Ei-iE

Begoña Suarez, Confederal Secretary of the Confederación de Sindicatos de Trabajadoras y Trabajadores de la Enseñanza (STEs), now chairs the Pan-European Equality Committee as well as the its working group until the next General Assembly of the EI Pan-European region.

Suarez, whose nomination was put forward by the three Spanish teacher unions represented at the committee (FE.CCOO, FETE-UGT and STEs), replaces Veronica Rankin from EIS Scotland.

Composed of 60 members representing 28 countries in Europe, the Pan-European Equality Committee is an advisory committee to the EI Pan-European Regional Committee. It meets once a year to discuss issues related to the position of women in unions and in education, and also addresses issues relating to equity and non-discrimination such as racism, LGBT, minorities' and children's rights.

Between meetings, members remain closely in touch through the electronic Pan-European Women's Network.

At its last meeting held from 1-2 April 2008 in Brussels, the Pan-European Equality Committee agreed to conduct a survey about the impact of pension reforms on women and the participation of teacher unions in the shaping of both EU and national policies on equality. Representatives at the meeting also discussed extensively strategies to increase the number of women in union leadership positions.

Please click on the image to watch a video interview of Begoña Suarez (in Spanish). For other interviews or for more information about the meeting, please click on the link below.