University of Women Europe “meet and greet” in Amsterdam
[Amsterdam, 10 May 2014] On Sunday 10 May, several members of University Women of Europe met in Amsterdam for a two-day gathering aiming at exchanging information about joint actions at European level. A member of the European Women’s Lobby (EWL), University Women of Europe (UWE) aims at encouraging European higher educated and university women to participate in the progressive development of European society. The “meet and greet” event was an opportunity to UWE members to get to know more about the work of the EWL and discuss possible collaboration.
Hosted by its President, Edith Lommerse, the meeting gathered more than 30 representatives of the branches of UWE from France, Romania, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Finland, Switzerland, Ireland and the UK. Several workshops were proposed, including a session about cooperation through digital means. EWL Acting Coordinator Pierrette Pape was invited to present the work of the EWL (see PPT presentation), while the Vice-Presidents of UWE explained the possible ways for UWE to be engaged at EU and Council of Europe levels. UWE members warmly applauded the EWL video clip on the impact of austerity on women.
Amongst the different issues of interest for the members of UWE, violence against women experienced by educated women is a concern which led UWE to decide to develop a two-year project in order to map and raise awareness on the scale of domestic violence faced by educated women in Europe. Some members also mentioned the situation of migrant skilled women.
Besides in-depth discussion on the implementation of women’s rights, UWE members had the chance to do an architectural tour of the Eastern Docklands of Amsterdam, to make a trip in the tulip fields in the North of Holland, and to mingle and exchange.
See more photos here.
