About GenderWorks

What is GenderWorks?

GenderWorks in figures

Why is GenderWorks designed to help women?

How will GenderWorks help poor women in the UK?

What is GenderWorks?

GenderWorks is a two-year project that aims to improve the lives of women living in poverty across Europe. It’s being run until December 2009 in three countries - in the UK by Oxfam, and in Italy and Austria by partner organisations - and it will help poor women in three ways:

By providing training to women living in poverty to help them develop the skills and confidence to talk to decision-makers about the problems they face and find solutions that meet their needs
By providing training to local policy-makers and service providers to make sure they are aware of the different needs of women and men, and their policies and services take these needs into account
By sharing our experiences of how best to meet the needs of poor women with our partners in Italy and Austria and with the governments of European countries in order to influence the decisions they make.

GenderWorks is funded by the European Commission and is being run:

In the UK by Oxfam, as part of its work to overcome poverty and tackle the discrimination which makes women more vulnerable to it
In Italy by LAMORO, a local development agency with a focus on helping women find jobs and improving conditions for women at work
In Austria by WAVE (Women Against Violence Europe), a network of women’s shelters and aid organisations for migrant and refugee women.

Oxfam, LAMORO, and WAVE will hold regular meetings in each of the three countries involved in order to share their experiences and skills.

GenderWorks in figures

GenderWorks will run from December 2007 until December 2009

The project will be delivered by three European partners - Oxfam, LAMORO, and the WAVE network - and has a budget of £340,576
In the UK, six regional training courses will be designed and delivered to help women living in poverty hold public sector agencies to account
Ten key public and voluntary sector agencies in the UK will receive training in how best to meet the different needs of men and women
GenderWorks has six dedicated staff in the UK, including a project manager and two training officers
The project will report on how all 27 European Union Member States and the European Commission can improve their strategies to tackle the problems faced by women living in poverty

Why is the project designed to help women?

about All over the world, women are likely to be poorer than the general population. The same is true in the UK and other European countries. Women working part time in the UK, for example, earn nearly 40 per cent less than men, while female pensioners have incomes that are 40 per cent lower than those of male pensioners.

Oxfam has long-term experience of working with women living in poverty, in the UK and all over the world. The GenderWorks project has been designed to help us share our experience with organisations doing similar work in other countries, in order to influence national governments and help tackle the problems faced by women living in poverty right across Europe.

Find out more about Oxfam’s work with women living in poverty in the UK

How will GenderWorks help poor women in the UK?

By running practical training sessions for women experiencing a range of problems, to help them develop skills and confidence to talk to decision-makers about the difficulties they face, and influence the way local services are planned and delivered
By working with key policy-makers and service providers to help them understand their responsibilities under the Gender Equality Duty and how they can develop policies and services that most effectively meet the needs of women living in poverty
By sharing our experiences with the UK government in order to influence the National Action Plan on Social Inclusion for 2010, helping to ensure that poor women can gain better access to the services they need and can overcome barriers to working, such as affordable help with caring.

Find out more about the Gender Equality Duty

Find out more about the UK government’s National Action Plan on Social Inclusion