Tel Aviv asks residents: How do we make city gender-equal?
The Tel Aviv Municipality offers residents a chance to make social change in the public sector.
By TAMAR URIEL-BEERIRothschild Boulevard scene, Tel Aviv, 2020(photo credit: KFIR SIVAN)
The Tel Aviv Municipality has enlisted the public to help it think of new ways to advance gender equality in the city.The municipality's Resilience and Social Equality Authority has therefore launched a call for proposals from the public where people may submit suggestions for a variety of changes, initiatives, events and programs that will help the city advance a gender-equal morality in the public sector.Efrat Makin-Knafo, head of the authority and mayoral advisor for gender equality, explained that the initiative was born out of a vision in which "gender equality is a critical component in strengthening the socioeconomic resilience of the entire society."From the public's suggestions, a plan will be formulated which intends to tackle day-to-day issues revolving around gender gaps, such as the movement to combat violence against women and the advancement of female leadership, as well as women-led businesses and initiatives, and the general advancement of gender equality in the public sphere.The proposals will be evaluated by "professionals in the municipality.""The coronavirus pandemic has deepened the gender, social and economic inequalities that preceded it," said Zippi Brand Frank, Tel Aviv-Yafo deputy mayor and chairwoman of the municipality's Committee For Advancing The Status Of Women."There are already major disparities between women and men in every aspect of life, and the current crisis has made them worse," she said. "The municipality recognizes the importance and urgency of advancing true gender equality in the city and, accordingly, we have immediately advanced a strategic plan to reduce disparities and to promote women in all walks of life."The status of women in contrast to men in Israel has apparently worsened over the past few years. The 2019 World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report 2020 showed Israel in 64th place, having fallen 18 spots from the 46th place it had maintained the previous year.In July, the Women's Emergency Headquarters demanded that budgets be planned in accordance with movement towards gender equality in the economic sector. A grouping of organizations demanded that the government acknowledge the numerous impediments women face due to gender gaps, and create a long-term plan that would improve the situation.
