Today is the International Women’s Day. How will you celebrate it?

At the European Liberal Forum, we take a moment to look back on our activities in support of the active participation of women in politics and the economy.

The European Women’s Academy for East Europe (EWA East) is about to kick off in Varna, Bulgaria. Supported by FNF East and Southeast Europe, the academy is at its second edition. 12 female participants coming from Eastern European countries will engage in interactive sessions and workshops about leadership, strategy and social media management. Learn more about the concept by listening to the founder of the Academy, Annika Arras.

The EWA East is inspired by the original European Women’s Academy. This is an joint initiative of ELF, the ALDE Party and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, and every year we organise one of the three sessions. In 2018, 30 female participants attended trainings on storytelling, image building and public speaking. All the sessions were designed to provide participants with technical insights and personal experiences.

ELF also released a publication on women entrepreneurship together with the FNF Project Office Southeast Europe. The book “Promoting Women’s Entrepreneurship in Eastern Europe” was published in 2017 as a conclusion to a series of three workshops in Moldova. The publication compares different opportunities for business development in rural and urban areas, highlighting the opportunities and the challenges of being a woman entrepreneur. The goal of the research is to highlight the potential of women entrepreneurship. Women entrepreneurship can be a driver of gender-equality by changing social paradigms, by creating new forms of advocacy, mentoring and peer exchange.

These were just some of our activities in support of the active participation of women in politics and the economy. Join us in our efforts to make political participation more inclusive!