Fifth anniversary of 1000women initiative

Award of letters of recognition for the most prominent patrons coupled by the permanent display of authentic handicrafts at the Palace of Serbia, marked the five-year anniversary of the "1000 Women" initiative that created over 22,000 hours of working hours for hundreds of women from the rural areas through economic empowerment programs and promotion of handicrafts as business and diplomatic gifts. The event was organised by the Ethno Network under the auspices of the Coordination Body for Gender equality and in co-operation with NALED, the UN Women agency and the Embassy of Canada.

The initiative was launched with a mission to remove the perception of rural women as a social category in need of help and promote this target group as a strong economic potential that is rapidly progressing with the right support. The aim was to provide long-term unemployed women with professional and marketing support and market access so that by making handicrafts, they could provide self-employment and income generation opportunities. During the five years of work, craft colonies were established in 6 cities that particularly value women and cultural heritage Sombor, Pirot, Inđija, Loznica, Novi Pazar, Stara Pazova, while the handiwork of Serbian women was also on display at the famous World Expo 2020 in Dubai.

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We are encouraged by the fact that over the past five years we made these hardworking women heard, and presented the value of their efforts through handicrafts that have found their place in important state institutions, such as Government Buildings in Belgrade and Novi Sad, as well as prominent Belgrade high-class hotels. We have also successfully conducted training programs for over 100 long-term unemployed women and also expanded the circle of donors who faithfully support our mission and work, including UN Women, UNDP, the Canadian Fund, said Violeta Jovanovic, Executive Director of NALED and President of Ethno Network.

Zorana

Dimitrijevic, expert associate of the Gender Equality Co-ordination Body, stressed the importance of joint engagement and the results achieved, in which more than 1,000 women in rural areas received employment opportunities. - Thanks to the initiative, hundreds of women have made a profit by making traditional handicrafts that have travelled the world and are now in numerous institutions, thereby making their work of additional value because it has become more visible. This initiative demonstrates that all the Coordination Body for Gender Equality and the Deputy Prime Minister do, together with all international and domestic partners, is to recognize women's work, to make them economically stronger and to create equal conditions and opportunities for all, Dimitrijevic noted.

Giles

Norman, Canada's ambassador to Serbia, expressed satisfaction with participating in such an initiative, emphasizing the empowerment of women and girls and equal conditions for all actors in society as a priority for the Canadian government in domestic and foreign policy. - Serbia has an incredibly rich cultural heritage that can be one of the factors of economic progress of individuals and society as a whole. This Ethno Network project is a great example of heritage as a corner stone to local development, gender equality and empowerment of women, while contributing to economic development and the fight against poverty, Ambassador Norman said.

Celebration of the five-year anniversary of the "1000 Women" initiative ended with a ceremony to recognize individual and corporate contributions to the preservation of Serbia’s heritage and economic empowerment of women in rural areas. The corporate awards went to Moravacem, Telekom Srbija, Coca Cola Hellenic Bottling Company, Srbija Cargo and Zeastim. Stanka Pejanovic from Gorenje, Zafiris Lampadaridis from the Hyatt Hotel, Danijel Nikolic from the General Secretariat of the Serbian Government, Ana Ilic, team leader of Serbia, and Belgium's Ambassador to Serbia Kun Adam were awarded for their personal efforts to this notable mission.

 

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