Women's Congress: About Women, Not Only For Women

Platform for networking, inspiring and mobilising Czech women

 

Prague, 15 June 2013

 

The Women's Congress is a non-profit network of organizations, institutions and individuals from non-profits, the academia, the art world, public and private sectors.

 

The Women’s Congress aims to create a permanent platform to:

• bring together women across professions, regions, age groups and political orientations

• give voice to marginalised groups of women: migrants, those from ethnics minorities, disabled women, etc.,

• give women space to network: share experiences, knowledge and skills across social groups,

• provide a base for discussions about the situation of women in the Czech Republic, about problems, opportunities and solutions (including inspiration from abroad),

• so that women will be inspired and mobilised towards formulating their own ideas about the next steps for society,

• create a platform for women to be represented as a strong social group with shared interests and inalienable experiences and abilities, which Czech society has so far not taken full advantage of.

 

The Women's Congress is a non-partisan association, and its activities are not aligned with any political party.

 

Congress' theme: Women in the labour market

A key focus is women's position in the labour market. Women’s economic activity is the foundation of their independence, self-confidence and their full participation in society. We consider it to be crucial that the State creates conditions under which women can make free choices about their working and private lives and their combination. Therefore the Women’s Congress has chosen the status of women in the labour market as its primary area of work – an issue which is relevant to women across age groups, professions, social and ethnic groups, regardless their life choices.

Conclusions of the first Women's Congress will be presented to the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic on 19 June 2013, the International Equality Day.

 

Women in statistics

Women represent:

• 51 % of the total population (men 49 %)

• 61 % of university graduates (men 39 %)

• 8.9 % of the unemployed between the ages of 30 and 34 (men 4.3 %)

• 61 % of those in judicial roles (men 39 %)

• 9 % of those in judicial roles in the highest court of the Czech Republic (men 81 %)

• 0 % of members in 85 percent of the boards of directors of the 60 biggest organisations in the Czech Republic

• 22 % of members in the Parliament of the Czech Republic

• 18.8 % of members of Czech government

• 26 % of municipal representatives in Czech towns and villages

(sources: Czech Statistical Office, McKinsey&Company)

Facts about women in the labour market in the Czech Republic

Between the ages of 15 – 64, only 56 % of women are in paid work (Norway 73 %, Germany 66 %, Estonia 61 %, Poland 53 %).

In the Czech Republic, there are fewer employed women with small children between the ages of 0 and 6 than in all other EU states.

Less than 40 % of women, compared to nearly 95 % of men with two children are employed (across the EU the ratio is 65 : 91). Compared to all other EU countries, only a small percentage of the Czech Republic‘s working population are employed part time (2 % of employed men, 9 % of employed women).

At the same time, just over 30 % of all employed women in the EU are engaged in part time work (approximately 8% of employed men).

Women earn an average of a quarter less than men (the average monthly wage paid to women is 22 666 CZK, to men 30 192 CZK), and they are minimally represented in managerial roles and in the business world.

Research done by McKinsey & Company evaluating the potential of women in the Czech economy shows that on the management boards of the 60 biggest companies in the Czech Republic women represent only 4 % on boards of directors, and in 85 % of these companies there is no woman on directory boards at all. 

For these reasons, women are generally more at risk of poverty than men.

 

Women's Congress is supported by:

• Vladimíra Dvořáková, professor of political science, VŠE in Prague

• Simona Babčáková, actress

• Zuzana Brzobohatá, member of European Parliament

• Vera Budway-Strobach, programme manager for diversity and equal opportunities in Česká spořitelna

• Petra Janíčková, founder of Agender, former director of British Chamber of Commerce

• Helena Langšádlová, member of Czech Parliament Chamber of Deputies, member of Central Bohemian regions council

• Ondřej Liška, Green Party leader

• Karolína Peake, Deputy Prime Minister of the Czech Republic

• Daniela Retková, curator and manager of DOX – Centre for Contemporary Art

• Olga Sehnalová, member of European Parliament

• Eva Syková, director of Institute of Experimental Medicine AS CR, senator

• Vladimír Špidla, director of Masaryk Democratic Acedemy, former EU Commissioner for employment, social affairs and equal opportunities

• Eliška Wagnerová, senator and former Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic’s justice

• Jana Černochová, member of Czech Parliament Chamber of Deputies, Mayor of Prague 2 district

• David Beránek, director of BIO OKO cinema

 

Organizations, companies and institutions supporting Women's Congress

 

Partners of Women's Congress						Organizations participating on the programme
							Komise sportu žen ČOV
						Část koučovací zóny bude vyhrazena:

 Organization Committee

• Anna Kárníková, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Czech Republic

• Monika Klimentová, Fórum 50 %

• Marcela Linková, National Contact Centre for Women and Science, Institute of Sociology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic