Description
The project responds to the need of providing the regional administration with tools/knowledge needed to conduct effective anti-discrimination policy. It introduces systemic solutions for fighting gender discrimination and is addressed at the Governors’ Plenipotentiaries for Equal Treatment in the chosen voivodeships. As a result, recommendations will be prepared for 4-5 regional anti-discrimination policies (through consultancies and workshops), included in the voivodeship’s strategic documents and based on the National Action Plan for Equal Treatment. The project will also contribute to the improvement of the Plenipotentiaries’ competency regarding the analysis of the regional policies from the point of view of gender and the reinforcing of collaboration between administration and citizens in monitoring/documenting cases of discrimination. Partners will bring in their expertise on anti-discrimination law and experience with local administration in implementing the equality policy.
Summary of project results
"Research of gender equality-fostering institutional mechanisms in Poland (2013) and talks with the former Office of the Government Plenipotentiary for Equal Treatment prove that voivodship authorities require support in implementing the National Action Programme for Equal Treatment in terms of actual gender equality results. This applies in particular to voivode plenipotentiaries for equal treatment, who are in need of consulting for purposes of drafting regional anti-discrimination policies. It will further be required to train public officials in areas of identifying, monitoring, and evidencing discrimination symptoms. The project purpose was to provide voivodship authorities with tools and knowledge facilitating the management of effective anti-discrimination policies. The project allowed for a total of 15 training and consultation sessions to be delivered at four voivodship authority agencies. Anti-discrimination and anti-mobbing rules were adopted at 3 agencies. A series of consulting sessions was held for voivode plenipotentiaries for equal treatment alongside training courses for the management and personnel of voivodship authority agencies, and consulting sessions on adopting and enforcing in-house rules ensuring effective protection against discrimination and mobbing at local government agencies. Project result preserving recommendations were drafted for each of the participant agencies. Eighty copies of a publication promoting an anti-discrimination activities “model"" were published. The project opened and closed with a conference. Training sessions and meetings were attended by 800 voivodship agency representatives. Ninety persons participated in project conferences. The Polish Society of Anti-Discrimination Law was the project partner, experts providing beneficiaries with legal knowledge, analysed anti-discrimination policies applied at voivodship authorities, and tabled relevant recommendations. The partner was also responsible for delivering training sessions. The other partner - KUN Center for Gender Equality - provided good practice examples of gender mainstreaming in Norway. A partner organisation expert spoke at project conferences and contributed to the publication."
Summary of bilateral results
The Association intended to submit a thematic project on the prevention of gender-based discrimination by providing so called "provincial equal treamtment coordinators" with different skills and tools. It established contact with the Norwegian institution Center for Knowledge and Gender Equality (KUN) dealing with similar themes and it invited representatives of KUN to Poland. During this study visit to Warsaw both Partners exchanged experiences in combating discrimination at the level of local government and central government in both countries as well as they discussed the future project. As a result, they submitted an application in the first edition of the thematic projects competition and received a grant for this joint project.