WomenBridges provides a comprehensive approach and concrete methodology to support the career paths of young women, especially those in vulnerable situations to achieve economic independence and employment. At the same time, it develops the competencies of youth workers and NGO teams in implementing this approach. We validated the process with the pilot implementation of WomenBridges in the three EU partner countries - Bulgaria, Austria and Greece. We achieved the project goal by: 1: Exchanging experience among the partners for sustainable models and forms for effective social inclusion and economic empowerment of women 2: TOT training of youth workers (mentors) from the partner countries to work with the WomenBridges program 3: Setting Local Bridges - providing the program to final beneficiaries with specific initiatives at local level 4: Developing and promoting a guide with tools for application of the WomenBridges program. The long-term goal of WomenBridges is the effective inclusion of young women in public life by providing quality and balanced employment as entrepreneurs, self-employed or employees.
The WomenBridges project is the result of the partners' efforts and shared understanding of the benefit of investing in sustainable solutions for organizations working with youth from vulnerable groups and our belief that investing in social innovation and programs for equality and inclusion improves the impact on target groups. The late global crisеs has reinforced and shown the existing inequalities, which are even more visible among women and further increased the risk for a number of groups of young people to be excluded from education and employment. In parallel, research by UN Women, the EC and other authoritative sources, concludes that women in general are at higher risk of job loss, financial difficulties, poverty and discrimination, which is largely due to imbalances between paid and unpaid (domestic) work affecting predominantly women. Organizations in the youth sector, and especially those aimed at overcoming inequalities, need to look for integrated solutions that can respond to multiple problems and provide sustainable approaches to work in the current uncertain situation and prepare their groups for post-Covid reality. Our project is an attempt at a solution in this direction.