1. France, 13th-18th December 2010

2. ~ Mother Teresa ~ Life is an opportunity, benefit from it. Life is beauty, admire it. Life is bliss, taste it. Life is a dream, realize it. Life is a challenge, meet it. Life is a duty, complete it. Life is a game, play it. Life is a promise, fulfill it. Life is sorrow, overcome it. Life is a song, sing it. Life is a struggle, accept it. Life is a tragedy, confront it. Life is an adventure, dare it. Life is luck, make it. Life is too precious, do not destroy it. Life is life, fight for it.

3. POWER and LIBERTY + CAPACITY and KNOWLEDGE to decide and to take action + OPPORTUNITY to fulfill ones aims

4. No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. ~ Eleonor Roosvelt~

5. Economic participation and opportunities: 1. which is the female involvement in the economic production ? 2. How is considered the women contribution to the family income? 3. Which are the real opportunities for women for combining their private and professional lifes? Considering thus: The wage equality between men and women in similar works Ratio of estimated female to male earned income Female economic activity rate as percentage of male economic activity rate Weeks of paid maternity leave allowed per country Maternity leave benefits (percentage of wages paid in covered period) Female professional and technical workers (as percentage of total) Availability of government provided childcare Impact of maternity laws on the hiring of women Equality between women and men for private sector employment

6. ~ Emily Dickinson~ We never know how high we are Till we are called to rise; And then, if we are true to plan, Our statures touch the skies.

7. Political empowerment: 1. Which is the involvement and contribution of women in political life? 2. Has a women the same opportunities for entering the decision amking world? Reflecting on: Number of years of a female president or prime minister in the last 50 years Women in government at ministerial level (as percentage of total), Seats in parliament held by women (as percentage of total), Female legislators, senior officials and managers (as percentage of total)

8. ~ Edith Wharton ~ There are two ways of spreading light... To be the candle, or the mirror that reflects it. for I'm learning to sail my ship.

9. In and THROUGH education: Education is important for everyone, but it is especially significant for girls and women. This is true not only because education is an entry point to other opportunities, but also because the educational achievements of women can have ripple effects within the family and across generations. Investing in girls' education is one of the most effective ways to reduce poverty Considering thus: Average years of schooling, females as percentage of males, Adult literacy, female rate as percentage of male rate, Equal job opportunities for women and men with similar degrees

10. ~ Luisa May Alcott~ I'm not afraid of storms, for I'm learning to sail my ship. for I'm learning to sail my ship.

11. Health and well being: 1. Which are the substantial differences between women and men in their access to sufficient nutrition, healthcare and reproductive facilities? 2. Which are the issues of fundamental safety and integrity of person? Reflecting on: Adolescent fertility rate Maternal mortality ratio Infant mortality

12. ~ Ella Fitzgerald~ Just don't give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don't think you can go wrong.

13. Power Within: enabling women to articulate their own aspirations and strategies for change Power To: enabling women to develop the necessary skills and access the necessary resources to achieve their aspirations Power With: enabling women to examine and articulate their collective interests, to organize to achieve them and to link with other womens and mens organizations for change Power Over: changing the underlying inequalities in power and resources that constrain womens aspirations and their ability to achieve them. Source: Mayoux, 2000

14. ~ Anais Nin~ Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage.

15. 1. For letting participants deepening the topic and its corollaries 2. For deepening the analysis of the fields where empowering is needed in the Programme countries + the three regions (MEDA + SEE + EECA) 3. For getting a direct touch with the external environment, with strong connections with the thematic 4. For sharing experiences in the field 5. For facilitating the networking process among participants and promoting new common projects.

16. 1. By giving the floor to a specialist speech by experts on the topic of empowering 2. By supporting participants in preparing in groups the analysis of empowering in political, economic lifes and in and through education and in the health and well-being sector 3. By meeting local organisations or authorities related to the field 4. Through an open space activity for sharing experiences 5. With group activity for future projects planning on networking

17. 1. Youth workers, trainers belonging to organisations or bodies dealing with the thematic. 2. Coming from the Programme countries and the three regions (MEDA + SEE + EECA) 3. A gender balance would be REALLY appreciated (or at least a significant male participation)

18. It's man's man's man's world This is a man's world, this is a man's world But it wouldn't be nothing, nothing without a woman or a girl You see, man made the cars, to take us over the road Man made the train, to carry the heavy load Man made the electric light, to take us out of the dark Man made the boat for the water, like Noah made the ark This is a man's, man's, man's world But it wouldn't be nothing, nothing without a woman or a girl Man thinks about a little baby girls and a baby boys Man makes then happy, 'cause man make them toys And after man make everything, everything he can You know that man makes money, to buy from other man This is a man's world But it wouldn't be nothing, nothing not one little thing Without a woman or a girl He's lost in the wilderness He's lost in bitterness He's lost, lost somewhere James Brown 1966

19. Mayoux, L. 2000. Microfinance and the empowerment of women: A review of the key issues. Social Finance Unit Working Paper, 23. Geneva: ILO Mainstreaming gender empowering Information, education and communication for Ethiopian youth and adolescents A concept and methodology paper Womens Empowerment: Measuring the Global Gender Gap, World Economic Forum http://www.unfpa.org/gender/empowerment1.htm http://www.sapphyr.net/women/index.htm SEAL, soul, 2008