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Equality Today | Issue 34 | Summer 2023
Check in this issue:
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Equinet continues its work on the two European Commission’s proposals for Directives on standards for Equality Bodies. Below is a summary of the latest updates:
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Changes in the Communication & Membership Team
After 8 ½ years at Equinet, Sarah Cooke O'Dowd (Head of Communication and Membership) left the Secretariat at the end of June for a new opportunity.
“Getting to meet staff members of Equality Bodies, and discover the professionalism & care with which they carry out their work, has been the highlight of my time in Equinet! Thank you all for your engagement and dedication to promoting equality across Europe, and I look forward to reconnecting with the Network in my new position as the Brussels-based Stakeholder Officer of the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE)."
We wish her all the best in this new position, and look forward to strengthening the links with EIGE, an important partner organisation!
Teresa Pedreira will take over as Communication and Membership Manager, with Chiara D’Agni completing the team as Communication Officer. Congratulations to both of them!
Call for Applications: Communication Trainee
The Equinet Secretariat is seeking a Communication Trainee to join our team from September 2023. This is a paid full-time and six-month-long traineeship position, where the trainee can learn all about equality and Equality Bodies, and further develop their communication skills. The deadline for applications is 14 July at 23:59 CET.
Are you interested, or do you know someone who might be? Apply now or share this vacancy with your network!
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The European Parliament Adopts its Position on the EU AI Act
On 14 June, within its plenary session in Strasbourg, the European Parliament adopted its negotiating position on the Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act), with 499 votes in favor, 28 against and 93 abstentions. This legislation would ensure, through a risk-based approach, that Artificial Intelligence developed and deployed in Europe is in line with EU rights and values, including transparency, safety, human rights, and equality. Now the European Parliament is negotiating with the Council for the adoption of the Act.
AI Act Ensuring Equality in Europe: Our Recommendations
Equinet continues its work to strengthen the protection of fundamental rights and non-discrimination in the context of Artificial Intelligence in Europe. In our latest website article, we present a set of proposed recommendations and amendments to the AI Act, which would ensure an equality-compliant use of artificial intelligence technologies.
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Learning Materials: Seminar on the Work-Life Balance Directive
In June, in the framework of the EU Care Strategy package, Equinet and the European Commission held a Seminar on the Work-Life Balance Directive to support Equality Bodies in building their capacity on the implementation and impact of the Directive, with emphasis on the discrimination of working parents, the potential and the challenges of Work-Life Balance for gender equality, and on the collaboration with other key actors, such as labour inspectorates and trade unions.
Did you miss the Seminar and want to learn more about the Work-Life Balance Directive & the role of Equality Bodies? Check the resources on our website!
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The European Cancer Pulse: Data Visualisation on Cancer Inequalities in Europe
The European Cancer Pulse is a data visualisation tool developed by the European Cancer Organisation, which gathers the currently fragmented data on cancer inequalities in Europe in a single easy-to-navigate and accessible platform, aimed at policymakers, health professionals, patients and everyone interested in getting informed on the topic. The tool aims to gather data across all remits of cancer care and social inequalities in care affecting marginalised communities such as racialised people, the LGBTQI+ community, refugees, currently homeless people and others.
Given the fragmentation of the data, the European Cancer Organisation is looking for submissions of data in this topic from organisations, researchers, and healthcare providers. To submit or know more, please contact: norbert.couespel@europeancancer.org.
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The Ombudsman for Equality (Finland): Annual Report
The Ombudsman for Equality in Finland has recently published its annual report, highlighting its work on monitoring prohibitions of discrimination and promoting equality in the country.
Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson of the Republic of Lithuania: Annual Report
The 2022 annual report for the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson, recently published in English, provides an overview of the equal opportunities situation in Lithuania and the results of the office's work. The report features recent amendments to the national Law on Equal Treatment, which strength the country’s protection against discrimination.
Fundamental Rights Report 2023
The annual report by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) reviews the major developments concerning fundamental rights in 2022. The report zooms in on a variety of areas: fundamental rights implications for the EU of the War in Ukraine; implementation and use of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights at the national level; equality and non-discrimination; racism, xenophobia and related intolerance; Roma equality and inclusion; asylum, borders, visas, migration and integration; information society, privacy and data protection; rights of the child; access to justice – victims’ rights and judicial independence; and developments in the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
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Let’s Get Loud! The FRA’s EU LGBTIQ Survey is Online
The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) launched their third EU-wide LGBTIQ survey, aiming at assessing the status of LGBTIQ equality in Europe and capturing the lived experiences of LGBTIQ people aged 15 or older in 30 countries: the 27 EU Member States plus Albania, North Macedonia, and Serbia. The survey closes at the end of July.
Share the survey with your network and on your platforms!.
Call for Inputs: Mid-Term Review of the LGBTIQ Equality Strategy (2020-2025)
The European Commission has launched a questionnaire for civil society and all relevant stakeholders to gather their input on the current situation of LGBTIQ people in the Europe and the state of implementation of the LGBTIQ Equality Strategy, with a special focus on intersectionality, mainstreaming, and supporting Member States. The deadline for submitting your answers to the questionnaire is 17 July.
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Cultivating Inclusion through EU Film Funding
In this piece published on Social Europe, Antoine Fobe, Head of Advocacy and Campaign of Euroblind, discusses how EU film funding should promote the use of audio description and audio subtitling to make movies accessible to blind and partially sighted persons.
AccessibleEU is Online!
On 4 July, the European Accessibility Resource Center, better known as AccessibleEU, was officially launched at the European Economic and Social Committee, in Brussels. This initiative is aimed to offer expertise and capacity building to a range of actors including policy makers, legislators and representatives of accessibility beneficiaries.
EBU in Action: The Latest Podcast Episode focuses on Artificial Intelligence
In the new episode of the “EBU in action” podcast, you can listen to a discussion on the challenges and opportunities of artificial intelligence for persons with visual impairments with Jude Stern, Head of Knowledge Management at the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB), and Kave Noori, Artificial Intelligence Policy Officer at the European Disability Forum (EDF). During the episode, Anđela Dragović also explains the situation of blind and partially sighted people in Montenegro.
Persons with Disabilities and the Hugely Consequential Debate on AI Regulation
At the 16th session of the Conference of State Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the UN Special Rapporteur Prof. Gerard Quinn addressed the implications of the ongoing Artificial Intelligence revolution for persons with disabilities and encouraged the disability rights community to participate in the discussions on AI regulations. Read Gerard Quinn’s opening remarks and watch the recording!
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