A democratic and inclusive society is one in which everyone has equal rights and opportunities. To pursue this goal, the European Union launched the seven-year CERV  (Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values) Programme.

In this context, Empower Women aims to promote a more inclusive and democratic Europe by promoting and ensuring gender equality in all EU Member States. It is a two-year programme which started in February 2024 and provides for interventions in four distinct areas considered essential for the promotion of gender equality: women and work, language, education and communication.

Empower Women is designed and implemented by the Municipalities of Vignola (Italy), L-Imġarr (Malta), Općina Mošćenička Draga (Croatia), Lousada (Portugal), Mesa Ghitonia (Cyprus), the Municipal Association Unione Romagna Faentina (Italy) and the cultural organization “liminal” (Greece).

 

Empower Women Actions

 

1) The inaugural Empower Women event organized in April by the Municipality of Vignola, Italy aims to inform students about gender equality, focusing on the 2006 European Charter for Gender Equality in Local Societies developed by the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR).
At the same time, a questionnaire will be distributed by the Women’s Documentation Centre (Centro documentazione donna) to explore awareness on gender equality.

Υou can find and fill in the questionnaire here.

 

2) Then liminal undertakes the training on Accessibility and Inclusion to municipal officials, social workers, teachers, health professionals and local organizations in the involved municipalities from Italy, Portugal, Malta, Cyprus and Croatia.

 

Next steps

 

Among the next actions of the programme, there will be both artistic and research activities involving all the countries involved:

In Cyprus, a workshop for students will be implemented to explore issues related to gender equality and human rights in the EU through visual arts.
In Croatia, a photography exhibition will be organized to explore barriers to women’s participation in the workforce, with a focus on underrepresented and marginalized groups such as migrant women.
Workshops and events will be organized in Malta, Portugal and Italy to exchange good practices, discuss legislation and its critical points, gender-based violence and explore how young generations perceive and deal with gender equality issues.
Finally, during and at the end of the programme, FemFest, a festival celebrating diversity, will be organized in Cyprus, Italy and Portugal with the main objective of creating a platform for dialogue, exchange of ideas and awareness-raising on the importance of gender equality.

 

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Co-funded by the European Union.
Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency of the European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.