The Basque Research Team engaged in a conference call with Ander Bergara Sautua, the Head of Institutional Cooperation at Emakunde, the Basque Institute for Women, on December 3. Ander shared details of the ongoing annual forum, an important campaign that spans the course of three months. Since October 5, Emakunde has been collaborating with representatives from public administration, the private sector, and schools to promote and implement their many gender equality initiatives. More specific outcome documents from the forum, which last year brought together around 100 companies and 500 participants, will be released following the end of the campaign on December 18.
The forum aims to increase implementation of Emakunde’s many educational training programs. Ander described a two-sector approach to spreading the word. Within the educational sector, Emakunde trains primary and secondary school teachers on material aimed at preventing violence against women. Within the private sector, the institute works with corporations to increase gender equality within the workplace. From working to eliminate sexual harassment to drafting gender-sensitive clauses for company contracts, Emakunde’s programs seek to promote more inclusive corporations. Emakunde rewards companies that have exceptional progress through subsidies.
Ander noted that Emakunde has also engaged in collaboration on an international scale. The institute has worked on programs with both UN-Women and UNFPA (the U.N. Population Fund) on gender-budgeting and gender-based violence. Ander shared that Emakunde is currently deciding which issues to focus on for the coming year, but will continue current initiatives while exploring new areas of collaboration. The Basque Research Team reiterated their interest in collaborating with the institute, and hopes to have the opportunity to contribute to Emakunde’s 2016 research agenda. In the past, research has focused on gender equality and changing values within the Basque Country. The team looks forward to meeting with Ander and the Emakunde staff in their upcoming January visit to the Basque Country, and hopes to return the welcome when the institute visits NYC in March for the U.N.’s Commission on the Status of Women.