About WINNET Europe

WINNET Europe, the European Association of Women Resource Centres, was formed in year 2006 by national, regional and local Women Resource Centres (WRCs). WINNET Europe has in year 2007 member organisations in 21 of the 27 EU Member States.

The Swedish WRC model has been successfully disseminated in the last ten years leading to the start-up and running of around six hundred organizations all around Europe. Women Resource Centres serve as key tools to for women’s active participation in regional development and growth, innovation and entrepreneurship as well as in building sustainable and gender equal regions in the European Union.

The Association’s mission is, in a collaborative effort among national, federal / regional and local organisations in EU Member States, to support and reinforce the activities of resource centres for women and or other similar women organisations to work to advocate that:

• Women claim their share of society’s resources
• Women’s competence is utilised in society
• Women’s and men’s efforts are valued equally in society

WRC in the regions of Europe actively participate in partnerships and some of their key thematic focus areas are
1. Gender Equality Perspectives in Regional and Local Policies
2. Women Entrepreneurship and SME Development
3. Gender Equality Perspective on Innovation and ICT
4. Social Inclusion and Women’s Opportunities on the Labour Market

The mission of WINNET Europe is to:

• strengthen the role of Women Resource Centres (WRCs) as key actors of regional growth and support the participation of women in regional development increasing thereby Europe’s competitiveness and achievement of the Lisbon Strategy goals;
• assist the implementation of the objectives of the European Union in the employ-ment and social affairs area, as set out in the Roadmap for equality between women and men (2006-2010) and the European Pact for Gender Equality and the European Social Agenda;
• enhance a gender equality perspective in co-ordinated strategic use of European, national and regional resources;
• be actively involved in policy making processes and communicate women’s experiences in EU Member States and the candidate countries;
• increase women’s influence and participation in the labour market and the society as a whole, on European, national and regional level;
• contribute to create new permanent jobs for women by supporting women’s own ideas, innovation and entrepreneurship;
• promote the empowerment of women and their social inclusion
• enhance women’s use of ICT and their active participation in the Information Society.                                   (source: www.winneteurope.org)

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