Young men and women from Strășeni and Fălești are encouraged to initiate gender equality projects

Over 60 teens from Fălești and Strășeni districts received training in July on how to promote gender equality. The training included three modules – gender equality, social media and project management. The initiative was implemented by NGO “Institutum Virtutes Civilis” within the project “Young men and women for equality and non-discrimination – stage II” of the regional programme “Together against gender stereotypes and gender-based violence“, financed by the European Union and implemented by UN Women and UNFPA.

The project manager, Olesea Vladica, expressed hope that the discussions will help the teens understand why it is important that both girls and boys, women and men, have equal opportunities. “During these sessions, teenagers learned about the principles of gender equality, promoting non-discrimination through social media and how to write a project. We hope that they will be the ones who will contribute to the changes for the better in schools, the community or the locality they come from, through projects and efforts to promote the spirit of involvement, human rights and equal opportunities“, Olesea said.

Olga, a participant from Strășeni, believes that the training on gender equality was very useful and “she learned new things“. “I thought I knew a lot about equal opportunities, but I realized that there are many situations in which we don’t even realize that we are discriminated or discriminate others based on gender. It is good to know how to protect ourselves from such situations. I’m glad that this kind of training is taking place in the districts“, mentions Olga.

Another participant Valeria found the training engaging and interesting. “During the three days, I learned very useful information, including new promotion tools on social platforms. I would definitely like to participate in such sessions in the future“, Valeria said. In the opinion of her colleague, Bogdan, from Fălești, “Our generation is addicted to the Internet, but not necessarily in the bad way. It is critical to know all the dangers of this universe about which we know very little.”

In August, Institutum Virtutes Civilis launched a competition of grants for projects designed by teams of young men and women from the two districts aimed at promoting gender equality. Eight local initiatives from both districts will be supported with 20,000 MDL grants each.