Monday, 17. 10. 2016

First Gender Equality Action Plan in the City of Ljubljana

On 28 June 2016, the City Council of the City of Ljubljana adopted the Gender Equality Action Plan in the City of Ljubljana for the period from 2016 until 2018.

The document represents a continuation of endeavours of the City of Ljubljana towards an inclusive society for all – women and men, employees of the city administration, public institutions and public companies, and all citizens.

Gender equality is a fundamental human right and a basic value of a democratic society. It means that all of us, regardless of gender, have equal chances and opportunities to reach our potential and assert our rights in all areas of life – political, economic, social, educational, healthcare, cultural and private.
The City of Ljubljana has many cases of good practises in the field of gender equality – e.g. gender balance in the City Council, high representation of women in decision-making positions in public institutes and public companies of the City of Ljubljana in almost all areas, good public and support child care services, well organised elderly care services, and the adopted action plan will further improve the
implementation of the gender equality policy.

The action plan is divided into 8 areas:
- integration of the gender equality principle,
- decision-making processes,
- economic independence,
- balancing professional, family and private life,
- traditional societal roles and stereotypes of women and men,
- social inclusion of vulnerable groups of women and men,
- prevention of violence against women,
- tolerance towards the LGBT community.

At the beginning of each chapter there is a short description of the field, the current situation in the field in the City of Ljubljana and priorities and aims in this filed in the proposed period. The aims in individual fields, together with measures, individual activities, indicators, operators and the deadlines for implementation, are then determined in a joint table of measures. Measures for the attainment of aims are focused not only on the activities within the City Administration of the City of Ljubljana but also outside its framework, especially in the sense of awareness-raising. The eight aims of the action plan and the 21 measures set priority tasks for improving the position of women, that is, for ensuring sustainable development of gender equality in individual areas in the next two years. With the adopted action plan the City of Ljubljana will continue to adhere to the equality principle and create an environment in which both female and male residents can fully develop their potential and live productive and creative lives according to their needs and interests.