The aims of the course were: to identify how women can have a voice and reinforce the power to change things; to help women grow in confidence and fulfil their potential; to share the experience of women who have exercised leadership and have contributed to the advance of equality in different environments; to encourage more women into leadership roles, especially within their trade unions and to inspire creation of networks for exchange of knowledge and experiences. Training activities have been organized and coordinated with the help of the Labour Institute of CNSM.
The course targeted young members of the women and youth networks in unions at national, regional and sectorial level in the NIS region. Representatives of the following countries took part in the activity: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Russian Federation, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Participants could exchange best practices and experiences as concerns of their involvement in trade union work and gender equality; part of the training included communication techniques and leadership; working groups were organized to elaborate gender equality work plans for the future.
Special attention has been given to the ITUC “Count us in” campaign, which has as main priorities: organizing women in trade unions and ensuring participation in decision making; fighting for more visibility of women in leadership and collective bargaining to reflect all concerns related to work and family, paid leave and equal pay; fighting precarious work, low wages and insecure employment for women; fighting gender inequality in unpaid care work which causes gender gaps in labor participation, in wages and job quality.