23 Amendments of Julie WARD related to 2015/2007(INI)

Motion for a resolution
Recital B

B. whereas these developments have strong potential for the empowerment of women, allowing access to information and knowledge beyond conventional means and providing a platform for expression, thereby opening up new opportunities to interact and campaign as well as inspire others to action with a view to defending the rights and freedom of women and LGBTI persons;

2015/12/18
Committee: FEMM

Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)

B a. whereas digital media and ICT have the potential of providing a platform for overcoming gender stereotypes, and closing gender-based gaps in education, skills, and women's representation;

2015/12/18
Committee: FEMM

Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)

G a. whereas promoting digital technologies and ICT have an important role to play in the EU's development cooperation policy, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly in socially and economically empowering women and girls, and lifting them out of poverty;

2015/12/18
Committee: FEMM

Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)

H a. whereas gender budgeting and gender mainstreaming can be used as tools to further gender equality; whereas gender-based perspectives should be taken into account at all stages of the Commission's work on digitalisation in Europe to ensure that women are not just included but are at the forefront of digital developments;

2015/12/18
Committee: FEMM

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5

5. Calls on the EU and the Member States to develop, support and implement the actions promoted by the UN and its bodies, notably in the framework of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and of the World Summits on the Information Society (WSIS), in order to strive for women’s empowerment in the digital age at European and global level; calls on Member States to communicate and share best practices with one another to promote an equal involvement of women in digital developments across Europe;

2015/12/18
Committee: FEMM

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5 a. Calls on the Commission to recognise that digital power is driving a new, stronger wave of awareness about gender issues and gender equality; highlights to the Commission the effectiveness of the internet for means such as campaigns, forums and giving visibility to female role models which all help to accelerate gender equality; therefore asks the Commission to consider women at the forefront of its Digital Agenda so that the new digital age can be a driving force towards furthering gender equality.

2015/12/18
Committee: FEMM

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)

7 a. Stresses the key role of international civil society in internet governance, through such forums as the Global Internet Forum; Calls on the Commission and Member States to engage with and support digital civil society organisations at grassroots and an international level, and advance the participation and representation of women and girls in all of these forums and networks;

2015/12/18
Committee: FEMM

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)

7 a. Calls on the Commission to recognise the importance of extending its Digital Agenda to rural areas so that all citizens, in particular women, are not excluded and isolated and can utilise all digital opportunities;

2015/12/18
Committee: FEMM

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9

9. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to address the severe underrepresentation of women in the ICT sector, in particular those in higher positions and on boards; urges the Commission and the Member States to ~~unblock~~recognise that the Directive on Equal Representation of Women on Executive Boards provides a real opportunity to change the culture inside companies which would lead to an impact across all levels of hierarchy, and therefore urges the unblocking of the Directive in the Council; urgently reminds the Commission of its responsibility to take any action that could help break the deadlock in the Council as regards EU legislation addressing transparency and greater balance in recruitment for decision-making positions;

2015/12/18
Committee: FEMM

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)

10 a. Highlights to the Commission the evidence that shows girls moving away from science, engineering, maths and technology subjects at school due to gender stereotypes surrounding these subjects and a lack of role models, thus leaving an underrepresentation of females in these subjects at University and extending into the work place; therefore urges the Commission and Member States to promote STEM education to girls from a young age;

2015/12/18
Committee: FEMM

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13

13. Underlines the importance of ensuring gender mainstreaming in the education sector by promoting digital literacy and the participation of women and girls in ICT education and training through the integration of coding, new media and technologies in education curricula at all levels, as well as extra-curricular, informal and non-formal education, and in all types of education and training, including for teaching staff, in order to reduce and remove digital skills gaps; highlights, in this connection, the importance of open educational resources (OERs), which ensure better access to education for all;

2015/12/18
Committee: FEMM

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)

13 a. Urges the Commission and Member States to facilitate education and lifelong learning aimed specifically at older women for the duration of their working life and beyond, in particular, to those with caring responsibilities and women who have taken a break from their career or are re-entering the workplace. This is to ensure they are not left behind in the increasingly rapid shift towards digitalisation;

2015/12/18
Committee: FEMM

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)

13 a. Notes that education in digital technologies, ICT, and coding at an early age is especially important in empowering girls, encouraging them into the field and overcoming gender stereotypes; Emphasises that increasing the representation of women in subjects of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in higher education is key to increasing their representation in the digital sector;

2015/12/18
Committee: FEMM

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 b (new)

13 b. Notes the important role and enormous potential that arts and design education, formal informal and non- formal, the creative industries, and the cultural sector have in empowering women and girls and propelling them into the digital sector; Emphasises therefore the importance of connecting between STEM and economic sectors education and the arts, transforming STEM into STEAM;

2015/12/18
Committee: FEMM

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)

15 a. Highlights the need for targeted policies to address and remove the specific barriers and multiple discrimination faced by women and girls from vulnerable marginalised communities, such as disabled women, ethnic minority women, LGBTI, rural, refugee, and Roma women, women carers, and women and girls with learning disabilities;

2015/12/18
Committee: FEMM

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 b (new)

15 b. Calls on the Commission and Member States to increase their support for the empowerment of women in digital sectors and ICT in development cooperation and EU external relations, through promoting digital education and enabling women's entrepreneurship through various tools including micro- finance schemes and support networks;

2015/12/18
Committee: FEMM

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16

16. Calls on the Member States and the Commission to make funds available and to improve access to funds for female entrepreneurs to create ICT-related businesses and digital start-ups, as well as women mentorship and peer-to-peer exchange networks, fostering innovation and investment within the EU;

2015/12/18
Committee: FEMM

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17

17. Holds that, especially with regard to the objective of the Digital Single Market Strategy of creating the right conditions for an innovative and competitive ICT environment and improvements for finance opportunities for SMEs and start-ups, women’'s access to funding, and financial services needs special consideration; Notes the importance of women's access to micro-finance in women's entrepreneurship;

2015/12/18
Committee: FEMM

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)

21 a. Highlights the role of social enterprise, and alternative business models such as mutuals and cooperatives in empowering women in digital entrepreneurship, and increasing the representation of women in digital sectors; Calls on the commission and Member States to promote social enterprise initiatives aimed at empowering women and girls in ICT;

2015/12/18
Committee: FEMM

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25

25. Calls on the Commission to launch and support e-literacy and training programmes, as well as awareness campaigns, thereby raising awareness of the potential risks of the digital world and how to counter them; calls on the Commission to promote campaigns against stereotypes in social media and digital media and to use the potential of digital media to eliminate stereotypes;

2015/12/18
Committee: FEMM

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26

26. Calls for the EU institutions, agencies and bodies, as well as the Member States and their law enforcement agencies, to cooperate and concretely coordinate their actions to counter the use of ICT to commit crimes related to trafficking in human beings, cyber-harassment and cyber- stalking; calls on Member States to adopt reporting portals so that citizens will have their own secure and confidential place online where they can report harassing internet users; calls for the EU Cybersecurity Strategy and the Europol Cybercrime Centre to cover these issues; calls on the Commission to promote training and capacity-building for victim support in digital matters, for police and judicial authorities, as well as psychological support during court cases related to the issue;

2015/12/18
Committee: FEMM