Czech Women's Lobby platform requests an investigation into the content and the footnote of the No. 26 E.U. grant competition announcement for the area 3.4. Equal Opportunities of Men and Women at the Labor Market and Reconciling Family and Professional Life (OP LZZ) published by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs on August 25, 2008. The request concerns specifically the footnote in the grant qualifications section that states: “Note: Projects may not be of political nature and must not promote any political or ideological aims, including feminist or masculinist ideologies." Here you can read letter, Czech Women´s Lobby wrote to the Minister without portfolio Džamila Stehlíková who is also responsible for human rights and equal opportunities issues.
Dear
Minister,
On
behalf of the Czech Women's Lobby platform, we request an investigation into the
content and the footnote of the No. 26 E.U. grant competition announcement for
the area 3.4. Equal Opportunities of Men and Women at the Labor Market and Reconciling
Family and Professional Life (OP LZZ) published by the Ministry of Labor and
Social Affairs on August 25, 2008.
Our
request concerns specifically the footnote in the grant qualifications section
(http://www.esfcr.cz/clanek.php?lg=1&id=6383)
that states: “Note: Projects
may not be of political nature and must not promote any political or
ideological aims, including feminist or masculinist ideologies."
In
the opinion of the Czech Women’s Lobby, this footnote is unacceptable as it
directly contradicts the principles and rules of European Union financing
policies. It strongly undermines the values, goals, and priorities of the
European Union which all member states, including the Czech Republic,
are obliged to respect, promote, and follow.
Any
and all financial means from the European Union must be utilized in accordance
with the E.U. principles and goals. Let us emphasize that Equal Opportunities
for Women and Men constitute one of the Union’s
priorities and a cross-cutting theme of all European projects. Projects
selected and supported through the OP LZZ program will be funded by the
European Social Fund (85%) and by the state budget (15%).
As
it is, the footnote may lead to discrimination against applicants and potential
grant recipients that have a reputation for being feminist whether they really
are feminist or not. Discrimination might occur both in the course of the
initial competition procedure (with evaluation committees) and in the process
of making alliances between grant recipients and their partner organizations. Let’s
remember that non-discrimination, cost-effectiveness, and performance form the
cornerstones of the European Union Structural Funds, and demand that projects
are evaluated on how well they fulfill the goals and the evaluation criteria of
grant competitions and not some assumed ideological or political purposes.
We
worry that such restrictive statements by the Ministry of Labor and Social
Affairs not only obstruct the promotion of gender equality (and undermine the
principles of the European Union) but that this unwarranted action may have a
very damaging effect on the work of gender and women’s organizations in the Czech Republic.
We
ask You, the Minister for Human Rights responsible for securing gender equality,
to carry out an investigation into whether the above-mentioned footnote is not
in direct contradiction with the principles of European Union financing.
Additionally,
we would like to inform you that our partner, the international European
Women's Lobby platform (EWL), is following the steps the Czech government is
taking closely and is duly worried about the last developments. The EWL is
particularly concerned about the critical situation many gender-focused
non-profit organizations have been facing. In the light of the approaching EWL
General Assembly, there is consideration of making an official complaint to the
relevant European Union bodies about the Czech Republic and its E.U.
representatives for their long term lack of attention and effort to fulfill
E.U. gender equality indicators.
