Equality of women and men is a fundamental right and an essential democratic value. Moreover, it is a necessary condition for the achievement of the EU objectives of growth, employment and social cohesion. Legal recognition is, however, not enough. This right needs to be effectively applied to all aspects of life: political, economic, social and cultural. Meanwhile, equality of women and men in daily life is still not a reality. Salary disparities, political under-representation, gender stereotypes, to list only a few existing problems, show that the road from the theory to practice is long and winding.

The European Charter for Equality of Women and Men in Local Life launched in May 2006 by the Council of European Municipalities and Regions states that if we are to achieve a society based on equality, it is essential that local and regional governments take the gender dimension fully into account, in their policies, their organization and their practices. Local and regional authorities have been recognized as the most appropriate levels to combat the persistence and the reproduction of inequalities, and to promote a truly egalitarian society. They can, through their competences, and through co-operation with the whole range of local actors, undertake concrete actions in favour of equality of women and men.

The next Baltic Cities Bulletin will be entitled: 

Gender equality in the Baltic Sea cities

The Editorial Board invites you to write on your city's development projects taking into account a gender perspective. You are most welcome to present city's best practices with gender equality in some specific areas, e.g. at schools, work places, town planning, etc. What has your city undertaken to ensure that the parents can easily combine work and family life? Did your city sign the CEMR Declaration of Equality between Women and Men? What progress has been made? What have been the advantages and the success of signing the declaration?

The UBC Commission on Gender Equality published and distributed a report entitled "Women and men in the Union of the Baltic Cities" in 2009. Was it useful for your city?

We would be grateful for articles describing some interesting gender equality projects in your city. Also, any new ideas on how to create a gender equal city and society would be especially appreciated.

As usual, apart from the main theme, we are looking forward to receiving stories on interesting events and daily life news from our member cities. Those articles are published in the chapter "News from Member Cities". The UBC Commissions are welcome to inform about their events, meetings and projects in the chapter "UBC Today".

Please follow these guidelines when submitting your story: 

• Deliver the story by e-mail to: anna.dargiewicz@gdansk.gda.pl in MS WORD format. Please remember to kill the viruses before sending it. Please expect confirmation of reception. Lack of confirmation means that the message is not delivered.
• Each member city may submit two articles - one related to the cover theme and one to the chapter "News from Member Cities". All stories shall be sent in English.
• Each article may have max 400 words, no more than 1 page A4, font TimesNewRoman 12pt. The editorial board sometimes needs to shorten the stories in order to include more stories into the Bulletin. It is also important to include the author's name and contact details for any follow-up questions related to the story.
• Please make all efforts to include a smashing photo or a digital picture to illustrate the article (JPG format, min. 300 ppi, one e-mail - one picture, the file should not exceed 3 MB). Remember to send us also the coat of arms of your city, if you have not sent it earlier.
• The deadline for stories to the Bulletin is 27 September 2010. Please respect this timetable as we are unable to print out stories received after this deadline.

All the material should be sent directly to the UBC Secretariat in Gdansk. If you have interesting issues to report, please do not hesitate to send them. 

The bulletin is distributed in 6000 copies all around the Baltic Sea Region to over 200 Baltic cities and numerous key organizations and institutions, including the EU.

Looking forward to your reply,  

Paweł Żaboklicki

UBC Secretary General

•  Call for stories (280.65 KB)