kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
with institutional changes we have moved on from women focused programmes which are useful initiatives but are not necessarily sustainable in the long run. institutional changes in research organisations are today the cornerstone of the commission's strategy on gender equality in research.
let me share with you a few thoughts on it.
institutional changes can help on the way towards assuring that research institutions guarantee equal opportunities for both women and men at all levels.
if on the other hand there is clear evidence of a crime the government should charge them and try them without delay in accordance with the law.
of course the uae government must fully investigate the allegations against the sixty two detainees.
indeed iran which regularly executes juveniles and gay people is perhaps the most shocking.
the uae has also taken important steps to crack down on human trafficking.
this openness to outside influences continues to result in a better understanding among the governing lite of the importance of human rights.
whilst the ecr group accepts that there are serious concerns about some aspects of human rights in the uae the situation is far worse in some neighbouring countries.
those in this house who think that religious fundamentalism is the answer to improving human rights in the gulf are sadly mistaken.
mr president the uae is a relatively open and diverse society with more than one hundred zero british citizens residing there.
this is not to gloss over concerns about the arrest of sixty two emiratis but sadly most of these detainees appear to be islamist hardliners who would like to reverse all the progress made in that country by closing down the churches.
the eu and the uae have an important economic and security partnership as well.
women for instance occupy senior positions throughout the government business and civil society including three lady ambassadors. migrant labourers benefit from recent legislative changes to protect their rights and welfare.
this resolution today is therefore unnecessary because it distracts attention from the real issue in the gulf region iran's desperate efforts to acquire nuclear arms and its gross violations of human rights.
if there is no good evidence against them these individuals should be released.
the human rights and civil liberties of the people are suppressed while the stage where this tragedy is taking place is decorated with oil money.
in the resolution we express our deep concern for the security and fate of the human rights defenders political activists and civil society actors and call on the united arab emirates to grant to all people their fundamental rights. as a member of the united nations human rights council from two thousand and thirteen to two thousand and fifteen the united arab emirates should set an example and halt the ongoing crack downs release all prisoners of conscience and investigate the assaults and threats made against activists.
that petition asked for political and institutional reforms in a peaceful and respectful manner.
they were subsequently pardoned but the legal case against them has not been filed. the whereabouts of many of the other sixty political activists currently under arrest is not known.
these issues will certainly feature on the agenda of the next meetings with the gulf at all levels and the same messages were conveyed during the visit of a delegation of this parliament earlier this year.
a specific case was raised by member of parliament obermayr in relation to dr adelsmayr which the eu has been following very attentively since the very beginning of this case in close cooperation with the austrian authorities.
all these cases of restrictions of civil and political rights fundamental freedoms and human rights point to a deteriorating trend that cannot leave us indifferent especially because of the friendly relations between the eu and the uae and the good cooperation on several matters of common interest in the recent past. the eu has repeatedly voiced its concern to the uae government including very recently through diplomatic channels.
however we want to talk to all stakeholders activists civil society and human rights defenders too and not only the government of the country.
mr president the eu has followed the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the united arab emirates with some concern in recent months.
in addition to this the uae authorities closed down the offices of the konrad adenauer stiftung this spring. this is a prestigious foundation which was carrying out excellent work in the uae.
as was recalled by honourable members several individuals were arrested in two thousand and eleven and two thousand and twelve simply for expressing their political views in the media or for signing an on line petition on the internet.
never have the uae authorities provided a satisfactory explanation for this eviction which for the eu is all the more difficult to accept as that foundation was implementing an eu funded project aimed at enhancing understanding and cooperation which then had to be deeply redesigned.
human rights and fundamental freedoms were discussed with the gulf cooperation council at the latest ministerial meeting that took place in luxembourg in june.
in this context the upcoming establishment of an eu delegation in abu dhabi strongly supported by this parliament will definitely be an element enabling us to do more and better.
the eu is ready to discuss these issues with the uae and to support them in case they need and want our support.
this is unacceptable and in breach of international conventions which the united arab emirates has signed and ratified.
if the conditions were not better than india why would they go?
the uae is one of the better places in the middle east compared to some of the other countries.
is it some envy or jealousy that we are expressing? why is it that we had this extraordinary speech from my colleague mr kohlek saying that people are going from india to live in terrible conditions in the uae? india is a democracy and if they leave india to work in the uae voluntarily nobody is taking them by force
the human rights record in some of those neighbouring countries is appalling. why are we talking about the uae and not about those countries?
human rights in the uae.
these are the people the sixty two people who have been arrested and are being tried.
there are also more than one hundred zero brits and other europeans living there as well so this idea that the people there are being exploited or in some kind of forced labour is also frankly absurd.
in addition their lawyers are dealing with harassment and the constant threat of deportation.
according to the authorities they were apprehended in an attempt to overthrow the government.
however this accusation seems to be a cover up to hide the fact that the government is denying its own people this fundamental right.
in our negotiations with the uae government the european parliament must be concerned with the civil rights of the emirati people. we must encourage the faciliation of the right to free expression along with the right to a fair trial and access to unbiased legal aid.
could it be the case that your unwillingness to criticise the human rights record in the uae has something to do with the imperialist interests of the us and the major capitalist forces in europe and their geostrategic interest in the region?
surely that explains the difference in your rhetoric in relation to human rights in bahrain another us client state and your condemnations of human rights abuses elsewhere.
nobody is forcing them to go.
the current policy of detention harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders and political activists has swept up prominent human rights lawyers judges law professors bloggers student leaders religious conservatives and liberals alike. particularly worrying is the fact that many of the detained are kept incommunicado denied legal assistance and allegedly subjected to torture. in fact the only information we seem to have about the detainees is provided by the uae human rights committee which is a government organisation and does not supply independent or credible information. even when alleged national security concerns are at stake the uae authorities need to ensure that detainees deemed to have broken the law are charged with a crime provided with legal assistance of their choosing and brought before a judge in a fair trial.
we also call on the uae authorities to enforce freedom of speech and press freedom which are granted under the constitution in the uae since no real enforcement of such freedoms can take place when the harassment of those who call for greater political participation and inclusive institutions is not independently investigated and when the penal code allows for the prosecution of those who today criticise the government.
this is a topic that deserves our undivided attention.
the commission has been active in promoting opportunities for girls and women in the sector as well. the ict sector is rapidly growing creating around one hundred and twenty zero new jobs every year.
the report by mrs reintke very much contributes to raising awareness of this challenge and offers solid recommendations that are aimed at strengthening women's participation in the ict sector.
the commission is fully committed to take further action in this area as outlined in the strategic engagement for gender equality'.
in view of the good job and salary prospects we would like to see more women take advantage of this situation and consider a career in the sector.
considering the excellent recommendations outlined in the report it is clear that there are significant challenges ahead of us.
when we look at the educational aspect we see that today only twenty nine out of every one zero female graduates have a computing or related degree.
an important action that the commission has undertaken in this area is the proposals for the european union to sign and conclude the council of europe's istanbul convention a comprehensive international treaty on combatting violence against women and domestic violence.
for example the european network of women web entrepreneurs hubs is the first network of partners which specifically supports women to create and scale up their web enterprises building links between women entrepreneurs investors and the web entrepreneurship ecosystems.
we also need to get men involved in the debate on diversity.
all forms of violence against women and girls including cyber violence are rooted in gender inequalities and reinforce them further.
as also highlighted in the report the increasing digitalisation of society also poses some threats to gender equality including cyberbullying cyberharassment cyberstalking and sexist forms of hate speech.
when considering economic arguments for increasing female participation in the ict sector the commission's study on women active in the sector found that more women entering the digital jobs market can create an annual eur nine billion gdp
let us take advantage of the new and great opportunities and explore ways to advance women's empowerment in the digital age.
at this moment only nine in one hundred european app developers are female;
boost in the eu area. furthermore women working in the sector earn almost nine more than women in similar positions in other service sectors. in order to increase women's opportunities in the digital age it is of the utmost importance to tackle women's under representation in the sector.
i look forward to tackling the challenges together in order to break down gender stereotypes and use the technological innovations as drivers of progress towards gender equality.
the fundamental rights agency survey on women's experiences of violence shows that one in ten women has experienced sexual harassment or stalking through new technologies.
i strongly believe that tackling gender stereotypes will contribute to creating equal opportunities in the workplace and will attract more women to the sector.
the digital single market with its e society dimension constitutes a great opportunity for women in digital.
but we need more role models mentoring greater engagement of business and industry by offering even more targeted programmes to study and work in the ict sector. more grass root initiatives like the code week are needed during the two thousand and fifteen eu code week half of the almost half a million young coders were young girls!
women active in this sector generally enjoy higher flexibility to arrange their working schedules and will be less susceptible to unemployment.
this includes provisions to encourage the participation of the information and communication technology sector in combating this phenomenon also in the online sphere.
the commission supports several initiatives that promote getting more women into digital jobs and encourage girls to pursue ict related subjects.
the fact that women are under represented throughout the ict sector is a key challenge that we need to tackle.
the strategic engagement includes a key action that focuses on using the grand coalition for digital jobs to support measures enhancing digital skills among women and girls and promoting female employment in the ict sector.
digital technology shapes every aspect of our lives and will continue to transform our society in profound ways.
as we move ahead gender inequalities are reflected in the digital world but we must grasp the nettle and use the opportunity these transformations provide to eliminate inequalities.
there is an urgent need to act to involve more women and girls in the it sector and to close the gender gap in digital industries.
we often talk about women and girls in science technology engineering and mathematics stem but i would like to emphasise the need for us to build bridges between the arts and the stem sectors turning stem into steam.
we need more creative artistic young people to come into stem fields.
recent studies show a decrease in the number of young people in particular girls and women studying and choosing careers in ict and most member states also have a skills gap in this sector.
consequently member states must recognise that compulsory education is to include a relevant ict education from the earlier stages of education that will enable women and girls to obtain the necessary e skills to fully participate in socio economic development as well as to foster amongst them the understanding that they too are contributors to digital innovation and are able to obtain skills for employment in the digital sector.
an education policy be it for compulsory education or in lifelong learning that provides women and girls with skills to participate and contribute within the digital economy will also bring about further empowerment and continue to break down barriers based on gender.
so digital policies are in fact societal policies and that is exactly why gender equality should be at the core of this debate.
the second stereotype is that women are not interested in the digital revolution.
working on this report talking to many women who are already active in the digital sector today i became convinced of this myself.
the problem is just that they very often face obstacles in the ict sector or in stem education.
what we need to do is to create the right preconditions for them to fully conquer the digital arena.
these stupid stereotypes are not our fate.
the report does indeed show the challenges but it also gives concrete tools to overcome them and the amazing potential that the digital world holds both for women and for the enhancement of gender equality in our societies be it the bulgarian game developer who is facing everyday sexism in her job
be it the french cameroonian digital entrepreneur who does not get access to funding because she is not considered creditworthy or be it the irish mother of two who is being stalked by a troll on facebook.
this report provides answers to all of these examples.
it calls for more efforts to make the educational sector more inclusive and e skills attainable to all.
it calls for more funding opportunities for female entrepreneurs and it asks for better cooperation between police authorities to combat stalking and harassment online european wide. so we can see that the tools are there.
now we will just have to make them reality.
ms jourov i hope that not only you but the whole commission will stand behind this and push this in the future.
all this great work and the great results that we see in this report could not have been possible without input from great activists civil society female entrepreneurs and many other people who have given input and the great work of all my colleagues who have shadowed this report and contributed a lot to making it such a success.
i think that we can really build a digital agenda together in the european union that will be inclusive and that will give equal chances to both men and women.
i hope that this report will be a starting point and that it finds a broad majority tomorrow because actually that is the best day to work on it as tomorrow is girls in ict day.
mr president i welcome this report and this debate on equality and empowering women and really would like to echo the points that the rapporteur has made.
firstly having worked in the it sector i am concerned about how few women are actually working other than in administration in the it sector and it is really important that we address these issues at a very early age at school level even at primary level to encourage young girls to take up the subjects that would enable them to be programmers to be analysts and
secondly i was speaking the other day to a couple of young female entrepreneurs in the digital sector who had both chosen to leave the eu.
they were from europe and they had gone to the us because they felt that was where the opportunities were.
it is really important that we do not lose that talent and that we address these issues that we take women entrepreneurs in technology as seriously as we take men.
before coming to this house i represented west belfast in the northern ireland assembly and the shankill area of belfast in local government. these are areas that have been ravaged by over thirty years of violence inflicted through a terrorist campaign by irish republicans and intra community violence. throughout that time groups like the women's centre have been a cohesive force
they are ordinary women who have proved themselves to be leaders and an excellent role model for other countries and communities that find themselves faced with terrorism and violence.
enhancing community capacity and forging links with other women's groups in other communities.
today groups like the shankill women's centre the foyle women's network and training for women are not only forging the way ahead in community relations in northern ireland but are also giving women opportunities in the labour market through education and training.
in the context of gender equality we have to make a joint commitment to pushing this issue forward ensuring better representation of women in an effort to prevent war restore peace and cope with post conflict situations taking into account that women can play a significant role in peacekeeping if they are properly supported and genuinely included. in conclusion i would like to point out that the eu has a crucial role to play in advancing these objectives to achieve an equitable and lasting solution.
try to coordinate the needs of the member states.
we discussed the same problem last year in angers during the french presidency and again the health ministers insisted that each member state should be free to decide for itself how many stocks it wanted. we know that there are many differences between the stocks from one state to another and we are concerned about that.
on timelines for new vaccines and to see if eu intervention can speed up delivery.
since medical countermeasures such as antivirals and vaccines are at the heart of our public health response to this threat i met with the european manufacturers on wednesday twenty nine april to learn the latest information on which products are in development
these will include development of vaccines vaccine strategy guidance on best use of stockpiles of vaccines and antivirals protective and preventative measures and public communication and information.
we decided to extend the surveillance for seasonal flu which should normally have ended at week twenty in order to identify infections with this new flu virus.
europe means solidarity in standing together to face this threat.
the commission has worked throughout in close contact and cooperation with the who.
i know that in recent times as the european elections approach this house has debated what europe really means for citizens.
information for the public on how to prevent infection and to make informed choices about travel has been discussed to ensure a coherent message from all member states based on scientific advice by the ecdc
it means innovation with european funded research helping to bring a vaccine to production as quickly as possible. it means capability through the european institutions enabling all member states to respond immediately and effectively to a shared crisis.
the commission launched its public health operations facility on twenty four april and since then my services have been at permanent operational level. the commission has called daily meetings of the communicable disease network of member states and of the eu health security committee since saturday twenty five april.
but we should not focus unduly on the negative aspects of these events.
however the council also agreed that good public information was essential and that travellers should be able to make informed judgements.
we therefore have a fairly accurate picture across europe of the developing situation and this provides the basis for responsibly taking appropriate and effective decisions on how to best make use of our limited resources.
eu legislation on communicable disease obliges member states to report on such outbreaks and on the measures they propose to take to mitigate them.
however we may be glad that none of the patients infected with this virus in the eu has yet died. for over a week we have observed the spread of infections in mexico in the usa in canada in eu member states and in other countries.
in mexico the impact on public and economic life has grown to a serious scale. we appreciate and acknowledge the enormous efforts the mexican authorities have made to contain the spread of the virus and to help those suffering from infection.
that is what europe brings to citizens.
the council recalled the legal obligation on member states to coordinate their surveillance and response to health threats and agreed that restricting travel to affected areas was not a justified public health response.
the commission is now examining a road map for the urgent implementation of the points included in the council conclusions of thirty april.
it means cooperation sharing information expertise and capacity so that we can act together on the basis of the best available knowledge.
my services are working hard to implement the actions to take as defined by the community pandemic influenza preparedness plan in order to address the challenges posed by the current outbreak.
this is essential if we are to avoid a health crisis becoming an economic crisis as well.
in these difficult days i think we can see some things more clearly.
it means that we must work together to take only those measures that are justified by the evidence.
the worldwide picture of infection was severe enough to trigger the who to decide on twenty nine april to upgrade its pandemic alert to phase five recognising that human to human transmission had taken place in at least two regions.
thanks to the preparation led by the commission after avian influenza a few years ago the eu has the systems in place to respond collectively and effectively to this threat.
with the member states we are examining how to best optimise the use of existing stocks of antivirals using the coordination mechanism of the eu health security committee.