Engender blog

Stay up to date with Engender's work in Europe

Engender sits on the United Kingdom Joint Committee on Women, which represents the UK at the European Women's Lobby. In June our director Emma Ritch was in Brussels for the European Women's Lobby General Assembly and here, she talks about the importance of our work with our feminist sisters across Europe.

We know that Brexit is on the minds of women in Scotland at the moment. The Conservative leadership campaign that will select the next UK Prime Minister has brought a lot of fears to the surface about immigration, women’s rights, care, and the economy.

Brexit was also on the agenda of the European Women’s Lobby general assembly, which I attended along with colleagues from sister organisations in Wales, Northern Ireland, and England. Together Engender, Northern Ireland Women’s European Platform (NIWEP), Women’s Equality Network Wales, and England’s National Alliance of Women’s Organisations makes up the UK Joint Committee on Women. We are the UK representation to the Lobby, which is the largest umbrella body of feminist organisations in Europe.

European Women's Forum: For a feminist Europe

Earlier this summer our Executive Director Emma Ritch attended the General Assembly of the European Women's Lobby in Brussels. Here she writes on the role and structure of the Lobby, and how Engender works with our sisters in Europe.

In June, I spent most of a week at the European Women's Lobby general assembly in Brussels, where I was elected to its board of administration.

The Lobby is the largest European umbrella of women's organisations, and its general assembly is an annual gathering of all of the national co-ordinations. Engender represents Scotland within the Lobby.

Some of you who follow European feminism or institutional feminist politics will have seen the Lobby pop up on Twitter, in our Friday Feminist Five mailers, but their work is much less familiar to other feminists in Scotland.

I thought I'd share five things about the Lobby (and Engender's involvement with it) that might be of interest.

Postcard from Brussels: Feminist Economics and the European Women's Forum

Notes on minimum income, universal basic income and gender tax justice

Doing feminism in Europe

I spent last weekend at the European Women's Lobby general assembly in Brussels.

The Lobby is the largest European umbrella of women's organisations, and its general assembly is an annual gathering of all of the national co-ordinations. Engender represents Scotland within the Lobby.

Some of you who follow European feminism or institutional feminist politics will have seen the Lobby pop up on Twitter, in our Friday Feminist Five mailers, but their work is much less familiar to other feminists in Scotland.

I thought I'd share five things about the Lobby (and Engender's involvement with it) that might be of interest.

1. What the Lobby's role is

The European Women's Lobby is a feminist policy and advocacy organisation that has two main roles. First, it lobbies European institutions, including the Commission and Parliament. Second, it supports feminist organisations in member states to participate in Europe-wide campaigning and lobbying.

2. How the Lobby is structured

EWL members fall into two categories: national co-ordinations and Europe-wide organisations.

The Lobby accepts one national co-ordination for each European member state, and leaves it up to the feminists in that state to create or select an organisation to be that national co-ordination. The UK's constitutional arrangements have posed a bit of a challenge to us in this regard, and I'll explain how we resolved it in just a moment.

Members vote at the general assembly for the EWL's board, and executive committee. All national co-ordinations are represented on the board, which meets physically twice a year. The executive committee meets more regularly.

There is also a secretariat, which is based in Brussels. The current secretary general of EWL is Joanna Maycock.