JUGGLING
ROLES
Women have always had to
make choices about how they use their time and which roles
to prioritise as they go through life - and nowadays they're
under increasing pressure.
To look at the challenge
this presents women today, the UK Baha'i Office for the Advancement
of Women organised a conference called "The Juggle",
held in November last year in Leicester. The event was sponsored
by the Association of Baha'i Women UK, together with organisations
such as Leicester City Council, Office World and Boots.
More than 160 participants
from around the UK and Europe attended the conference, which
included presentations, panel discussions, workshops and briefing
sessions. The briefings covered four topics: social inclusion,
consultation, "family-friendly" policies, and cultural
diversity. Workshop sessions discussed
issues such as disability, homelessness, HIV/AIDS, time management,
rural issues, teenage pregnancy, stress management, spirituality
in the workplace, and information technology. All sessions
considered these topics in relation to women, work and family
life.
The welcoming address was
given by Veejay Patel, Leicester Council's deputy leader with
special remit for equality issues. Keynote speeches were made
by Baroness Christine Crawley, chair of the Women's National
Commission and Dr Wendi Momen from the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Baha'is of the UK. The closing address was
given by the Rt Honorable Patricia Hewitt MP, Minister
for E-Commerce and Small Business.
The full report of "The
Juggle" will be published in March 2001. However, action
points taken from the workshops and briefing sessions were
incorporated into an executive summary, and launched at a
follow-up meeting to the conference held in January 2001.
With over 50 present at this briefing session on Women in
Higher Education, the Sciences and IT, it was a noteworthy
successor to "The Juggle" conference.
Professor Helen Haste, head
of Bath University's psychology department, and Dr Gillian
Youngs, senior lecturer in Mass Communication at the University
of Leicester, were two of the panellists at the session, which
was chaired by Baroness Christine Crawley.
A number of other parliamentarians
were present and many more asked for the papers from the meeting.
The results of this briefing session will be progressed through
the Science Forum of the Women's National Commission.
Other events organised in
conjunction with the conference included: a reception at Rushey
Mead school with a lively multi-cultural programme and speeches
by Mel Reid MEP among others; a reception organised by the
Leicester branch of the Association of Baha'i Women; activities
for girls including a specialist IT session on earth science
research; and a training weekend on CEDAW (Convention on the
Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women).
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