Women of Mediterranean, East and South European Network
Women of Mediterranean, East and South European Network was founded in Forlì in 1999 from the will to debate the gender equality issue on a transnational level, to contribute for the development of the discussion on around equal opportunities between women and men in each level of government, and to participate to the growing of democratic movement in war zone.
These certainly were ambitious goals, that should be achieved in a complex and opposing field, because of the insufficient presence of women in the political system, but it even was a realistic event for the growing of women’ knowledge and autonomy.
The decentralized cooperation experiences that WOMEN fulfilled in the past led to the awareness that the issue “gender and development” proceeds not only from a political request, but also from a social and economic analysis. To found the correct strategy of intervention it is necessary to verify the women level of poverty.
WOMEN takes inspiration from the fourth World Conference on Women of the United Nations (Beijing 1995), where has been highlighted that the mainstreaming of the gender issues and the women empowerment is a necessary system to contrast the poverty.
We can work for women like development and democracy’s active subjects in the economic and social sphere through dialogue between local development actors. This is possible thanks to partnership activities too.
WOMEN acts through international decentralized cooperation: institutions exchange good practices and intervention models in women’ policies. The very essence of the network is to be a place of exchange and growth between women with geographical and life experiences different backgrounds.
The great number of projects carried out over the years have had the power to connect women from completely different cultures in a relationship of mutual support and respect going beyond specific project results.
This network of relationship is the strong point of WOMEN because it keeps close attention to the discussion and the exchange of experiences around a common denominator: the one of gender equality.
Each project had its own specificity, its reason for being.
Important goals have been achieved and new paths been realized thanks to grassroots involvement: this have opened up different perspectives and they continue to develop opportunities even after many years.
A relevant example can be Women contribution to the birth of Hapa tr Lehte Association in Scutari, the association was established after two years of work as part of the project promoted by the ngo COSPE and called “Women as resource for local development: the Light Steps Woman center and Women office in the Municipality of Shkodra”
Since 2000, the Hapa tr Lehte Association continues to handle a public place to offer information services and spots for social relationships, to promote cultural activities and to set up strategies for social interaction.
Twenty years after its birth WOMEN keeps alive the target empowering the actions focused on the equal opportunities approach, creating new instruments able to ensuring the implementation of the equal treatment and to avoid the job discrimination, and trying to put the long standing gender issues at the centre of the political measures.