The final event that concludes the POWERS project was held in Rome on 25th of November.
The event hosted in the capital of Italy a delegations of 10 people representing the partners organizations and numerous guests who joined both online and in presence.
The final event was organized on a very symbolic day, the 25th of November the International day against women’s violence. The connection between the event and the day was stated since the first interventions done by the Presidents of the partners.
Economic and emotional dependence is, indeed, one of the great obstacles that prevent women from preventing and escaping toxic relational and work dynamics, creating those uncomfortable conditions in which abuse, violation and violence develop.
For this reason, the POWERS project has primarily focused on providing concrete tools for young women and men from Italy, Senegal, Spain and Portugal in order to help them build their entrepreneurial and working path and develop their economic and personal autonomy and self-determination to take decisions for themselves and their families and to favor the creation of a sustainable environment based on gender Equality.
“Despite the difficulties encountered due to the pandemic, the partners have worked hard to be able to achieve the pre-established results” sayd Sara Massini, president of AICEM “stopping violence against women and guaranteeing them more autonomy and equality is a crucial objective if we want a society fairer and more sustainable.”
“104 women have been killed in Italy this year alone” continues Mario Pozzi, president of MODAVI “it is clear that if we want to eradicate this plague we must not retreat even a millimeter. This is why MODAVI, also thanks to projects such as POWERS; continues to create concrete training and education actions that can support women’s freedom and professional and personal self-determination without forgetting to involve men in the process. For this reason, in fact, I am particularly proud of the project that ended today, because the action carried out also involved young men, contributing to combating prejudices and cultural patterns that favor violence against women”.
The event was also the opportunities to present what has been done during the projects in the countries involved, focusing, in particular, on the impact that the project, through its participants, had on the local reality.
The number of the project
The numbers of the project: 1 online training course and 1 face-to-face training for 36 trainers/social educators between men and women who then organized activities targeting women and men of their territories promoting gender equality and sustainable practices, for a total of 100 young women involved in Powers’ journey; 4 practical on-the-job observation courses for all participants carried out in in Senegal, Italy, Spain and Portugal according to the specific needs of the participants; over 10 entrepreneurial initiatives launched by the participants involved and 5 associative initiatives aimed at promoting gender equality and preventing violence against women initiated thanks to the support and monitoring of the project trainers.
The final product
The final meeting was also the occasion to present the final product of the project: The POWERS toolkit, a guidelines, that available online, aims to give practical tools and advices to people who wants to focus on the development of entrepreneurial skills and capacities to promote a more equal and sustainable society.