Charity marks a milestone in its fight for women
WELSH charity Chwarae Teg has revealed its ambitions for gender equality in Wales as it celebrates 25 years of working on behalf of the nation’s women.
Chwarae Teg’s chief executive, Cerys Furlong, says Wales has a real opportunity to take action to tackle the barriers and challenges that women face.
She said the economy and society as a whole would benefit from women being empowered to play a full role in the economy and achieve their potential.
In the next 25 years it is specifically aiming to close the gender pay gap, see Wales become a world leader in gender equality, ensure women are fairly represented at all levels and prevent all families in Wales from living in poverty.
The charity would also like to see girls growing up with the belief that they can achieve anything and are not restricted by their gender.
Ms Furlong said: “Our mission at Chwarae Teg is to inspire, lead and deliver gender equality.
“Since 1992 we’ve been working to help ensure that women in Wales can enter the workplace, develop their skills and build rewarding careers.
“While much has changed in the 25 years since Chwarae Teg came into being, there is still a lot of work to be done before women can play a full role in our economy.
“The gender pay gap still stands at almost 15% overall in Wales, but is as high as 30% in some sectors and in some parts of Wales.
“Women are most likely to be in part-time employment – in Wales 80% of part time workers are women.
“And 44% of lone parents – of whom we know the majority are women – are living in poverty.”
To celebrate the charity’s longstanding work, it is holding a “Festival in a Day” for schools and the local community in Cardiff.
The event is being held at the Tramshed in Grangetown and will feature a range of interactive workshops to enable young women to try their hands at a variety of careers such as construction, broadcasting and computer coding.
Helen Bradley, strategic communications lead at Chwarae Teg, said the event has been organised to encourage young women to consider professions they may not necessarily be associated with.
As well as celebrating what the charity has achieved over the past 25 years, it is also working on what it can do to improve.
Helen said: “We’ll be speaking to young women about what they want to see and what they are worried about.
“Are they worried that they will face harassment, for example?
“We’ll discuss what they want to see happen in the next 25 years.”
Ms Furlong believes gender inequality is not inevitable, but she says a “cultural change” is needed to make it possible.
She claims there needs to be more support given to childcare, with a shift towards shared parental leave, and also called on schools to show children that there should be no difference between the aspirations and ambitions of boys and girls.
Ms Furlong added: “Chwarae Teg begins the next 25 years striving to ensure that Wales is leading the way by delivering gender equality for all.”
The Festival in a Day takes place at the Tramshed today from 1.30-5pm.