Municipality of Voćin is rural and underdeveloped area affected by the Homeland War (1991-1995); high level of depopulation, high number of men are working abroad while families stay at home, a highly patriarchal community.
At least 30 woman and 40 key stakeholders will be empowered for participation in decision process, public life, increasing personal competencies, economic empowerment and stronger inclusion in the social and economic life of the community.

Voćin, eastern Croatia

A particularly vulnerable group is women, which are poorly involved in community life, nor are they aware of the possibilities of active participation. Furthermore, at the moment there is no content or opportunity to include women in society. Patriarchy is very strong and women do not feel free to express themselves or get involved in society without structural support that leads to lack of social cohesion for the aim of growth and expansion of the community.

Community Foundation Slagalica held a workshop on social capital and community development in March 2021 where we jointly detected the needs of the local community. Women stood out in particular, who expressed a desire for content that would activate them in the community, so the key target groups of this project are woman from the area of Municipality of Voćin: younger women, employed, unemployed, middle-aged and older. We especially want to encourage the younger generations to make changes, and this is only possible if we implement and set good examples. Change has to begin NOW.

The empowerment of the women's community will start with various types of educations to cover the interests and needs of the woman's community: active participation in desicision-making, self-organizations skills (formal and informal), project development, entrepreneurial skills, communication skills, exchange of good practice examples. Development of outdoor excersice parx with equipment because of non-existence of such space or equipment for sport activities for woman and other members of community. The whole action will be implemented in cooperation with local authority and other key stakleholders. The official opening of the sports park will be on March 8, for the International Women's Day, when a cultural program with entertainment content will be organized.

The specific result will be greater activity and empowerment of women in the community through activities that will be done throughout the year. We will help women step out of everyday life and find their place and space, we will strengthen their awareness and thus strengthen civil society. In this way, together we will empower and encourage women by providing them with mentoring and mediation support, and together we will express the needs and visibility of women in the local community. We expect at least 30 woman that will participate in activities and 40 other participants of the society. We will set a good example fot the younger generations by showing that together we can achieve great things for community. Step by step, woman initiative can empower generations that are yet to come.

Main activities of the project will increase: knowledge about the role of the citizens in the local community, channels of communication with local authorities, skills for personal and professional development, the impact of the power of citizens with a focus on a group of women who are insufficiently engaged in the local community. The concerned community already exists, and our task is to provide the support. We will teach them what the role of civil society is, what human rights are, how to advocate, how to actively participate in society. We will develop communication and entrepreneurial skills: how to present yourself, debate, communicate with public, basics of entrepreneurial venture).

When the Foundation participated in a workshop in the Municipality of Voćin, we jointly raised the needs of the community, concerning the empowerment of women through non-formal education and sports activities. The team behind this idea are the employees of the Slagalica Foundation in cooperation with the principal and employees of the Voćin primary school, representatives of local government and representatives of civil society organizations (presidents and members). Slagalica Foundation employees as well as employees of the local government have many years of experience in writing and implementing projects in community.Representatives of local organizations and government are involved in society and know local needs well - that's why we listen to them together and try to find a solution.

Project management - 10.000,00 EUR
Educational activities - 10.000,00 EUR
Outdoor equipment - 7.500,00 EUR
Media and public relations - 3.000,00 EUR
A public event (Woman's Day) - 3.000,00 EUR

We would like to hear the experiences of others related to such and similar activities in the community, ie the empowerment of the female population. We would love to hear other approaches or techniques for involving marginalized groups.Also, we are open to comments and other insights into our work.