National Women’s Leadership Academy, 2nd edition, organised with the EU support

30 women and girls from across the entire Republic of Moldova participated in the National Women’s Leadership Academy organised during 29-31 July 2021. They had the opportunity to deepen their knowledge in the field of gender equality, learn more about civic activism and how they can actively engage and participate in public life, as well as discover themselves as leaders.

The Academy’s programme has been designed to provide a range of theoretical knowledge about what gender equality means, how we define gender and sex, what gender stereotypes are, how we identify them, but most importantly how to cope with them.

The agenda focused on discussions about gender roles as social constructs at home, at work or in society, general aspects of gender identity, stigma and discrimination, leadership, women’s participation in political life and the challenges they face. Catinca Mardarovici, founder of the 50/50 Women’s Political Club also presented the women who have been actively involved in the social-political life of the country since independence.

Constanța Dohotaru, urban planner and activist, and Natalia Gârbu, documentary photographer and founder of Mahala Magazine discussed creativity and how to combine work with civic activism and how to bring to life creative campaigns and projects in support of women and girls. The activities in the mentoring session took place under the motto “Anyone can be creative”.

To seek inspiration and reflect on project ideas, the participants went on a hike along the Nistru River. All participants of the Academy were invited to think of a project idea/proposal with women and girls from their locality/community as beneficiaries.

The work of the National Women’s Leadership Academy will continue with the second stage, where 10 mini-projects of the graduates will receive funding for implementation. The projects will be selected through a competition.

The National Women’s Leadership Academy was organised by the Platform for Gender Equality through Gender Centru in partnership with ERIM and GENDERDOC-M within the project “Moldova Against Discrimination” implemented with the financial support of the European Union.