POWER brings together organisations from Spain, Greece and Italy for an European exchange visit

Home » Blog » POWER brings together organisations from Spain, Greece and Italy for an European exchange visit

From the 22nd to 24th of October, several of the organisations participating in the POWER program in Spain, Greece and Italy met in Barcelona to exchange experiences, promote mutual learning and build networks.

On the first day, they were welcomed at the headquarters of the Asociación Bienestar y Desarrollo – Grupo ABD, where the organisation’s CEO, Àngels Guiteras Mestre, welcomed them and explained the organisation’s motivation for continuing to work at European level. In addition, Elena Muscarella, from the lead organisation WeWorld and Mireia Munté, from the International area at ABD, greeted the participants.

After the presentations, they continued with an experiential workshop to build bonds through artistic expression with Artagere. Next, the General Director for the Eradication of Gender-Based Violence of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Belén Gallo García, presented her secretariat’s lines of work and introduced the services and resources available to victims of gender-based violence in Catalonia. The coordinator of the POWER project at ABD, Catarina Alves, completed the presentation by reviewing the Spanish and Catalan legal framework, the organisation of the third sector and the presence of feminist collectives in Catalonia.

During the three-day meeting, participants learned about the third sector collaboration with the Public Administration in Catalonia in addressing gender-based violence and discussed differences between European countries. The meeting also served to identify common goals and motivations and to consider future projects and opportunities for collaboration between European organisations.

Visit to Girona

On the second day, the group travelled to Girona, where they were able to learn more about the projects being implemented through the POWER call for proposals and other initiatives in the city.

At the Town Hall, they were welcomed by the Councillor for Equality and Social Justice, Amy Sabaly; the cooperation and reception officer, Natalia Zaro; and the SIAD coordinator, Miquel Barnera, who explained the municipal and regional services and resources available to address gender-based violence.

At the Barri Vell Civic Centre, the director of the service, Jordi Garcia, presented the collaboration between civil society in the neighbourhoods and the activities promoted by the civic centres. In the same area, the group visited the Ateneu Popular Salvadora Catà, a self-managed feminist space created in homage to the first Spanish Republican woman sentenced to death by Franco’s regime and shot in Girona.

The last stop was at the Coordinadora d’ONG Solidaries (Coordinating Committee of Solidarity NGOs in the Girona region), where the lines of action in the territory were reviewed, with a special focus on the organisations that work to support women.

The day in Girona also allowed the group to know more about the two projects implemented in the area: Libel·lula Project from Associació Identitats and Veus de Dones, developed by Asocolgi, and whose representatives got the opportunity to interview and collect the testimonials from the organisations from Spain, Greece and Italy present for their next episode of the podcast.

Project presentations

Over the course of three days, 15 projects implemented by organisations in Spain, Italy and Greece thanks to the POWER call were presented.

Spain:

Greece:

Italy:

About POWER

The call for proposals is funded by the European Commission’s Citizenship, Equality, Rights and Values Programme (CERV-2023-DAPHNE) and is launched in accordance with the project “Promoting the empowerment of organisations to guarantee women’s human rights and stop gender-based violence – POWER 101134940”, coordinated by WeWorld, in colaboration with ActionAid Hellas and the Welfare and Development Association – ABD Group).