Participants of the UPre Women programme receive training in professional area (writing a CV, preparing for an interview, etc.), financial literacy, as well as in personal development (gender equality, gender-based violence, strengthening communication skills, etc.). They are guided by experienced male and female professionals.
UPre Women is an educational and developmental process that aims to prepare women to find and keep jobs. However, this requires a holistic approach, so the women are trained for several months in different areas and also work on their personal growth. Only a strong and confident woman can make strong decisions and take life into her own hands. Zuzana Sojková was one of the lecturers who led the personal development of women in our programme.
Life in excluded communities is affected by high levels of unemployment, lack of education, poverty and frustration, which often results in various forms of violence. That is why we have also focused on training on violence against women, domestic violence and gender-based violence in our UPre Women programme.
Apolónia Sejková from the civic association MyMamy spoke very sensitively about this topic to women from marginalized Roma communities. She talked about how violence arises, what to watch out for, what are the warning signs that a partner may be violent. The women were also interested in practical information about where to seek help in case of domestic violence, how to proceed, but important were also the myths about the topic of violence that women from poor Roma communities often believe.
The challenge for people from poor backgrounds is not only the lack of money but also, paradoxically, the situation when they start earning money. Some people suddenly cannot manage with more money. That is why we have focused on financial literacy and approached it practically. Stanka Jonášová, for example, led the participants to keep a financial diary to keep track of their income and daily expenses. Thanks to this, they were taught to make sound financial decisions – what and how much they can buy and, most importantly, how to buy so they have money left until the end of the month.
Women from excluded Roma communities grow up in an environment where it is often believed that the only role of a woman is to have children and take care of the family. And that education is irrelevant. These stereotypes are often the reason why some women from poor Roma communities complete only primary education and thus have little chance of getting or keeping a job. It is, therefore, also important that these women gain as much knowledge as possible about inequalities between men and women, the historical context of these inequalities, and how they affect their lives. Monika Bosá from EsFem addressed these topics.
Why did we organise a self-defence course for women from excluded Roma communities? Because it taught them how to prevent conflict, how to work with stress and find their inner strength. Michal Horňáček from Prodefense Academy led the course within the UPre Women programme. He also dealt with working with stress, which can negatively affect women not only during a possible attack, but also, for example, during a job interview. Read more about the self-defence course in the article HERE.
The pilot year of the UPre Women programme is led by our manager Natália Príhodová. She oversaw the whole training and development process in Dobšiná, Veľký Krtíš and Luník IX, cooperation with partners and potential employers and also threw herself into organising two successful conferences and three World of Women events.
Participants also received training under the guidance of the Center for Civil and Human Rights and training with Monika Grochová, Education and Human Resource Development Expert from Healthy Regions.
