In its session of 11 November 2022, Luxembourg's Government Council (Cabinet) adopted a bill creating a legal basis for an observatory and a High Council for gender equality.
Luxembourg's Minister of Equality between Women and Men, Taina Bofferding, welcomed this step which intends to integrate the many projects and actions of the Ministry of Equality between Women and Men into a more factual, modern and sustainable framework.
Minister Bofferding explained the relevance of such a forward-looking approach: "Luxembourg is the EU country which has made the most progress in terms of equality between women and men over the last ten years. By adapting the legal framework and governance for gender equality, we are creating the necessary conditions to further improve our future results".
The bill in question guarantees the longevity of the observatory for gender equality by enshrining it in the legislation and provides for the addition of a technical committee, whose mission is in particular to analyse whether, and how, the statistical component of gender equality could be supplemented by areas other than those currently foreseen, namely violence, employment, reconciliation between professional and private life, decision-making, education, income and health.
The High Council for Gender Equality, for its part, will replace the Women's Labour Committee dating from 1984, by extending the missions of this advisory body to equality between the sexes, on the one hand, and to equality in all areas of life, on the other hand. This reform is provided for in the government's national action plan for gender equality and takes account of changes in society and their impact on the challenges facing equality policies.
"Gender equality, experienced on a daily basis in all areas of life, is a lasting goal and not limited in time. Together with the other members of the government, I am delighted with the success of our political choices, which should motivate us to invest more in analyses and regular exchanges and in an effective monitoring mechanism", concluded Minister Bofferding.
