This February I joined a team of young people for a training that happened in Kaunas, Lithuania, between 9th and 16th of February. The training was addressing gender issues, including gender based violence (GBV) and gender inequality. During the whole week we share different experiences and cases of violence, learned about the differences between sex and gender, develop personal action plans that deal with GBV on local/national level and created a publication about activities that are related with dealing with the topic of GBV and disseminate it though the partner’s networks.
The project in general was a very important and valuable experience for me as a youth activist and volunteer but also at the same time as a young person. I liked the workshops and sessions as much as the free time spent with the other participants from Serbia, Cyprus, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Egypt, Bosnia, Italy, Moldova, Greece, Iran, Ukraine, Netherlands, Turkey, Malta and Tunisia and sharing our cultural backgrounds and life stories. All in all it was valuable and made me a richer person with knowledge, experience and wisdom. I am happy that I could upgrade my competences, such as leadership, team work, debating, public speaking etc. by working with an open and creative team.
The project in general was successful and really great. I achieved my goals by meeting new people, learning a lot on the topic and upgrading my personal skills. The only difference I would make if I could organize this project all over again would be the duration of the training course, because I consider 6-7 days not long enough to go deep in this complex topic. Therefore I am looking forward to start similar activities here on local level, and be able to explore deeper the topic of gender issues and raise awareness about the gender based violence.
Elena Manevska