European Database: Women in Decision-making | Gender Mainstreaming Greece

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Gender Mainstreaming

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[ European Commission, DG V ]

Gender Mainstreaming Strategies in Greece

1. Action Plans for Gender Mainstreaming

Did national, regional and/or local governments in your country launch a plan aiming to implement equal opportunities for women and men in all fields of policy while at the same time ensuring that persisting gender gaps are being addressed by positive action?

If so, please indicate:

Official name of plan in original language	ETHNIKO PROGRAMMA DRASSIS GIA TIN ISOTITA TON FILON (2001-2006) (NATIONAL ACTION PLAN FOR GENDER EQUALITY 2001-2006)
Date when plan was presented and launched	March 8, 2001
Essential objectives and features	Basic and central target of the National Action Plan for Gender Equality is the modernisation of the social model. It aims at utilising all human resources, independently of gender, and the abolition of all forms of discrimination against women.
Strategic targets	Promotion of equality between men and women in economic life (actions in the sectors of employment, information society, vocational training, promotion of women's enterpreneurship, of equal pay and harmonisation of professional and family obligations). Promotion of equal participation and representation in the political social and economic sectors (legal regulations institutionalising quotas, actions aiming at promoting women in decision taking in the economic and political fields, the leading boards in the public and private sector, trade union committees and professional agencies). Promotion of equal access and of equal application of social rights for men and women (actions and steps in the legal framework for the completion of Greek legislation or its harmonisation with community legislation, but also in sectors of quality of life like health, welfare and social infrastructure, environment, violence against women and trafficking. Special and integral actions for sensitive groups of women socially excluded. Basic action of this target is the application of legislation, the information and awareness raising of the citizens). Promotion of a change of gender roles and stereotypes (actions and practices concerning harmonisation of family and professional responsibilities, the models promoted by the media, special interventions and measures for raising awareness in the sectors of education, culture and every expression of life).
Quantitative goals and timetables	Not determined yet. The General Secretariat for Equality has proposed: The determination of a schedule for materialising the actions. Setting up, by the inter-ministerial Committee for Equality, of a mechanism to monitor the activities. The inter-ministerial Committee for Gender Equality was set up according to a decision of the Prime Minister (no Y316, Governement Newspaper 870/17.7.2000) and undertook to co-ordinate the activities of the ministries on equality, in all government policies. According to the above decision, the ministries participating in the inter-ministerial are: Interior-Public Administration and Decentralisation, National Economy, Development, National Education and Religions, Labour and Social Insurance, Health-Welfare, Press - Media as well as the General Secretariat of Equality. The latter has proposed that the Committee be enlarged with the participation of the ministries of Public Order, of Environment-Cityplanning and Public Works, Culture and also the Local Government Authority. Allocated budget Community resources: 3rd Community Support Framework Community initiatives 5th Medium term Action Plan of Equality National resources: Regular budget Public Investment Programme Central Autonomous resources for Local Government Participation of private sector - NGOs: 12 billion drachmas The ressources for application of equality policies from 3rd CSF on specific measures, are allocated as follows: Operational Programme "Employment and Vocational Training" (Ministry of labour and Social Insurance) Total cost: 72 billion drachmas Operational Programme "Competitiveness" Ministry of Development Total cost: 12 billion drachmas Operational Programme of the Ministry of National Education and Religions - (EPEAEK) - Operational Programme of Education and Vocational Training. Total cost: 23,5 billion drachmas Concerning the Operational Programmes of the other ministries, there is no provision at the moment for specific measures. The resources will be diffused to all axes of the operational programme. Concerning the Regional Operational Programmes, resources will be blocked from the human resources of the 3rd CSF and the regular budget. (The National Action Plan for Equality is not available in English yet. It will be sent to you upon publication).

Before 2000:

In the two year national Action Plan of the General Secretariat of Equality for 1999-2000, one of the 6 priorities was mainstreaming. To effect this priority, the GSE unfolded a series of actions and policies. For example, in collaboration with KETHI (Equal Opportunities Research Centre) it participated actively in planning the actions for the 3rd Community Support Framework and the National Action Plan for Employment. The collaboration had noticeable results, since many actions for gender equality were included in the Operational Programmes, like those of the Ministries of Labour, of Development, of Education and of Acriculture.

2. Getting ready for Gender Mainstreaming

Are national, regional and local governments or other key-players currently preparing the ground for implementing gender mainstreaming?

If you see indications in your country, please elaborate.

Examples:

Awareness raising events and publications by governments, equality infrastructures, women's NGOs, trade unions etc.	Mainstreaming was introduced in Greece only recently. This is why few and fragmented relevant actions have taken place. More specifically, the trade unions side has not touched the subject at all.
Conferences	MEP ms Angela Kokola, member of the Committee for Women's Rights, organised a day seminar in February 1998 in Athens, in collaboration with the Parliamentary Group of the European Socialist Party and the parliamentary group of PASOK in the European Parliament, on the subject "Action for inclusion of equal opportunities in all community policies and targets". Ms Agela Kokola publushed a book with the contributions to this seminar. The General Secretariat of Equality of the Ministry of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralisation, which is the most relevant government agency for Equality, carried out a conference in September 1999, in collaboration with the Council of Europe, on the subject "Mainstreaming". The Gender Equality Research Centre (GERC), functioning under the supervision of the GSE, carried out a European Conference in October 2000 in Athens, under the title "Strategies for Gender Equality, Europe-Greece 1996-2005". Objects of the Conference were the evaluation of the 4th and the presentation of the 5th Medium-term Action programmes for gender Equality. One of the three issues of the conference was mainstreaming and one of its targets informing the women's NGO's, so as to be involved in the processes of mainstreaming. A big number of cadres of public administration, Local Government, women NGOS's, trade unions, journalists, academics etc. took part in it.
Publications	In September 1999, the GCE published in a book form, in Greek, the Report "Inserting the Equality Principle between women and men" of the Council of Europe.
Training targeted at various actors organised by governments, equality infrastructures etc.	There have been scattered efforts for informing on questions of equality various professional categories: Seminars for raising awareness and educating police officers in questions of violence against women, carried out by the Ministry of Public Order. The General Secretariat of Equality, the Research Centre for Gender Equality and the Network for Combatting Violence Against Women (NGO) have carried out seminars for awareness raising and training of judges, lawyers and Work Inspectors on questions of violence against women and Women's rights. A conference, on "Gender Equality - the role of teachers" was organised by GERC in collaboration with the GSE in December 1999, in Herakleion of Krete. Collaboration of the General Secretariat of Equality with the Union of Greek Banks and the Federation of Bank Employees Organisations for the elaboration of a plan of mainstreaming on the EURO.
Research and study	The Centre of Women's Studies and Research DIOTIMA carried out in 1998 an inter-state project in the framework of the 4th long term Action Programme for Gender Equality, under the title "Including equality in enterprises, labour collective negotiations and labour collective agreements". The project explored the relationship between the collective agreements and the discrimination in the labour market. The results of the research were used as training material in a seminar for awareness raising of the parties involved in collective bargaining and collective agreements. The RCGE published in the year 200 an public invitation for a review study on the subject "Policies and Tools for Gender Equality - Mainstreaming". No interest from the researches forthcome.
Information and funding of women's NGOs in a perspective of making them key-actors in the process of gender mainstreaming.	NGO's receive information from the activities and publications mentioned. State funding of NGO's is not foreseen.

3. Gender mainstreaming targeted explicitly at women in decision-making

What are the relevant strategies including timetables and quantitative goals?
What are the concrete measures to reach them?
Who are the major players to take action?
What are the relevant monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to be applied?

Tackling gender gaps in decision-making - in both the political arena and in economic and cultural life - as priority in the (already mentioned eventually existing) national action plan for gender mainstreaming.

There are many organisations tackling gender gaps in economic and social spheres, from NGOs to the Institute for Personnel Development. Women NGOs network to offer support for women who are in decision-making positions. Many professional bodies have a women's wing, emphasising the need for such initiatives. The Fair Play Consortia focus on access to economic decision-making and employment initiatives. There is a strong awareness in the country of the need to improve the situation, but very little in the way of co-ordinated strategy and activity. The employer-led organisation Opportunity Now has benchmarked this aspect, but does not enforce it, or censure member organisations which do not fully comply.

Vertical desegregation of the labour market (i.e. enhancing women's access to senior management and decision-making levels) as a priority among measures described under pillar 4 of your country's National Action Plan for Employment (NAP)'.

While the Civil Service has made great efforts to overcome the de-segregation of the labour market, and the Government has a policy of greater representation of women and minority ethnic groups on other decision-making bodies, and this is monitored annually, the improvement is slow. A more rapid increase in the number of women in senior positions in industry would require potentially require the setting of quotas, which would not be supported by Government and industry.Targets are acceptable, but not quotas.

'NAPs can be found on the Europa Server at the website of the DG Employment & Social Affairs (www.europa.eu.int.) Search for European Employment Strategy.

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