The turn of the century with its hopes for a better future for all has come and gone. What hopes for women though, who were the protagonists in the fight for freedom in the Mediterranean region. In most of the countries of this region they are in the news as refugees in camps such as Lebanon and Jordan. Once there, they are forced into temporary marriage only to be abandoned after a few weeks, or, as teenagers, sent to the front to satisfy the needs of soldiers in Syria, or worse still, trafficked for sexual exploitation. Extremists groups are once again forcing genital mutilation and this horrible tradition is also being revived in Europe.
And what about us Europeans, the new Parliament and Commission - maternity leave will remain on the back-burner together with equal pay and women in economic decision-making -" women simply do not have the time", they say!
Yet SMEs run by women are flourishing, theirs are the least failing companies, theirs are the ones that are thriving in spite of the lack of real access to finance for start-ups and follow-ups. How do these dilemmas for women figure out in the Juncker Commission's priorities for the next five years?
When it comes to the everyday life in Malta or any other EU country, balancing family/work responsibilities for both men and women is still a mirage; grandparents are becoming less and less available, and women have to employ carers to look after their elderly relatives or children unless they give up their well-paid or not-so-well-paid job to do it themselves!
Regulating the employment of carers to ensure that their rights too are safeguarded is still a long way off; training to carry out duties in the home for families is still the exception and undeclared work is still predominantly female.
Not everything is doom and gloom though; there are more female students at University, albeit not many of them are following Technology, ICT, Mathematics, Physics, Life Sciences courses where specialization can lead them to well-paid careers. What measures are being taken to address this inequality?
We are proud that MCAST has achieved milestones in vocational education and training opening up new innovative areas for students to develop their ideas into careers not least through on-the-job training, apprenticeship schemes, and job shadowing for students with disability among others. But what are the incentives to ensure that the percentages of female students that take up these initiatives is on the rise.
And by the way, more women are in voluntary work than men, so we should be proud of our women; we also should be proud of the families whose budgeting is done by women, who are also the carers of our environment. Over the years, women have always thrived to give to others rather than improve their situation - to ensure a decent life in retirement!
The National Council of Women has, for over 50 years, been challenging inequality in all spheres of life, moving with the times and more recently through its initiatives, not least in educating women and men though Lifelong Learning programmes at NCW Centre in Blata l-Bajda, our beehive of activity. The Council is attracting young women from different walks of life and we need them to be able to understand better and address the needs of young people today. We are very much aware that there is nothing worse than stereotyping young people who need to be listened to and to be able to share their vision for their life today and beyond
Our message to all girls and women is that whatever their future prospects, they are to take up the challenges of life with confidence, without waiting for others to do it for them, and to be able to say in not so distant a future "I did it my way."
Mary Gaerty
President
National Council of Women