11 Amendments of Maria ARENA related to 2018/2160(INI)
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Is disappointed that the situation of women has not improved in most countries affected by the Arab Spring in spite of their large-scale support for the revolutions; notes, however, that since then, in some countries in the MENA region, these movements have been accompanied by legislative reforms intended to foster gender equality but they have not properly resonated on the ground for lack of investment in suitable awareness-raising tools;
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Underlines that women’s commitment and empowerment in the public, political, economic and cultural spheres of the countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are vital if long-term stability, peace and economic prosperity are to be achieved; considers that women’s access to education, supported by civil society organisations, is essential in order to accomplish this; together with tackling all forms of violence against women, including gender stereotypes, thus promoting gender equality;
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Notes that women’s and girls’ access to education is essential to promoting their role in all these spheres; maintains that women’s rights and gender equality civil society organisations can help to empower women in MENA region countries; calls, further, for increased EU support for civil society in the region, building on existing initiatives that are already successful;
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Notes that some countries are hosting millions of refugees, the majority of whom are women and children who live in poverty, exacerbating domestic violence, the prostitution of women and young girls, forced child marriage and child labour in the community;
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls on the countries in the MENA region to implement the Beijing Action Plan for education and health as fundamental human rights; including access to voluntary family planning, sexual reproductive healthcare, including access to free contraception, abortions and sex and relationship education for girls and boys;
Amendment 34 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the countries in the MENA region to reform their legislation on personal status with a view to eliminating laws which discriminate against women such as the laws governing inheritance and marriage, to increase women’s participation in public life, including political life, and to combat all forms of violence against women by ratifying the Istanbul Convention;
Amendment 37 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Calls on the MENA countries to play an active part in tackling all forms of violence against women; calls on them to sign and ratify the Istanbul Convention, an instrument for tackling violence against women and girls, including domestic violence and female genital mutilation; calls, in particular, on countries which have yet to do so to revise their legislation by adding wording on gender-based violence and honour crimes, also making the threat to commit such acts an offence and imposing more severe penalties for all crimes of that kind;
Amendment 39 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
Amendment 40 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Welcomes programmes developed by the Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean, such as Med4jobs, as means to address the problem of employability of young people and women in the Mediterranean; calls on the member states of the Union for the Mediterranean to instruct its Secretariat General to focus its work on the economic and social development of MENA countries with a view to supporting the consolidation of its transition process, giving particular prominence to women and girls;
Amendment 42 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Notes also the importance of the agricultural sector for the economies of the countries in the MENA region; emphasises the direct influence of climate change on the agricultural sector and on women in particular; calls on all the Member States to put into practice the commitments undertaken under the conclusions agreed at the 62nd session of the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women regarding the issues to address and the opportunities for achieving gender equality, empowering women and girls in rural areas and integrating rural areas, taking into account the specific characteristics of their climate strategies;
Amendment 43 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Emphasises that women can be powerful drivers of change, able to draw up and implement effective strategies for climate adaptation, conflict resolution, anti-radicalisation and reducing the impact of these and developing the resilience to cope with such changes by relying on their areas of experience and practical knowledge; calls, therefore, on the Commission and the Member States, as key players in conflict resolution, tackling climate change and anti-radicalisation in the MENA regions and as part of their foreign policy, to support women and organisations that defend and promote their rights;