Highlights from the second day; Reconstruction and reorganization

Speakers at the WIDE conference expressed their views on the challenges facing Europe and the consequences of the financial crisis. The crisis is said to effect what is generally referred to as 'the real economy'. As such, the crisis represents a great opportunity to prove that the current system cannot continue and needs to be rebuilt.

By Isabelle Gentilhomme

According to Kinga Lohmann European feminists need to strengthen cooperation among EU countries to ensure that funds will be provided by institutions in order to reach equality at the European level. Therefore the issue of funding has to be placed at the forefront of organizations’ agendas.

Sonja Lokar of the CEE pointed out the fact that women’s empowerment in Europe will be reached only with the work done primarily by feminist organizations, especially in the eastern part of Europe, where they are very active and efficient. We cannot count on the EU, and especially not on the European Commission, to improve the conditions of women in the new member states because it misuses its possibilities to enlarge in order to sponsor neo-liberal policies.

Ruth Pearson spoke of the feminization of labour that is occurring in the world, and urged feminists to promote issues raised by this feminization of labour in different contexts (geographical, political and sectoral) so that women do not have to pay the price of flexi-security.

Dot Keet of the AIDC pointed out in yesterday’s discussion that the European Commission is led by corporate interests. Thus, European policies are shaped by trade interests rather than by human ones. While the EU is speaking about failure in trade agreements, we at WIDE should speak about success. Success in the resistance to governments who face the threat of having their aid cut. In fact, in order to freely access their markets, the EU is putting conditions on the aid they offer. From this point of view, aid is not a self-evident ‘good’ since it is creating financial dependency and then decreases bargaining power. The EU is acting as a dictator which forces countries to open their barriers, while turning Europe into a ‘fortress’.

Brid Brennan from the TNI talked about the ‘Return Directive’, or so-called ‘Shame Directive’ by civil societies, adopted by the European Parliament this last summer. She identifies migration as a very challenging issue for the EU, which also has to do with human rights. These rights are seriously threatened by some practices which worsen the tensions that can appear between communities. This is well illustrated by what is happening in Italy with Roma people, or with the numerous deaths that are happening in some detentions camps for illegal migrants. The main problem is that ‘state violence’ is not considered illegal.

But this is just one side of the picture. We have extraordinary movements in the EU protesting against these practices, especially among migrant community themselves. There protests are very active and vibrant. We should strengthen these actions within the EU and all around the world to address policies with a human rights approach, including gender equality. We need to raise awareness about the fact that statements made by institutions about the supposed health of the global system, are in fact not true. This system is sick and it needs urgent rethinking in cooperation with all the involved stakeholders to reconstruct a more equitable world.


This article was published in Daily News 11-10-2008