EKS
Women & Labour Market
1) About the project:
Women & Work Network (W&W Net)
I am going home full of ideas and new experiences. It is a real learning partnership and I am convinced that we can do things better together. (Galina Precup, Centre for Women Studies, Kishinev, Moldavia)
W & W Net is an international project focused on the position of women in the European labour market. It reacts on precarious and unequal positions of women in the labour market and aims to contribute to the change of the current situation. It was set up in spring 2003 in order to empower and train women activists to support disadvantaged women in Europe and to promote international sharing and co-operation as well as eliminate information barriers between women activists in Western and Eastern Europe.
Main aims of the project:
organise learning and interactive training for women activists from Europe
exchange of know-how and knowledge concerning successful projects, strategies and new ways of learning
build a network of partner organisations which work on the issues of women and labour market
promote effective strategies how to combat women's unemployment and discrimination
More than 200 women participated on the W&W Net project in the course of its existence. They came from 18 European countries, as far as Finland and Albania or Spain and Georgia.
2) Partners
- ProWomen Foundation (from Iasi, Romania)
- Community Connections (from Great Yarmouth, UK)
- International Labour Contact Net (from Vilnius, Lithuania)
- Bridge to Life (from Trutnov, Czech Republic)
3) Activities
International conference: "Women in Marginal Areas, Women in Precarious Economies", Great Yarmouth, UK, 17th - 20th September 2003
Apart from members of WW NET project, there were women from Albania, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Spain and UK. They came from women's organisation, grassroots groups, local community organisations as well as international networks. The event gave participants a great opportunity to learn „on the spot“ and compare their findings with their own work and reality as well as to build new partnership and co-operations. The main theme was focused on development of local communities and support of women from disadvantaged regions and their reintegration in the labour market. This unique and innovative event was took place in Great Yarmouth, which is a marginalised and disadvantaged area of East Anglia with high level of deprivation, high unemployment and high level of poverty. It was an exemplary place to see the serious problems, caused by structural and economical changes, which are taking place all over Europe, and their impact on women and families. The attendance of the conference enabled local women to meet other activists from local organisations and established contacts and co-operations. It also had a particularly positive impact on local community.
"I have learned about women's imagination and enthusiasm, group support and also friendly environment..."
International workshop: „Women's Learning and Practice in the Labour Market“, Iasi, Romania, 1st – 6th July 2004
The five-day interactive workshop was a great opportunity not only to learn more about the situation of women in the labour market in Romania, but also to get familiar with wide variety of different projects, particularly focussed on unemployed, early school leavers, single mothers and teenage pregnancies.
The participants came from Czech Republic, Lithuania, Moldavia, Romania, Serbia and UK, all working on different women's project and NGO's.
"It was very interesting to hear concrete examples of solving common problems. I am proud to be a woman and to be in this team. We can make together a strategy for the future and learn from our experience."
International seminar: „Women and the Labour Market – Combating Unemployment and Discrimination“, Janske Lazne, Czech Republic, 11th – 15th November 2004
The main issues of the international seminar were women's unemployment, work-related discrimination and precarious work with the focus on Central and Eastern Europe. There were about 40 women on the seminar from 14 countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Georgia, Germany, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldavia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain, and Great Britain.
The seminar aimed to:
- exchange and share information on the situation of women in the labour market in various European countries (aspects and comparison of EU/ new member states of EU/ candidate countries and other countries)
- introduce effective strategies and models for combating discrimination and unemployment (from the perspective of NGO's, state organisations, trade unions, grassroots women's groups, churches)
- inspire, support and empower women activists in Central and Eastern Europe
- promote networking among women's organisations across Europe and involve participants in W&W NET project in order to co-operate in fundraising strategies, joint projects, training, campaigning, advocacy and exchange of know-how and information
Seminar: "Women and the Labour Market - the Role of Trade Unions in Promoting Equal Opportunities , Prague, Czech Republic, 16th November 2004
Marieke Koning from ICFTU (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions) visited Prague and discussed with Czech trade unionists ways and to support women’s participation and leadership. This seminar was organised in co-operation with Prague office of Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.
Seminar: "Microcredits for Women - the Way out of Unemployment", Prague, Czech Republic, 17th November 2004
Caroline Forbes from WEETU, has given a lecture to Czech participants introducing a unique project focussing on microcredits for women, inspired by the work of Nobel prize winner Muhammad Yunus. This system enables disadvantaged and poor women to become self-employed. Otherwise, these women haven't any opportunity to raise a loan and thanks to this project they can become independent.
International workshop: "Motivation, Group Work - Women Homebased Workers and Women in Informal Sector", Vilnius, Lithuania, 1st – 5th December 2004, Vilnius, Lithuania
The workshop was organised as training for a group of Lithuanian women homebased workers. It took place in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania and it was hosted by the ILCN (International Labour Contact Net, a W&W Net member). The purpose of the training was to provide women with know-how and skills, which will enable them to work with homebased workers in their own areas and tackle some of the serious problems of involvement and integration in the community. More than 25 women joined the training. Some of them came from the capital, but most of them live in distant rural or formal industrial areas of the country, which are poor and very much disadvantaged.
This event was followed by another national meeting in January 2005. It was a round-table discussion which gathered together for the first time homeworkers together with specialists from the Ministry of Social Security and Labour, specialists on labour law and representatives of women's non-governmental organisations to talk about social guarantees for those people who work at home.
„Having participated in such workshops I now understand that there are quite a lot of people like me. Now I feel stronger, since I am not alone. We all together can change our lives. All we have to do is to be more active".
International workshop: „Three Years of Cooperation“, Great Yarmouth, Great Britain
The last meeting of the W&W members was organised in Great Yarmouth, which is the place where project started three years ago. It was a good opportunity for sharing and exchanging experiences and meet people from the local community who were participating on the very beginning of the project.
4) Outcomes
Publications:
Women in Precarious economies – Women in Marginal areas
This publication is the outcome of an international meeting of women activists in great Yarmouth, UK. It uses the local reality
of Great Yarmouth as a case study to show the impact of structural changes (linked with poverty, social exclusion, unemployment,
etc.) on the life of women. It also offers solutions to these problems and describes projects to support women.
price (including postage) 10 €
Women's Learning and Practice in the Labour Market
The report aims to give a brief outline of the presentations and projects focussed on disadvantaged and marginalised women
(single mothers, teenage pregnancies, women from disadvantaged rural regions, unemployed women etc.) so it can be used as
a tool for those women, who are engaged in the similar work. It also contains a simple handbook on evaluation, introducing
interesting and unusual methods, based on a workshop provided by Sue Smithurst, researcher, trainer and evaluator working
for Community Trust, Great Yarmouth, UK.
Women and the Labour Market – Combating Unemployment and Discrimination
Practically & Strategically
Examples of Good Practice from Europe
A collection of effective strategies and examples of good practice mainly from Central and Eastern Europe. This publication
describes trade unions activities, the campaign against discrimination of women in the labour market in Romania, self-employment
through microcredits in UK, women‘s self-support activities in Serbia, the ombudsman office for equal opportunities in Lithuania,
etc.
price (including postage) 10 €
Women & Work Network – Practical Tools for International Action
This publication describes, through a practical example, the steps to develop and maintain international activities and cooperation
between local women‘s organisations. It is focussed on practical advice and others interactive tools for self-support activities,
effective planning, organising, communicating and decision-making.
price (including postage) 15 €
5) Funders
This project has been carried out with the support of the European Union Programme SOCRATES GRUNDTVIG.
