Elected at the Equinet AGM in November 2021 and following a first fruitful online meeting kicking off their mandate in mid-December, the new Equinet Executive Board met last week, in person for the first time, to discuss Equinet’s strategic priorities ahead, as well as implementation of the current work plan 2022.
An upcoming ‘Letter from the Chair’ will update members with an overview of what we can expect between now and the legislative proposal being published in September. In the meantime, don’t hesitate to keep an eye on Equinet Standards page for further updates.
During the Executive Board meeting on 15 March, the latest developments on standards for equality bodies were discussed in detail, with the deadline for the EC consultation on 18 March just days away.
Updates were given on Chair Laurence Bond’s recent visit to Brussels, where he had the opportunity to meet with key partners at the European Commission, in the Permanent Representations of upcoming EU Presidencies, from the UN’s Europe office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, as well as civil society representatives.
Members of the board were updated on governance, finance and administration issues, including the official and effective move of Equinet Secretariat offices and address within Brussels (to Place Victor Horta 40, 1060 Brussels, Belgium) from 22 March 2022 onwards.
The Board Election procedures taskforce gave their initial suggestions on how to improve the elections procedures in the future, and it was agreed that they should work on a concrete updated proposal through amendments of the current system (including to geographical clusters currently used) ahead of the next June Board meeting. This would be signed off by the Board ahead of a vote at the AGM on 5 October 2022.
There was a dedicated discussion on communication and membership issues, including updates on the European Directory of Equality Bodies which we are still busy working on, as well as the development of our long-awaited Members’ restricted area. Calls for support by some members experiencing challenges were also discussed, such as the 2023 departure of Flanders from Unia, resulting in a reduction in both staff and resources for the institution, one of the two equality bodies in Belgium. See more on this issue in French/Dutch on their website.
Finally, there was a discussion on the impact of the war on Ukraine on equality bodies’ work, and we agreed to organize an ad-hoc meeting on this issue, due to take place on 29 March next.
On 16 March, we had dedicated sessions on our strategic planning process for 2023-2026 and the preliminary preparations of Equinet’s 2023 work plan. We will be engaging members in this same process through our Working Groups and broader members’ communication in the coming months.
L to r: Miha Lobnik, Valerie Fontaine, Robert Gajda, Lars Arrhenius, Rhoda Garland, Rainer Hiltunen, Silvia Porubanova. Missing in photo: Tena Simonovic Einwalter and Laurence Bond
The Executive Board meets at least four times a year, and is responsible for safeguarding and promoting the interests of the Network and all its members, as well as supervising the implementation of the agreed Strategic Plan and Work Plans. See here for the complete list of board members.