Gender mainstreaming in the EU

Virginija Langbakk, Director of the European Institute of Gender Equality (EIGE) based in Vilnius Lithuania, talked to the European Parliament's Women's Committee and urged action on gender issues. "I'm happy I was not born 100 years ago (but) we don’t have another 100 years. Europe can no longer afford to live with the existing gender gap."
The EU has come a long way towards closing the gender gap but women still make up only 14% of ambassadors, 9% of university deans, 3% of large company presidents and 2% of ministers. Women on average earn €2 an hour less than their male counterparts and do 13 hours more work in the home.
The institute will develop a Gender Equality Index aimed at assessing progress in gender equality in Member States. It encourages citizens to nominate candidates for its annual calendar on "Women inspiring Europe" and will use social media networks to spread positive role models of successful women.

The Social Watch network has already developed a similar index measuring gender discrimination in more than 150 countries