14/09/2010 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
José Mendes Bota (Portugal, EPP/CD), Chair of the PACE Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, recalled today that the suspension of the stoning of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, sentenced to death for adultery, was a step forward but a far-from-adequate measure, which merely postponed execution of the sentence.
13/09/2010 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
“The Assembly will organise a conference on 3 December in Paris, aimed at strengthening co-operation between international parliamentary assemblies involved in action against trafficking in human beings,” today announced Doris Stump (Switzerland, SOC) at a debate in Strasbourg on partnerships among parliaments, intergovernmental organisations and NGO’s active in this field.
08/09/2010 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
Why are there so few women in economic and social decision-making bodies? This question will be the subject of a hearing held in Paris on Friday 10 September by the PACE Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men as part of the preparation of the report by Gisèle Gautier (France, EPP/CD) on this issue.
27/07/2010 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
“National parliaments are key players in promoting gender equality. Progress has been made, but much remains to be done. It is time to bridge the gap between de jure and de facto equality. Drafting and adopting laws is not enough. Parliamentarians should also be accountable for the implementation of the laws and responsible for controlling the effective implementation of the laws”, José Mendes Bota, Chairperson of PACE’s Committee on equal opportunities, today said in Beirut addressing the Regional Workshop for Arab Parliaments organised by the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, the IPU, the Lebanese Parliament and the UNDP.
14/07/2010 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
Evoking the drafting of the future EU directive on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings, José Mendes Bota (Portugal, EPP/CD), Chairperson of the PACE Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, today expressed his concern “regarding duplication of Council of Europe and the European Union’s work, and a possible proliferation of monitoring processes”, while addressing the EP Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality in Brussels.
10/06/2010 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
“The Parliamentary Assembly strongly encourages the European Union to accede to the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings as soon as possible, so that the same standards can be applied here throughout Europe, including the European Union,” said Lydie Err (Luxembourg, SOC) in Brussels today at a seminar on combating and preventing trafficking in human beings held by the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality and the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs of the European Parliament.
27/05/2010 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
Many elderly women are poor because they have no pension or their pension is insufficient, PACE’s Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men warned today. Also, traditional pension systems favour the linear career paths of men and are disconnected from the realities of present-day society. Adopting a report by Anna Curdová (Czech Republic, SOC), the committee called for “fair and equitable pensions offering every man and woman a reasonable standard of living”.
26/05/2010 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
"Our meeting was the trigger needed for the parliament of Azerbaijan to take an important step towards a law against domestic violence that should hopefully be adopted before the summer, and could be then submitted to the Venice Commission for an opinion," said José Mendes Bota, Chairperson of the PACE Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, at the end of the 7th Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Equality.
26/05/2010 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
The Equal Opportunities Committee will hold an exchange of views on 'Islam, Islamism and Islamophobia' on Thursday 27 May in Paris, in order to prepare an opinion on this topic. Participants include Sociologist Neslihan Akbulut from Turkey, Jill Marshall who is a senior lecturer at the University of London in the United Kingdom, and André Gerin, a French deputy who has prepared an information report on the wearing of the full veil in France.
25/05/2010 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
"National parliaments are key players to promote gender equalities - and synergies with governments are needed. It is time indeed to bridge the gap between de jure and de facto equality. Drafting and adopting laws is not enough", today said in Baku José Mendes Bota, Chairperson of the PACE Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, adressing the 7th Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Equality between Women and Men.
21/05/2010 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
Alongside the 7th Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Equality between Women and Men (Baku, 24-25 May), a PACE delegation of the Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men headed by its Chairman, José Mendes Bota (Portugal, EPP/CD) will hold bilateral exchanges of views on women’s place in political life and prevention of violence against women.
26/03/2010 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
"Rural development, sustainable agriculture, food security, environment and the protection of cultural heritage cannot be achieved through efforts that ignore or exclude more than half of the rural population - women," participants agreed at a hearing on “the real situation of rural women in Europe", organised by PACE Equality Committee in Paris.