All public bodies are required to comply with the disability, gender and race equality duties. We have decided to publish a scheme that demonstrates how we do this but also which goes further and extends to other areas: age; religion and belief; sexual orientation; gender identity and socio-economic status, as well as other communities of disadvantage such as migrants, travellers and caregivers. This scheme contains commitment to actions in all of these areas. It is designed to be consistent with our mission: to promote equality for women through dialogue and demonstrate our commitment to mainstreaming equality into everything we do.

The WNC has developed this draft scheme through discussions with staff and Board of Commissioners. We have followed the guidance published by GEO to help government departments meet their public sector duties, and we have had regard to the equality schemes published by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, and by our sponsor department, GEO.

Following agreement of the draft Scheme by Commissioners in the summer of 2009, WNC staff undertook a pilot exercise to apply the Scheme to all our programmes of work during September-December 2009. We reviewed progress in January 2010 and have used those findings to strengthen and improve elements of the Scheme.

We would like to invite all Partners and the wider public to offer their views on the revised Scheme as part of a period of public consultation.  We particularly invited the involvement of the disadvantaged groups whose concerns this scheme is designed to address. To achieve this we would like to encourage you to forward this email onto your networks, allowing us to gather as much feedback as possible to ensure our scheme is fully comprehensive and robust. Following amendments taking into account comments from our stakeholders, the scheme will be published on our website in April 2010.

To view the scheme please click here. Please feel free to offer feedback in the format that most suits, whether it be as a separate document, using track changes or highlighting text amendments. The Scheme will be available for consultation for a month, so all responses need to be completed by WEDNESDAY 17TH MARCH.

Please email feeback to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it by the above date. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any additional needs or questions.

Thank you in advance for your feedback.

With a 500% increase on outreach activities during the last 15 months, the WNC has consolidated its core commitment of staying in close and regular contact with its Partners, to hear your views and to share relevant news and developments on a range of gender issues. Over the last 12 to 15 months - our 40^th Anniversary year - there has been a significant increase in our activity which has been overseen by our Chair and Board of 14 Commissioners who have either chaired or been personally involved in all of the activities and we want to thank all of you who have participated in these events. We would therefore like to take this opportunity to provide you with a summary of this activity in order to keep you informed of work. Click on the charts to see the full image.

The Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union (January-June 2010) hosted the European Women’s Forum–Beijing+15 in the Palace of Congress of Cadiz on 4^th- 5^th February 2010.

The Event was attended by official delegations of the 27 Member States and a number of Ministers. Unfortunately the UK Minister Vera Baird, who was due to speak on the second day of the conference was detained in London on political business, and Barbara-Ann Collins, Director of the Women’s National Commission was recommended by the UK Government to speak for the UK. Barbara had been invited to join the Delegation as a representative of UK civil society, together with invited NGO representatives from across the EU.

Government funding for voluntary agencies that provide support to victims of sexual violence will be streamlined with the establishment of a one-year combined fund for 2010/11.

The fund has been created by merging the Office for Criminal Justice Reform Victims Fund and the Government Equalities Office Special Fund, in order to simplify the application and administration process for voluntary organisations in the sector. The combined fund will mean there is a single application and monitoring process.

Agencies can make applications for both sets of funding from 27 January until 22 February 2010 and grant awards will be announced in March.

Details of how to apply, application forms and eligibility criteria can be found here