The Executive Board meeting in Kemi, Finland decided that the Gender Equality Commission is to be re-organized as a working group connected to the Executive Board.

The City of Umeå has agreed to (initially) organize the gender equality working group and the re-organisation has two reasons:

- To further and develop the work with GE in the UBC

- To strengthen the work GE in the new structure of the commissions

Being a part of the working group on gender equality means being able to take part of best practice from different cities in the field of gender equality, sharing and developing new knowledge on gender equality and access to a network of cities.

The cities previously involved in the Gender equality commission will continue to take part in the working group and they invite all cities in the UBC network to take an active part in the important work on forwarding the work with gender equality in the Baltic sea region!

The gender equality working group can function as a referral organisation for strategies etc. concerning gender equality in the EU and also serve as a possible project partner for gender equality – projects in the Baltic sea region and Europe. Previous work in the gender equality commission includes seminars on gender budgeting, men’s violence to women, prostitution and human trafficking. The commission has also had meetings with the European institute on gender equality (EIGE)

The GEWG will:

- Have an action plan to develop knowledge and further the work with Gender equality in the cities involved in the UBC.

- Work towards getting more cities to sign the European Charter for equality of women and men in local life (http://www.ccre.org/img/uploads/piecesjointe/filename/charte_egalite_en.pdf)

The structure of the working group will be decided by the members and the GEWG will report to the Executive Board of the UBC.

The currently active cities: Umeå, Helsinki, Gdańsk, Kristiansand, Panevėžys

The first meeting with the gender equality working group will be at the General Conference in Gdynia, in October 2015.

More information:

• Linda Gustafsson, Gender equality officer, linda.gustafsson@umea.se