CiF vice-president Susana Labrador, along with social welfare councillor Vanessa Parellada and numerous representatives from local groups and associations, gathered today to hear Pilar Costa and Rosa Cursach speak about the crusade to stamp out domestic abuse. At 11.00am in the administration's plenary hall, the minister of the president's office of the Govern balear and the chair of the Institut Balear de la Dona gave a talk centred on what's being called the “pact against gender violence”.

Under code word ReAcció, the initiative launched by the Palma government and IB-Dona aims to galvanise people around concrete steps to denounce, prevent and eradicate violence against women.

According to the CiF vice-president, the Council will sign on to the ReAcció manifesto and pact at next Friday December 17's plenary gathering. She also highlighted a forthcoming plan for equality and a new framework for taking aim at gender violence locally. The social welfare councillor called the “social covenant” a way to meet the urgent need for active local involvement around the issue.

Visit www.reaccionem.com to read the manifesto and sign on to the conditions. Individuals can take part by pledging to participate in any one of a number of suggested actions. Groups and associations can propose their own ideas for contributing to the social pact.

Social welfare councillor Vanessa Parellada, together with Dolores Fernández Tamargo, chair of local women's organisation Espai Dones, and CiF social welfare office operating manager Azuzena Carrasco, unveiled the poster advertising the programme for the "International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women". The activities programme will start Friday and run through the following Saturday, November 26.

Activities
The women's association has scheduled a workshop aimed at strength building and personal improvement to be given by psychologist Pere Serra. The workshop is slated for Friday, 6.00 to 8.00pm, and Saturday, 10.00am to 12 noon, and will be held in classrooms of the Formentera adult learning centre, next to Mestre Lluís Andreu primary school. On Monday, November 21, there is a vernissage of Paz Die Dean's new exhibition, A corazón abierto, in the Council's exhibition hall (sala d'Exposicions). Wednesday, November 23, Formentera will receive a visit from Nadia Ghulam, a young Afghan on a mission to share her experience as a woman in Afghanistan under the Taliban. Her talk will begin at 7.00pm in the conference hall (sala d'Actes) of the Office of Culture.

The day of the celebration, Friday, November 25, will hold an afternoon replete with activities and events. At 5.00pm an informational stand will be set up at plaça de la Constitució in Sant Francesc, and at 5.30pm there will be a reading of a manifesto about eliminating gender violence. A 6.00pm workshop entitled Remodelarte will guide participants though the production of a collage at the Centre Antoni Tur “Gabrielet”.

Stand-up comedy and dinner
Saturday, November 26, stand-up comedian Patricia Sornosa will take the stage at the municipal cinema. Tickets for the show are priced at €8 or €5 for Espai Dones members. As ever, a communal dinner for all the women who wish to participate will be held at 9.30pm. Reservations can be made by calling 697 941 016.

The Formentera Council's social welfare office has announced forthcoming signups, October 17-31, for the administration's seventh course on social and cultural integration. The course is held twice annually; once in November and again in March. This round of classes will begin November 3 and run until November 29.

Space is available for 15, and anyone interested in participating should visit the Office of Social Welfare. A form of ID (foreign resident's card or passport) is needed for enrolment. The course, which includes a total of 20 hours of instruction, is given over two weekly sessions: Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4.30 to 7.00pm. Classes are held at the centre for adult learning, l'Escola d'Adults, and taught by Dolores Tamargo.

The course, which will turn on Spain's constitutional values, human rights and civil liberties, the so-named “statute of autonomy” guiding the Balearic region, the European Union, gender equality and other subjects, aims to educate students on the course content and furnish a certificate of completion. In particular, the course is geared toward immigrants and serves for renewals, to prepare students for the CCSE citizenship test and as integration accreditation in initial residency requests.

Benestar Social, the social welfare arm of the Formentera Council (CiF), hosted a coordination meeting today between the island's emergency service agencies and Minaya Benavente, the coordinator for the 112 emergency telephone number psychological counselling service. Vanessa Parellada gave details via press conference after the fact.

The councillor said the meeting served to “recount details of the deal struck this month between our emergency response agencies and the institute of psychologists”. Under the deal's terms, the number of psychologists on the service rises from 2 to 3. The coordinator called the service “essential to preventing a second process of victimisation” and underscored the assistance it affords at-risk groups.

The gathering was attended by representatives of the fire brigade, lifesaving and rescue services, local police, Guardia Civil, health workers and some of the psychological institute's member therapists, all of whom can use the service as necessary.