Priorities on women's issues released

The P.E.I. Advisory Council on the Status of Women has let the provincial government know what it is going to be looking at when it prepares its next report card in 2018.

The council has identified 45 specific actions in nine categories that it will assess.

"We publish them as early as possible for government to be able to know what we wanted them to act on," said executive director Jane Ledwell.

"[We want to] make sure what has been promised comes to be. It provides a structure for monitoring and a way of asking government to report on specific things."

The nine categories are:

• Making equality a priority
• Women in decision-making
• Violence prevention
• Access to justice
• Women's health
• Supports for caregivers
• Adult education and training
• Diversity and inclusion
• Women's economic status

All 45 action points can be viewed here.

Ledwell said there are some issues the council will be particularly focusing on, such as making sure promises made earlier this year regarding reproductive health are kept.

The council also wants to make sure the voices of caregivers are heard as the government makes changes to the education system.

Ledwell said the province has been engaged on women's issues.

"The investment they are already making in the process makes me extremely hopeful that there is going to be some significant change by 2018, and that we'll get a chance to celebrate," she said.

The council is now working on a new schedule for report cards, publishing them in the third or fourth year of a government's mandate, allowing governments time to make significant improvements.

The last Equality Report Card was released in 2015.

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