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More specifically in relation to PRIMA and its plan of actions, the principles set by the European
Commission in the documents above should be coupled with further documents, which more
specifically look at the situation in place in the Mediterranean areas in this project. This is the case
with the OECD report gender Equality in Public Life which specifically refers to cultural features in
Arabic countries and draws its set of recommendations for having gender balanced and aware
policies covering all aspects of public life.
This is just what
the OECD report on Gender Equality in Public Life aims to do: among objectives
from the report we read the call for empowering women to be effective policy makers and for
introducing inclusive approaches to policy making and to public service delivery, including
monitoring of these processes. The final Recommendations issued by the Council on Gender
Equality in Public Life back actions to promote: mainstream gender in the design, development, and
then in the implementation and evaluation of relevant public policies; accountability in relation to
these policies; achieve a balanced representativeness in decision-making bodies and in all spheres
of public life; and lastly fairness of treatment in public employment.
In light of the recommendations above, diversity in the MED region stands not just for raising the
awareness but also for introducing a fair level of sensitivity and then for becoming sympathetic with
any form of diversity that may be encountered in today’s life. Looking at the recommendations
above in depth, we see the added value arising from the first recommended action -- backing the
design, development and evaluation of these fair and diversity-sensitive policies – in the form of the
combination of different perspectives on common issues brought in from diversity, and how this
can enrich social and public life; and also how forms of diversity, which include all the cultural
dimensions grouped within PRIMA, should be, firstly, exploited and, then, valorised. Nowadays it is,
however, acknowledged that diversity can be regarded as a strength as much as that diversity
supports excellence13,14 (Gratton et al., 2007). It is therefore more important than in past years to
valorise differences both in research and in everyday-life; and then to create value through cultural,
diversity and gender awareness. This aim may be achieved within the PRIMA Initiative.
However, in relation to issues and actions of gender equality, equality treatment and opportunities,
non–discrimination, and rights of persons with disabilities,
PRIMA aims to steadily work for the
promotion of a fair level of:
-
Awareness of any form of diversity and gender equality since these can enrich and enhance
effectiveness and productivity
-
Inclusion, being this social or group-related, in relation to all forms of diversity made in the
previous point
-
Sensitivity
for environmental issues
-
Valorisation of the repository of knowledge in the fields of the PRIMA project
13
EC (2013), Gender Equality Policies in Public Research, Based on a survey among Members of the Helsinki Group on Gender in Research and Innovation.
14
LERU (2012), Women, Research and Universities: Excellence without Gender Bias [League of European Research Universities].