Lithuania sits at number 55 on the Global Gender Gap Index for 2014 published by the World Economic Forum. Narrowing this gap is one of the main goals for the project “Women’s Voice for Progress”, carried out of by the Lithuanian Center for Equality Advancement in cooperation with KUN Center for Gender Equality in Norway.
Bringing together
As part of the project, which receives about €112 000 in support from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, women from all over the country gathered in in the Lithuanian parliament, Seimas, to discuss issues that they, as women, are facing in modern day Lithuania. Among the issues raised were under-representation in different decision-making bodies, discriminatory family policies and violence against women. In addition to giving women from all over the country an opportunity to talk about gender-related problems, the conference also meant to show what the Lithuanian parliament’s agenda would look like if equal political participation was a reality.
Report
In addition to providing an opportunity for Lithuanian women to come together and talk about common issues, the project has also been active on the political level. The Center for Gender Equality drafted a response to the UN Committee on Elimination of Discrimination of Women, focusing on advocacy skills and other competences relevant for Lithuanian NGOs.
The project also took action on the domestic arena, drafting up comprehensive recommendations on how to strengthen women’s rights in Lithuania. At the present stage, these recommendations are being spread throughout the country through a public awareness campaign. At the same time, round table discussion are being held to discuss possible ways of encouraging politicians not to forget issues that are important to women.
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Click here to download our brochure Violence against women Our Response