MWIA Representative to the European Women’s Lobby – Report July– September 2022

The EWL Executive Committee met in person on 8-10 September 2022 in Brussels after a whole year of online meetings. We were thus able to discuss many important items in depth and we are looking forward to a very active and exciting fall.

The various EWL working groups as well as EWL staff have done a lot of work on many important issues, such as the proposed Directive on Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (which is included in my Exco portfolio) and the Care Strategy (Figure 2). For more information, please see EWL´s Press release under the following link: https://womenlobby.org/The-European-Women-s-Lobby-welcomes-the-European-Care-Strategy-a-stepping-stone?lang=en.

The main ExCo decisions are presented briefly here:

  • The outcomes of the 2021 and 2022 thematic groups on improving EWL’s outreach and engagement were discussed and the many suggestions from members were incorporated into our priorities.
  • A new working group on women’s human rights will be formed.
  • As new Belgian legislation requires EWL to amend its statutes by June 2023, the work of the Statute Review Committee will be supported by member engagement through webinars and other forms of information sharing.
  • A blog by the EWL President is now being launched to engage more frequently with members.
  • A webinar on CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women) will be held in early 2023 to provide a good overview of the Convention as the main human rights document for women that guides EWL’s work.
  • Last but not least, next steps were discussed to reach out to potential Ukrainian and Moldovan organizations with the long-term goal of enabling EWL membership. The work is led by the EWL Membership Committee chaired by Prof. Dr. Dr. Bettina Pfleiderer.

EWL president Réka Sáfrány (left) and MWIA Rep to the EWL Prof. Bettina Pfleiderer (right) in Brussels at the last Exco meeting in September.

Fig. 1: EWL president Réka Sáfrány (left) and MWIA Rep to the EWL Prof. Bettina Pfleiderer (right) in Brussels at the last Exco meeting in September.


EWL welcomes the European Care Strategy. The quote of EWL president Réka Sáfrány captures the essence of the care strategy well: 2 “….care is on the European political agenda, embedded in a gender equality framework, as it acknowledges the overwhelming role of women in providing both paid and unpaid care, which impacts their own economic independence and participation in all aspects of life.

Fig. 2: EWL welcomes the European Care Strategy. The quote of EWL president Réka Sáfrány captures the essence of the care strategy well: 2 “….care is on the European political agenda, embedded in a gender equality framework, as it acknowledges the overwhelming role of women in providing both paid and unpaid care, which impacts their own economic independence and participation in all aspects of life.