[women-rights] Workshop for young women's rights activists in CEE/CIS (Bratislava, 14-15 February 2003)

[***Crossposted from: AWID Resource Net "Announcements" Issue 139 
(Wednesday, December 4, 2002 ), Mod.***]

Upcoming event: "Bratislava Workshop" / UNIFEM - Regional Programme for
central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States /
14-15 February 2003 / Application deadline: 22 December 2002 / For an
application, please contact Jennet Arcara at: <jennet.arcara@undp.org> /
To join the Gender and Youth Network CEECIS Listserv [GEYNCEECIS] send an
email to:  <franziska.brantner@gmx.de>.

* Evento: "Taller Bratislava" / UNIFEM - Programa regional para Europa
Central y Europa Oriente y la República de Estados Independientes / 14-15
de febrero 2003 / Fecha límite para inscribir: 22 de diciembre 2002 / Para
un formulario de inscripción, contacte Jennet Arcara a:
jennet.arcara@undp.org / Para recibir información de la Red de Género y la
Juventud Listserv, mande un correo electrónico a:
franziska.brantner@gmx.de

* Atelier: "L'atelier Bratislava" / UNIFEM - Programme régional pour
l'Europe du centre et de l'est et la république des états indépendants /
14-15 février 2003 / Date limite d'inscription : 22 décembre 2002 / Pour
une formulaire d'inscription, veuillez contacter Jennet Arcara au:
jennet.arcara@undp.org / Pour engager avec le Réseau pour le Genre et la
jeunesse, veuillez envoyer un courriel au : franziska.brantner@gmx.de

Attention Young Women's Rights Activists in Central and Eastern Europe and
Commonwealth of Independent States (CEE/CIS):

Hundreds of young women and men across CEE and CIS are actively promoting
women's rights and gender equality. UNIFEM has supported young women
activists with the aim of ensuring that their voices are heard at
national, regional and global levels and that their particular concerns
and priorities receive adequate attention from policy makers.

The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) is committed to
facilitating strengthened communication and collaboration among youth on
gender equality issues that they face and to give space and time to
develop innovative strategies for the region.

Following initial consultations, UNIFEM held a survey among youth to get
further insights on their priorities and interests. The outcomes of the
survey questionnaires were discussed at the Global Forum of the
Association for Women in Development (AWID), held in Mexico in October
2002 at a meeting with youth representatives. This discussion is now
continuing online. In general, many youth feel that while the problems
that young women face in the CEE and CIS are often very similar, the
opportunities for dialogue and exchange of views and ideas across the
region are lacking. Youth from all sub- regions agree that they could
benefit from the opportunity to communicate more with each other, learn
from each other's experiences and develop common strategies and innovative
activities. Many agree that the establishment of a regional gender youth
network could be a good way to facilitate such opportunities.

As a next step towards building networking and communication among CEE/CIS
youth UNIFEM has agreed to sponsor a Strategic Workshop on Gender and
Youth for the CEE and CIS, to be held 14 to 17 February 2003 in
Bratislava. UNIFEM will support up to 15 youth who are dedicated to
working on youth and gender equality at the regional level to come to
Bratislava for the workshop. The goal is to build on the ideas generated
through the survey, the AWID meeting, and the online discussion--to
formulate a concrete strategy for institutionalizing and facilitating
networking on gender and youth issues in the region. Participants will be
required to commit to actively contribute to the workshop's follow up
activities, which will be investment of time and efforts on a volunteer
basis.  The working languages of the workshop will be English and Russian.

CEE/CIS youth interested in participating in the Bratislava Workshop
should request an application form and send it along with a current CV (no
more than two pages) and two letters of reference to Jennet Arcara at:
<jennet.arcara@undp.org> by 22 December 2002. Applications are encouraged
from:

- Youth from all CEE/CIS sub-regions who are active on gender issues in
local, regional, sub-regional, or international NGOs and/or advocacy
networks; and

- Youth activists with leadership experience and creative and innovative
ideas for meaningful networking on gender and youth in CEE/CIS.