NEED TO DOCUMENT & RECORD WORK

FUTURE CHALLENGES SUSTAINABILITY/GENDER BUDGETING RECOGNITION GENDER EQUALITY