MOSAIC - The training kit for Euro-Mediterranean youth work

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expansion and improvement in education opportunities for girls and women, along
with political pluralism and participation, particularly for women and young people,
through active promotion of a fair and competitive political environment, including
fair and free elections, and increased participation of women in decision making in
political, social, cultural and economic positions.
Starting with the Barcelona +10 Euro-Med Women’s Conference held in 2005, a series
of meetings on “strengthening the role of women in society” were held to strengthen
women’s roles in political, civil, social, economic and cultural spheres, and to fight
discrimination. Its conclusions recognised that “the International Covenants on Human
Rights include the obligation to ensure the equal rights of men and women to enjoy
all economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights” and stated that “the Euro-
Mediterranean partners will embrace a holistic approach based on the following
interdependent and interlinked priorities”: 90
women’s political and civil rights;
women’s social and economic rights and sustainable development;
women’s rights in the cultural sphere and the role of communications and the
mass media.
Regarding Euro-Mediterranean youth work, one of the thematic priorities of the Euro-
Mediterranean Youth Programme at all its different phases has been to foster gender
equality in all actions, especially to ensure that opportunities for active citizenship are
equally available to young men and women. The programme has paid special attention
to supporting youth projects that tackle the role of women in Euro-Mediterranean
societies and to increasing the skills and competences of youth leaders, youth workers
and trainers in the field of gender equality. Besides giving a thematic priority to young
women’s status in society and to gender equality, implementation of the programme
is also designed to ensure balanced participation of young women and men in the
individual youth projects and in the teams of trainers.
6.5 The Euro-Mediterranean context:
issues and challenges of gender (in)equality
and women’s rights
Gender inequality is a horizontal issue, experienced in every aspect of life. It is not
specific to any region or country, but a global problem for women of all countries,
with varying impact on women’s lives. In addition, the needs of different groups of
women sometimes show similarities between countries and sometimes vary considerably
even within the same region or country. For example, poor women may be
more concerned with easier access to the labour market and childcare benefits, while
better-off women may be more concerned with expanding the grounds for divorce
and increasing their autonomy vis-à-vis forms of male dominance. 91 In contrast, migrant
women in different countries may experience similar problems in their lives.
This fact is often not taken into account, even in multifaceted approaches to women’s
rights.
Women’s rights are often guaranteed by the constitution of their country. However,
these guarantees do not always translate into women realising their full civic, legal,
and political rights because they often suffer from implementation gaps. Those rights
are not accompanied by substantive socio-economic measures that allow all women
Themes