Minister Mary White TD launched a new phase of the National Development Plan (NDP) to advance the role of women last week at Government Buildings.
The Minister of State for Equality, Integration and Human Rights told the gathering that the Government hopes to make over €2.1m available each year for the next four years to support gender focused initiatives through the Equality for Women Measure of the NDP.
Eligible projects include those that assist disadvantaged women to prepare for training, education or employment; help budding or developing female entrepreneurs; or support initiatives which help working women to move up the career ladder.
Minister White said that she expects that at least 40 groups will be able to avail of this funding stream of up to €50,000 each year, with extensions of the funding depending on the successful completion of each year’s work programme.
The new funding stream complements the €2m already made available to 36 groups under the first phase of the Equality for Women Measure in 2009-2010. Minister White acknowledged the support from the European Social Fund for this initiative.
She noted that 2010 celebrates the 15th anniversary of the UN Beijing Platform for Action, a global commitment by governments to foster gender equality.
The minister highlighted the “considerable achievements of the Irish Government to support women here since the publication of the Beijing Platform in 1995.
“This includes a major investment programme in quality childcare, a five-fold increase in child benefit, significantly extended maternity leave, to mention but a few.”
She added: “During this 15-year period, women have made a huge contribution to our economy as the number of women at work has almost doubled.”
Minister White emphasised the economic benefits of a progressive gender equality policy stating that “the benefits of achieving gender equality by supporting access to education and skills development, vocational and occupational training for the creation of a competitive workforce cannot be overestimated”.
Full details of the Equality for Women Measure 2010-2013 and application forms for funding are available on the Pobal website at www.pobal.ie.
