The WNC is the official, independent, advisory body giving the views of women to the Government, and is the only organisation of its kind in the UK. The WNC acts as a bridge between women and government and ensures that women’s voices are heard by policy makers and are heard in public debate. The remit of the WNC is to ‘ensure that, by all possible means, the informed opinion of women is made known to Government’. Some of the ways we do this include:
We are always keen
to recruit new partners and we target those in
under-represented sectors and regions. We recently held a
joint event with Equality South
West, in Taunton. It was
a very successful event, enabling us to forge stronger ties
with women in this region, better informing them about our
work and highlighting to Government, particular issues of
concern to women. One of the most significant issues was
transport and public transport in particular, especially
its quality and availability. Other topics raised included,
childcare, caring, children affected by domestic violence,
equal pay, funding for local groups, and media
representation of women and minority communities, including
the traveller community. It was inspiring to witness so
much healthy discussion and debate. We are hoping to have
events in Wales, Northern Ireland and possibly the North
East in the near future.
Earlier this year, WNC began working with the Cabinet
Office on a new initiative to encourage more women to apply
for posts on public bodies. Working with four Government
departments we are publicising widely, a selection of
current advertisements for posts on the boards of public
bodies and are encouraging women with the right skills and
experience to apply. We are also working closely with the
Government on the recently established Taskforce to address
the under representation of Black, Asian and Minority
Ethnic (BAME) Women Councillors. This initiative lies at
the heart of Ministers’ priorities for women, which Harriet
Harman set out last summer. We are delighted to be working
on this and hope some of you will want to get involved as
well.
For
further information on the WNC or to become a partner,
visit our website at:
http://www.thewnc.org.uk/index.html
Newsletter
Issue 15: September 2008