{"id":7885,"date":"2022-08-12T10:59:31","date_gmt":"2022-08-12T08:59:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniglobalunion.org\/?post_type=news&p=7885"},"modified":"2022-08-12T13:05:21","modified_gmt":"2022-08-12T11:05:21","slug":"uni-equal-opportunities-launches-southeast-asia-programme","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/uniglobalunion.org\/news\/uni-equal-opportunities-launches-southeast-asia-programme\/","title":{"rendered":"UNI Equal Opportunities launches new programme to train women leaders in South & Southeast Asia"},"content":{"rendered":"
UNI Global Union\u2019s Equal Opportunities department recently launched an exciting new mentoring programme for women activists in South Asia and Southeast Asia. In partnership with the DGB Bildungswerk<\/a>, the federal education institute of the German trade union confederation, UNI Equal Opportunities held a series of four workshops national and regional at UNI Apro region with leaders from 9 countries\u2014Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Pakistan.<\/p>\r\n The programme\u2019s goal is to deepen these activists\u2019 involvement in their unions as well as help them develop their leadership skills. The last of the series of workshops was just wrapped up in Bangkok, Thailand, and included training sessions on gender mainstreaming, improving communications, ending violence and harassment on the job and building an action plan for leadership development.<\/p>\r\n In total, the 102 women activists who took part in the Southeast Asia workshops created 51 tandems\u2014partnerships that reinforce the skills learned through one-on-one mentorship.<\/p>\r\n \u201cThe mentoring programme was a life changing experience for me. It helped me to develop as a leader to help others. Additionally, the opportunity to network was a great advantage which we all received from the programme,\u201d says Shanika Silva from the Ceylon Bank Employees’ Union in Sri Lanka, who acts as a mentor.<\/p>\r\n UNI Asia & Pacific Regional Secretary Rajendra Acharya<\/strong> said, \u201cThe mentoring programme we have been conducting is instrumental towards the United Nation\u2019s Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal Five<\/a> on gender equality. Attaining equality is integral to other development outcomes, and in recent years, there has been increasing recognition of the critical importance of gender equality and women\u2019s empowerment to sustainable development. As a result, there has been increased commitment to institutionalizing gender mainstreaming approaches across the workplaces.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\r\n