European Women's Lobby
The European Women's Lobby (EFL); in English: European Women's Lobby (EWL); in French Lobby Européen des Femmes (LEF), is an international lobbying organization for the interests of women operating at European level . She enjoys advisory status in the Council of Europe and the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations , as well as observer status in the Advisory Committee on Equal Opportunities at the European Commission .
History and goals
Various thought leaders had advocated the establishment of a women's lobby at the European level, and from 1982 conferences were held by the member states of the EEC, at which first there was a confrontation between feminists , traditional women's organizations and representatives of state institutions. Prominent figures from the founding phase included Fausta Deshormes and Hilde Albertini (Information Service for Women's Issues), Odile Quitin (Directorate General V of the European Commission), Liliana Richetta, Helga Thieme, Jacqueline de Groote. On the part of the German Women's Council , Irmgard Blättel and Marlies Kutsch were involved in the project. The establishment of the EFL was decided in 1987 at a conference in London and implemented in the following years until 1990. The set goal was the participation of women and the consideration of their interests in political decisions (legislative or administrative) at the European level, which affect the internal market or social life. The EFL is supposed to act as a point of contact between citizens and EU institutions and at the same time exercise a control function vis-à-vis the institutions. Conversely, the EFL should also inform its member associations about upcoming decision-making processes.
The priority goals of this safeguarding of interests include the promotion of gender mainstreaming , gender equality , human rights of women and the fight against sexist discrimination . In addition to parliamentary lobbying, the EFL also organizes public campaigns.
The EFL is funded by the European Commission, which has financed a secretariat in Brussels for the new organization since 1990. In 1990, when it was founded , there were 12 national umbrella organizations and 17 non-governmental organizations operating across Europe that were founding members of the EFL.
Members
There are currently 19 international and 31 national associations among the institutional members of the EFL, both from member states of the European Union and from candidate countries. These umbrella organizations in turn organize a total of more than 2500 women's organizations. In several EU countries there was no common umbrella organization that was allowed to represent the common interests of national women's associations, which is why coordination bodies were set up for national cooperation that could perform such a task.
Another 10 mostly national women's associations are counted as supporting members, since they are neither the national umbrella organization of a country nor are they active in a sufficient number of member states in the EU.
| Name of the association | nationality | represented associations / clubs | Founded | Membership since |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avrupa Kadın Lobisi Türkiye Koordinasyonu (Turkish Coordination Office for the EFL) | Turkey | 1997 | ||
| Belgian coordination point for the EFL | Belgium | 2 parts of the country ( Conseil Des Femmes Francophones de Belgique and Nederlandstalige Vrouwenraad ), with respective member associations | 1974 | 1990 |
| Bulgarian coordination office for the EFL | Bulgaria | not yet a closed umbrella organization | 2005 | 2005 |
| Business and Professional Women Europe | multinational | European branch of the global network | 1930 | |
| BUPL (Danish Union for Early Childhood Educators) | Denmark | supporting member | 1973 | - |
| CESI (European Union of Independent Trade Unions) | multinational | 22 trade union federations | 1990 | |
| Česká ženská lobby (Czech women's lobby) | Czech Republic | 32 associations | 2001 | 2005 |
| CLEF (French coordination office for the EFL) | France | 75 associations, not a closed umbrella organization | 1991 | 1990 |
| Conseil National des Femmes du Luxembourg (National Council of Women of Luxembourg) | Luxembourg | 12 associations | 1975 | 1990 |
| Coordinadora Española para el Lobby europeo de Mujeres (Spanish coordination office for the EFL) | Spain | 15 associations | 2016 | 1990 |
| Coordinamento Italiano della Lobby Europea delle Donne (Italian coordination office for the EFL) | Italy | 16 associations | 1994 | 1990 |
| COPA-COGECA (European Farmers Association and Association of European Agricultural Cooperatives) | multinational | represented by its Women's Committee | 1958 | |
| Cyprus Women's Lobby (Το Κυπριακό Λόμπυ Γυναικών) | Cyprus | 16 associations | 2008 | 2008 |
| German Women's Council | Germany | 56 associations | 1969 | 1990 |
| Eesti Naisteühenduste Ümarlaud (Round Table of Estonian Women's Societies) | Estonia | 55 associations | 2003 | 2003 |
| ECICW (European Center of the International Women's Council ) | multinational | 22 umbrella organizations (including: Deutscher Frauenring , Bund Österreichischer Frauenvereine , Alliance F ) | 1961 | 1990 |
| ECWF (European Council of WIZO Federations) | multinational | 1994 | 1994 | |
| European Blind Union (European Blind Union) | multinational | supporting member | 1984 | - |
| EDF (European Disability Forum) | multinational | 29 national umbrella organizations, 25 Europe-wide associations | 1996 | 1996 |
| ENoMW (European network of women with a migration background) | multinational | > 40 national associations | 2012 | |
| ETUC ( European Trade Union Confederation ) | multinational | 99 member associations | 1973 | 1990 |
| FEFAF (Fédération Européenne des femmes Actives en Familles; German for example: European Federation of Parents at Home) | multinational | 14 national associations | 1983 | |
| Federation of Romani and Traveler Women | multinational | |||
| Femmes en Détresse (Women in Need) | Luxembourg | supporting member | 1979 | - |
| Fraen an Gender - Center de Information et de Documentation Femmes (Center for Women's Information and Documentation) | Luxembourg | supporting member | 1992 | - |
| Greek coordination office of women's NGOs for the EFL (ΕΥΡΩΠΑΪΚΟ ΛΟΜΠΥ ΓΥΝΑΙΚΩΝ) | Greece | > 50 associations | 1990 | 1990 |
| Institute for Gender Studies | Malta | supporting member | 1981 | - |
| International Alliance of Women | multinational | > 50 organizations | 1904 | 1990 |
| International Council of Jewish Women (International Jewish Women's Council) | multinational | 1912 | 1990 | |
| International Federation of Women in Legal Careers | multinational | 1928 | ||
| Latvijas Sieviesu Organizaciju Sadarbibas tikls (Cooperation Network of Latvian Women's Organizations) | Latvia | 37 associations and 7,000 private members | 2003 | 2003 |
| Lietuvos Moterų Lobistinė Organizacija (Lithuanian Women's Lobby Organization) | Lithuania | |||
| Kvinderaadet (Women's Council) | Denmark | 45 associations (represents> 1 million members) | 1899 | 1990 |
| Magyar Nöi Erdekérvényesitö Szövetség (Hungarian Alliance of Women's Associations) | Hungary | 19 associations | 2003 | 2003 |
| Malta Confederation of Women's Organizations (Maltese Confederation of Women's Organizations) | Malta | |||
| Macedonian women's lobby (Македонското женско лоби) | Macedonia | 2001 | 2001 | |
| Medical Women's International Association (Weltärztinnenbund) | multinational | 1919 | ||
| Mreza za Evropski Zenski Lobi (Serbian network for the EFL) | Serbia | 2009 | 2013 | |
| National Council of Women of Malta | Malta | supporting member | 1964 | - |
| National Women's Council of Ireland | Ireland | > 170 associations | 1973 | 1990 |
| Nederlandse Vrouwen Raad (Dutch Women's Council) | Netherlands | > 50 associations (represents> 1 million members) | 1898 | 1990 |
| Network of East-West Women Polska (Network of West-East Women, Poland) | Poland | 9 associations | 1991 | 2003 |
| Nytkis (Coalition of Finnish Women's Societies) | Finland | 11 associations (8 party-affiliated and 3 university) | 1988 | |
| Austrian Women's Ring (ÖFR) | Austria | > 40 associations (from parties, professions, trade unions, churches, independents:> 1 million members) | 1969 | |
| Plataforma Portuguesa para os Direitos das Mulheres (Portuguese Platform for Women's Rights) | Portugal | 18 associations | 2004 | 1990 |
| Romanian Women's Lobby | Romania | 2007 | 2007 | |
| Soroptimist International of Belgium | Belgium | supporting member | 1939 | - |
| Soroptimist International of Europe | multinational | 1924 | ||
| SOS sexism | France | supporting member | - | |
| Sveriges Kvinnolobby (Swedish women's lobby) | Sweden | 49 associations | 1997 | 1997 |
| Terre des Femmes | Germany | supporting member | 1981 | - |
| UK Joint Committee on Women | United Kingdom | 4 parts of the country ( National Alliance of Women's Organizations ; Northern Ireland Women's European Platform ; Engender ; Women's Equality Network Wales ), respective member associations | differently | 1990 |
| University Women of Europe | multinational | 1981 | 1990 | |
| WOCAD - Women's organizations committee on Alcohol and Drug Issues (Committee of women's organizations against alcohol and drug problems) | Sweden | supporting member | 1943 | - |
| Women's International League for Peace and Freedom | multinational | 1919 | ||
| World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts | multinational | 62 scout associations from 39 EU countries | 1928 | 1990 |
| European YWCA | multinational | 24 national YWCA associations | 1990 | |
| Ženská Loby Slovenska (Slovak Women's Lobby) | Slovakia | 27 associations | ||
| Ženska mreža Hrvatske (Croatian Women's Network) | Croatia | 39 associations (represented by five regions) | 1996 | |
| Ženski lobi Slovenije (Slovenian Women's Lobby) | Slovenia | 8 associations | 2006 | 2009 |
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Angela Icken: The German Women's Council. Established women's association work in times of social change . Springer-Verlag, 2013, ISBN 978-366-30959-65 digitized
- ↑ EFL website: Herstory (25 years of European Women's Lobby)
- ↑ a b G. Abels: European Women's Lobby (EFL) . In: Das Europalexikon, 2., actual. Aufl. Bonn: Dietz 2013. Quoted by bpb .