WOMNET would like to invite you to the international conference „EU gender politics in an international context. Gender perspectives and gender indicators.” which will be held from 2nd to 3rd July, 2009 in European Academy Berlin, Germany.
The conference will be accompanied by the opening of the photography exhibition “Through Their Eyes” prepared as a part of the KARAT’s project.

Program of the conference is available HERE

At a time of financial crisis the millions of women, who are employed in factories and workshops and make the clothes on sale in supermarkets, are paying for the profits of the gigantic global retailers such as Carrefour, Tesco, Aldi, Lidl, and Walmart.

 

This is the conclusion from the Clean Clothes Campaign report “Cashing In: Giant retailers, purchasing practices, and working conditions in the garment industry”. KARAT Coalition has prepared the Polish version of the report. It is now available both in electronic and in printed format.

On June 19, 2009 a conference: “Labour Rights of Women employed in Supermarkets – preventing infringements, protection, improvement of the working conditions” took place in Warsaw. It was the next event from a cycle of meetings organised within the project "Labour Rights Protection from Gender Perspective in Super/Hypermarkets in Poland”.

 

The aim of the conference was to emphasis the poor working conditions offered by super/hypermarkets to their employees, in majority women, as well as ways of protecting labour rights and preventing the abuses and violations. It is especially important in times of economic crisis, when we observe in Poland that amendments to e.g. Labour Code, instead of strengthening, weaken the position of the most vulnerable groups of employees.

 

Latest KARAT News for April & May is now available HERE

 

Enjoy your reading!

 

On the occasion of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day on May 17, thousands of signatories will put pressure on mobile phone companies across Europe to pay greater attention to fair labour standards. "This campaign, organised by makeITfair, collected more than 8,000 signatures calling for fair pay and better labour rights in supplier countries such as China. It shows that consumers are beginning to be more aware about the source of their mobile phones and that there is a demand for fair phones,” says Esther de Haan from makeITfair coordinator SOMO. More than half of all mobile phones in use worldwide are produced in China. Migrant workers work up to 12 hours a day, earning only around 40 Euro cents an hour, which is not enough to cover their basic living expenses.

Slovak Center For Communication and Development and Project Partners

have a pleasure to invite you

to an opening of the photography exhibition “Through Their Eyes” which will be held on 11th of May, 2009 in Bratislava Apollo Business Centre.

 

The new report titled “Out of control. E-waste trade flows from the EU to developing countries” was published by SwedWatch as a part of the makeITfair Campaign.
 

As the consumption of electronics has increased rapidly the last years, so has the waste made up of discarded products. The UN estimates that up to 50 million tonnes of e-waste may be generated in the world each year, which is enough to fill a line of trucks stretching half way around the entire globe. - wrote Sara Nordbrand, project coordinator from SwedWatch.
 

For more information read the report or write to Marta: marta.gontarska@karat.org.pl

KARAT Coalition, together with project partners, invites applications for participation in the training on the Optional Protocol to CEDAW convention which will take place in Warsaw, Poland, on 15-18 September 2009.

 

The training is organized jointly by KARAT Coalition and IWRAW Asia Pacific and is part of the project “Building towards Eastern European and Central Asia NGO Coalition on Optional Protocol to CEDAW” implemented by KARAT Coalition and supported by OXFAM Novib.

 

The training is intended for women’s rights activists and lawyers recommended by women’s NGOs from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The participation of women from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan is organized by Women’s Support Center and supported by HIVOS.

 

 

makeITfair & GoodElectronics have the pleasure to inform you
of the round table for the electronics industry and civil society organisations
"Improving Labour Standards in the Global Electronics Industry - Defining Strategies that Work"
May 7-8, 2009, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

 

Spring issue of KARAT News is now available HERE

Enjoy your reading!

KARAT Secretariat in Warsaw, Poland is seeking the Project Officer.

Deadline for applications: 20 April 2009

It's not very easy to make pressure on multinational companies to make them change their behaviors and take full responsibility for their acts, but with mass movement it works! Helps us by simply signing a postcard and disseminating this information to your friends and networks.

 

 

Please take a minute to follow this link to the makeITfaire website, to send a digital postcard to your mobile phone company to make sure that workers in factories making parts for your phones are paid a living wage for a normal working week.

makeITfair's new report Playing with Labour Rights tells that hiring workers through labour agencies is increasingly common in the electronics industry. This report is the first study ever on working conditions in the production of game consoles and portable music players, products used mainly by young consumers in developed countries.