30 young male and female activists who want to develop in promoting and protecting gender equality have joined the first cycle of training within the "Equality. Leadership. Future" initiative.
“UN Women's new strategy on youth and gender equality aims to provide more opportunities for young people to partner in achieving gender equality. To empower young women and men, including representatives of youth organisations, and help them become agents of change, UN Women is working with the NGO Girls and our government partners on this important initiative. We hope it will inspire you and your organisations to become more visible and active advocates for gender equality”, said Julia Broussard, Deputy Representative of UN Women in Ukraine.
The participants, representing various civil society organisations, attended a three-day training in Kyiv, which focused on analysing and counteracting gender stereotypes, planning advocacy campaigns, storytelling basics, working with different media formats, promotion strategies, ethical issues and standards, etc.
“This initiative is in line with our values and vision. We provide our support and funding to emphasise the leadership of women, in particular those representing youth organisations, as well as the work of youth organisations in this area”, said Maria Krish, the Programme Coordinator for Latin America, Asia and Europe at the UN Women's Fund for Peace and Humanitarian Action.
In the future, the participants will be trained in an open-space format, where they will be able to generate ideas and develop advocacy campaigns to promote gender equality.
The three best advocacy campaigns will receive funding for their implementation.
“Persistent gender stereotypes continue to exist in our society. They negatively affect both society as a whole and each individual, limiting economic opportunities, participation in political life, and human development. The “Equality. Leadership. Future” initiative is primarily aimed at overcoming gender stereotypes and is a unique opportunity for young people to make an important contribution to combating gender stereotypes in Ukraine”, said Natalia Bohdanova, Head of the Expert Group on Combating Human Trafficking, Domestic Violence and Gender Equality of the Directorate for the Development of Social Services of the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine.
The NGO Girls implement the "Equality. Leadership. Future" initiative within the framework of the UN Women’s project "Strengthening Women's Leadership for Resilient and Peaceful Communities" funded by Denmark, and "Transformative Approaches to Achieving Gender Equality in Ukraine" project funded by Sweden and implemented in collaboration with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, and in partnership with the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine. The initiative "Equality. Leadership. Future" is also financially supported by the Women's Peace & Humanitarian Fund (WPHF).
