The cultural constraints of women’s rights on the pacific islands

Author: Laura Nobel 

Brussels, 22.11.2015  - A year-long research conducted by a team of anthropologists, lawyers and a filmmaker sheds new light into the complexity of gender equality among societies in 10 pacific islands such as Fiji, Solomon, federated state of Micronesia and Samoa.  The presentation was held on November 20 at the European Commission.

The topic of human rights and gender equality is an important topic within the European framework and is funded to obtain equality on a global scale.  Gender inequality seems to be inevitable in societies bound by the roles in which each gender is expected to behave. This puts women in a state of gender objectification and limits their chances of a future beyond that. To stress the current situation of gender inequality, the research showed that in one of the villages interviewed, 9 out of 12 women is or has been beaten by their husband. 8 out of those 9 women justify their husband’s action and felt it is what they deserved. 

Cultural values in the researched societies complicate the discussion for gender equality. Although these points cite inequality that one would conclude from an uncivil society; this is not the case. Respect, mutuality, social harmony and kindness are values well established in these regions. There is a weak understanding of gender and the fluency of its roles, which is the main cause of the inequalities established. A married woman’s status is defined by that of her husband.

We, the Young European, are not afraid.

Author: Gabriella Arcifa

Brussels, November 21th - We, the young Europeans, didn't really know the war until late this autumn, autumn that looks already like winter. It is a different war from the ones we studied in the history books, It is the War of Terror.  Brussels on November 21, at our wake up, under the first snow flakes, we heard that the city is controlled by police and manned by soldier patrols. They are searching for terrorists. This people, young people like us, between 20 and 30 years, were born and educated in Europe, just like us. The media says that in Molenbeek the searches are still continuing and the houses are rounded up one by one.  Many people were arrested, others are underway. A small arsenal of weapons, including chemical was founded. And now, while we are reading news from the Belgian National Crisis Centre, it is worth remembering that we are here in Bruxelles "pour l'Europe unie" and that we are not at all discouraged!  Coming from different European cities, we started on November 12, our project "Be Ready 4 EU", organized by the Association Europe HOpes. We are 10 young European citizens, interested in understanding the European Union functioning and inform the European citizens about how and if an integration among different national states is indeed possible.   And, why not, if we, young Europeans, may have our say to influence the decision-making process at the Union level, as the professional lobbyists do here in the Big Apple of Europe. We were excited and happy before the evening of November 13, when the events in Paris left a “wound” on all of us and the whole democratic world. That night our sleep was restless and for the first time in our lives, at the wake up, we were afraid of war at our door steps!

Europe: last chance? A European response to migration and terrorism

author: Tommaso Leso

Brussels, november 19 - After the terrorist attacks of November 13 in Paris, and even more so after the discovery of the ties between some of the terrorist and the capital of Belgium, the political agenda and the media events in Brussels has undergone major changes.

Les Journées de Bruxelles, the yearly event organised at the Palais des Beaux Arts by the Belgian newspaper OBS, with the collaboration of other major Belgian newspapers (Le Soir, De Standaard) and the patronage of the European Commission and the city of Brussels, went nonetheless on as planned on Wednesday 18 and Tuesday 19 November: the attacks in Paris, however, had a powerful effect on the discussions taking place during the panel devoted to the “migratory challenges” that Europe is facing right now.

The fervent address by Dimitris Avramopoulos, EU Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, reminded the audience that these terrorist attacks were carried out by European citizens, born and bred in Europe – they are the product of the forty-year long lack of effective policies of inclusion. As he pointed out, “they are our citizens, and our responsibility”. He also explained that it is precisely in dire times that we must preserve our values of humanity and solidarity, not falling to populism, to fear and prejudice, to divisions within our society: the European leadership must therefore grow stronger.

"All the necessary measures": the response of the UN to the ISIS attack.

author: Martina Lima
20.11.2015 - The recent terrorist attacks in Paris revealed the weakness of the Defence and Security policy at Union level and above all, the strong need for a joint action by all the Member States.

At international level, a few days ago, the Representatives of the Member Countries of the UN security Council gathered in the glass building of New York to debate and take decision on how to fight ISIS.

The Council, condemning the dramatic events in Paris, unanimously decided to permit to the Member Countries the use of "all the necessary measures to defeat the Muslim fundamentalism, including increased measures against the so called “foreign fighters”.

The Resolution was proposed by France, in this latest year, the most hitten country by terrorism. The French Ambassador, in submitting the topic, stated: “ The attack of ISIS, was an act of war against France, but the Islamic State did not attack only France, but all over the world”.

Noi, giovani europei, non abbiamo paura! Racconto di un impegno per l'Europa Unita.

Bruxelles, 21 novembre  -   Noi, giovani europei, non conoscevamo la guerra, almeno fino a questo tardo autunno che sa già di inverno. Oggi conosciamo una guerra diversa da quella studiata sui libri di storia, strategica, del terrore. Oggi al risveglio a Bruxelles, sotto i primi fiocchi di neve, abbiamo appreso che la città è controllata dalle forze dell'ordine, presidiata dall'esercito alla ricerca di Salah e dei suoi fiancheggiatori. Loro sono giovani come noi, hanno tra i 20 e i 30 anni, nati, educati! in Europa. I  media dicono che a Molenbeek continuano le perquisizioni nelle case, rastrellate una ad una e che è stato ritrovato un piccolo arsenale di armi, anche chimiche. Mentre leggiamo i comunicati dell'unità di crisi belga, vale la pena ricordare a noi stessi che siamo qui  "pour l'europe unie" e che non siamo affatto impauriti o scoraggiati. Partiti da diverse città europee, primo appuntamento il 12 novembre, per il training "Be  Ready 4 EU", organizzato dall'associazione Europe HOpes, 10 giovani europei vogliamo comprendere e comunicare l'Unione Europea ai suoi cittadini e scoprire se una integrazione tra diverse nazioni e sovranità è davvero possibile. E perché no, noi, questi giovani europei, vogliamo anche dire la nostra e influire sui processi decisionali a livello di Unione, come fanno i lobbisti di professione qui nella grande mela d'Europa.

ICTs and internet access as tools for development and social change

Author: Giulia Semeghini

The world has never been more connected than it is today. Indeed, through new technologies and the use of internet it is now possible to communicate with everyone at a global level in just few seconds, making appear our world very small. But this is not valid for everyone.

As recently stated by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) - the United Nations (UN) specialized agency for Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) – there are four billion people in the developing countries that are still unconnected because they have no internet access. Consequently, this data points out that more than a half of the world population is totally excluded from this interconnected world and that digital divide still remains a core issue to solve.

 

With the aim to discuss about this topic, on the 17^th of November 2015, a seminar was organized at the European Parliament (EP) by the Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Marietje Schaake on behalf of the Digital Agenda Intergroup, an informal network of MEP's, cross-party and cross-nationality interested in digital technologies and their role in bringing benefits to society. The seminar, entitled “Tech for change: ICT's, internet access and the post-2015 development agenda” and led by speakers from different organizations, initially was focused on the importance of making more efforts to improve the openness and accessibility of internet.

 

In this regard, Samia Melhem, as a Lead Policy Officer in the World Bank's Transport and ICT Global Practice, highlighted that ICTs can have an important role in supporting public sector transformation, innovation and in improving health and education services. Having the goal of ending extreme poverty and boosting a shared prosperity worldwide, the World Bank sees ICTs as a fundamental tool for transformation. Particularly, she emphasized the efforts made by her Institution to promote e-government, that consists in the use of digital technologies in public administration to foster public services and democratic processes. For this reason she underlined the necessity to promote broadband in every household and reduce disparities in digital access.

Towards a new dialogue with the Eastern Countries: security or human rights?

picture from mareeq.com

Author: Hanne Van De Ven

Brussels, november 17 - Forty years ago, when an iron curtain divided the world, the USA, Canada and the countries of Western Europe, and the states of the Communist bloc, signed the Helsinki Act. This Act was intended to improve the relations in the dialogue of economic cooperation, human rights and security. As opposed to the expectations, Europe currently faces a serious division in East and West again since Russia annexed Crimea. For this reason, the Socialists & Democrats (S&D) group of the European Parliament discussed a revision for the Helsinki Act during a conference on 17 November in Brussels.

Since the establishment of the Helsinki Act, the world has globalized increasingly through developments in internet and technology. As a result, countries have become more involved with each other, particularly in trade. While the European Union (EU) supports trade by opening the borders between the Member States of the Schengen zone, Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan established the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) in 2015 for similar purposes.