The GEPLE group are meeting in Prague for joint staff training, and to develop our work builiding a platform for shared knowledge. We hope this will increase the number of women in politics across Europe and around the world. Our hosts this week are Forum 50% a Czech non-profit organisation supporting equal participation of women and me in politics and in decision making. Thanks to Forum 50% for putting together a fantastic programme! Katinka from Finland shares her experience of Day 1 with GEPLE here:
My first impressions of the GEPLE joint staff training in Prague
On my first day in Prague I did not know exactly what to expect, even though I had heard about the group and the project from Ann-Sofie Backgren. It took a while before I had some kind of idea of what Women for Election from Ireland is doing, how Forum 50 % in Prague is working, what Active Women Association in Poland is specifically focused on, and on top of that listening to the presentation of Minerva 21 given by the founder, Rostya Gordon-Smith! But all I can say is that it turned out to be a very meaningful and interesting meeting.
The central topics of the day were how to find the women to run for elections and engage in public life, what the content of the courses organized for them should be and should some courses have an admission cost. Several practical examples were given and exchanged:
- Listen, observe and find out what the women need and are interested in and let them start where they are.
- Give them self confidence to dare by focusing on solution orientated actions. Also different mindsets of people from different countries, regions, history, religion and language should be taken into consideration when recruiting people to take more responsibility of their lives and society.
- Support all women!
All in all it has been a great honour and pleasure to get to know and listen to all these active, engaged and hard working women and to hear their presentations about their different organizations and the ways they are finding best practices to do things.
Thank you to you all!
Katinka von Kraemer Vice President of The Women’s Organisation of the Swedish People’s Party in Finland
The GEPLE Project 