International Women's Day Debate - South Wales
Ten women from a variety of organisations and job roles were invited to join Katy Chamberlain, Chwarae Teg's Chief Executive at Cardiff Library on Tuesday 9 March 2010 to take part in the first of Chwarae Teg's International Women's Day debates.
Agreed Statement
The lively discussion kicked off by reflecting on how women today participate in the economy in comparison with their mothers. It was agreed that things have changed but that change has taken a huge effort and if the effort is not maintained things will slip back; it was also felt that sometimes it seems as though employers have learned nothing in the last 30 years. There was a great deal of empathy with the idea that women don't want to have to be ‘superwoman' any longer because that's not equality, however there was also a feeling that men now want something different from family life and that will help women to better balance work and life responsibility in the future. It was agreed that it is vital to demonstrate the economic argument in support of what's fair and right but that businesses need to accept that people have and will continue to have children and caring responsibilities.
Finally, one participant made the following closing comment
"Chwarae Teg should be congratulated for running events like this ... they make Chwarae Teg very accessible and demonstrate its positive focus on important issues, of which you should be proud".
International Women's Day Debate - West Wales
The second of Chwarae Teg's International Women's day Debates was kindly hosted by Antur Teifi in Newcastle Emlyn on March 10 2010.
The debate was facilitated by Beverley Pold, Policy and Business Development Manager at Chwarae Teg.
Agreed Statement
Women living, and working, in rural areas face additional challenges in a rapidly changing environment. Transport, ICT infrastructure, lower pay and paucity of opportunity present real problems, but women are resourceful and are the catalyst for economic stability and future prosperity.
"Women have power but don't realise it" - we must dispense with subservience, provide our young women and girls with inspiration and aspiration to believe that they can do whatever they choose. Every woman has a role to play - from grandparents providing family support, women creating opportunities for other women, the value of the language and culture and community engagement, to influencing career choices whether academic or vocational.
With a collective voice, women can make a real difference - the secret is to harness the enthusiasm generated during our International Women's Day celebrations to begin this new decade with a renewed vision of confidence in all we do.
International Women's Day Debate - North Wales
The final debate to celebrate International Women's day was held on Thursday 11 March at the Chwarae Teg Agile Nation office, Colwyn Bay. Chwarae Teg's Chief Executive, Katy Chamberlain, facilitated on the day.
Agreed Statements
- We would like to see organisations concentrate more on "equality" rather than "minority"
- There has already been much positive change: When our mothers were our age, they had far fewer options and very few support systems. We have more intellectual and practical freedom.
- There needs to be respect for everyone doing a good job, regardless of what the job is or the person doing it - if we could make this a reality, converting it into reward would become less of a challenge.
- "Mainstreaming" is perceived as having "sorted" the gender issue, but how well is it understood and implemented - Not well!
- Imagine gender equality in the workplace as a tree with roots, a trunk and branches - individuals and organisations spend some time on the branches, but not enough on the roots or the trunk.
- Nowadays organisationshave an environmental conscience and an acceptance of the related cost - we need to see a similar conscience and acceptance on equality matters.
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