PRESS RELEASE BY NETWORK OF ERITREAN WOMEN
Network of Eritrean Women (NEW) conducted its third Symposium in Rome Italy from 16 – 18 September 2016. The Symposium lasted for three days and Eritrean women from across Europe attended the event. The first day looked at the challenges on Eritrean refugees especially those coming via Libya and further analysis was placed looking at the challenges that Eritrean refugee women face upon their voyage to Europe. Network of Eritrean Women aims to help Eritrean refugee women, whilst limited work has already been undertaken by NEW in these areas we look to expanding this in the future.
The importance of women in leadership was also explored and we looked at this from the Eritrean context. We looked at the necessity to train and encourage Eritrean women to take leadership positions. The importance is not only to the individual woman or Eritrean women but has societal benefits in ensuring long term peace and security. The integration and participation of women is crucial to having sustainable development in Eritrea. In this regard Network of Eritrean Women is looking to train and encourage Eritrean women to develop their leadership capacity but will also be working to empower women through education.
The intergenerational dialogue that took place was important in listening to the stories of women but also understanding the challenges faced by different generations of Eritrean women. The consensus was people felt more dialogues of this kind need to be done and it proved to be a useful tool in breaking down barriers.
Network of Eritrean Women has attracted many young enthusiastic women and some have now been elected into its leadership positions and this will carry us onto 2017. Whilst there are many challenges that we face as women our mobilisation is paramount in ending the suffering of our people and in contributing to change and participating in establishing the rule of law in Eritrea.
Networking with Eritrean and Non-Eritrean organisations is crucial in being able to do out- reach work whilst at the same time fostering the environment of working together in order to help those Eritreans who are in desperate conditions. Various Italian organisations who work with Eritrean refugees in Italy have stated the importance in working together in trying to resolve such issues at the symposium and also stated their commitment to working with us.
We look forward to working and developing the Network in Italy so it has the capacity and ability to assist Eritrean refugee women. We were also joined by Eritrean women who reside in Norway and their organisation has now become affiliated to NEW. The election of young Eritrean women into NEW, is important in ensuring we engage with the youth but also give them the platform to grow and shape the organisation as they will be the leaders of tomorrow. Creating affiliations with other Eritrean women’s organisations also helps in strengthening the voice of Eritrean women and their empowerment.
Network of Eritrean Women Ltd would like to thank all organisations and individuals who have assisted us financially for the symposium. Your assistance has enabled us to take NEW to the next level, and without your support this would not have been possible. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank those who supported us in other ways.
Short URL: https://english.farajat.net/?p=10475
Posted by 
