Gender Equality Education for Practitioners, From Theory to Policy Implementation

Gender Equality Education for Practitioners, From Theory to Policy Implementation training programme is funded by the Swedish Institute as a part of SI Academy for Young Professionals (SAYP). The comprehensive training programmme for young professionals in Western Balkans with a specific focus on North Macedonia is divided into three modules that will be implemented during 2024/2025 by professors and visiting faculty from Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities-Skopje.

Programme overview

GEEP programme will strengthen the participants’ theoretical and practical tools for responding to the challenge of gender inequality within their areas of work, in order to enable them to meet complex societal challenges in an increasingly anti-feminist context. They will get the opportunity to operationalise the learnings during the programme, supported by the mentoring component. The programme is built on expert knowledge of current challenges in the Western Balkans region related to gender equality, and participants will be equipped with knowledge to implement change work to counter these challenges. There is also an exchange component built into the programme through the regional approach, as well as the close collaboration between Kvinna till Kvinna as a Swedish actor, and ISSHS in North Macedonia. The programme will contribute to mutual learning between Sweden, an EU member state, where the Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation is the implementing partner and the EU neighbourhood region of Western Balkans. Young professional participants will benefit from creating new networks amongst themselves, as well as with experts and practitioners in gender equality in Sweden, North Macedonia and the Western Balkan region.

The programme is inviting young professionals from the civil society, local authorities, and private sector to attend gender equality and feminist training as part of the change they want to create in their organisational environment. The programme will be organised in three modules:

Module 1: Informal education in gender and feminist studies: Grasping the fundamentals.
Period: 20 May – 25 October 2024 (10 sessions combined with individual mentorship and tutorials, with a break for summer holidays between the 22nd of June and the 27th of September

Module 2: Learning how to transfer academic or theoretical concepts into policy ideas and plans
of action.
Period: 15 February – 15 March 2025 (two workshops & individual tutorials)

Module 3: A Summer School in Sweden in the theme of Feminist education, when theory and practice come together.
Period: 3-7 June 2025

Most of the sessions for the Module 1 and Module 2 will be held in Macedonian, English translation will be provided for online participants.

Who can apply?

You can apply for this programme if you:
• are a citizen of and currently working in one of the following countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia or Serbia.
• Command of the English language is required to a degree that enables you to follow a program that combines academic and practical knowledges, so you are invited to assess your proficiency in the language accordingly.
• Have a relevant higher education (at least three years)
• 40 years or younger (born 1984–1999)
• Employed in one of the following groups:

1. Policymakers (politicians, government officials, employees of political parties)
2. Public servants (non-political civil servants working at public organisations)
3. Civil society workers (CSO/NGO employees)

How to apply
Deadline
The application period is open 13 March – 14 April, 2024.

Forms and address
Apply by filling in the following four documents:

English Language Certificate, or other proficiency in English, is mandatory for the participants that will attend the Study Visit in Stockholm, Sweden.

Submit to e-mail:
[email protected]
[email protected]

For more information please visit Swedish Institute Academy for Young Professionals (SAYP) Western Balkans https://si.se/en/apply/si-leadership-programmes/si-summer-academy-for-young-professionals-sayp-western-balkans/