ECICW European Centre of the International Council of Women
CECIF  Centre Européen du Conseil International des Femmes

European Centre for the International Council of Women

Founded in 1961 in Axenstein (Switzerland )
Granted participatory status with the
Council of Europe and through ICW with the UN

ECICW is the European Centre of the International Council of Women (ICW), which was founded in 1888 with the themes Equality, Development and Peace. ECICW, a non-governmental organisation, founded in Switzerland in 1961 and registered in Finland, has followed these concepts consistently.

ECICW has a Participatory Status with the Council of Europe (CoE) and through ICW a Consultative status with the UN. ECICW is one of the founding members of the European Women’s Lobby (EWL).

Twenty-three National Councils of Women, sixteen of these in countries within the European Union now form the ECICW. Together they represent 10 million women through their 850 member organisations.

ECICW members are in the following 23 countries:
Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, FYROM, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, The Netherlands, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine.

• Aim

- ECICW’s aim is to empower women and to promote their participation in decision-making at national and European levels; to support human rights and to eliminate all kinds of discrimination; to encourage sustainable development and peace.

• Principal tasks

- To make women's opinions heard and to promote their participation in European decision-making institutions

- To promote collaboration among ECICW member organisations and co-operation with the International Council of Women as well as with other organisations and networks

- To collaborate with the Council of Europe, UN Agencies such as UNICEF and UNIFEM, and with the European Women's Lobby.

Organisation
All National Councils are themselves umbrella organisations, with up to a hundred affiliated bodies. All are non-party-political and non-profit making associations. They work in all parts of society in co-operation with other non-governmental bodies concerned with gender issues, both national and international. Member Councils are often asked to respond to Government papers e.g. on legislation.

From the outset, in 1961, every effort has been made for good co-operation and exchange of ideas between the Councils, and this has contributed considerably to their development.

Activities and Monitoring
ECICW studies and monitors questions relating to the situation of women in Europe. It presents motions and statements, and responds to initiatives from various authorities at the European level.
Activities of ECICW include information, education, seminars, training and discussion sessions.
Some of the areas of work during recent years have been : prevention of trafficking in women; housing; poverty; fair trade; pensions; social security; health; the environment; equality; refugees; ageing; osteoporosis; violence against women and other areas of the Beijing Platform for Action.

ECICW as well as National Councils emphasize the need for good connections with the media.

• Seminars and Projects

During recent years the following subjects have been dealt with in seminars:
- Women and poverty
- Women in decision-making positions
- Equal opportunities for women and men – comparison of the legislative basis and programmes in the European Union and Russia
- Women in the public domain – sustainable development in the field of habitat and the role and active participation of women on the local level
- Women and economics and the media
- Women and advancements in bio-technology
- Democracy and the enlargement of the EU
- Women and health
- Trafficking in women and girls
- Violence against children and women in contemporary society