European Parliament launches its first European Gender Equality Week

At the initiative of the Women’s Rights Committee, the European Parliament is holding its first ever European Gender Equality Week from 26 to 29 October.

2020 sees the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. This important milestone provides an opportunity to discuss the achievements and future challenges for the advancement of girls’ and women’s rights and gender equality. Therefore, the European Parliament, at the initiative of the Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee, decided to hold for the first time a European Gender Equality Week from Monday 26 to Thursday 29 October.

To mark the occasion, all EP Committees have been invited to either hold a debate, a presentation, an exchange of views, or a hearing on topics related to gender equality, and many of them replied favourably. To name just a few, the Civil Liberties Committee will hold a hearing on human trafficking on Monday evening, the new special Committee on Beating Cancer will hold a public hearing on ‘‘Beating breast cancer: challenges and opportunities’’ on Tuesday afternoon, and the sub-committee on Human Rights will organise an exchange of views with prominent women activists on Wednesday morning.