VIVA FEMINA Foundation was established in 2012 and is involved in international cooperation within European programmes, projects and initiatives that enable the expansion of specialist knowledge and the acquisition of new competences and skills through non-formal education and informal forms of learning, as well as enabling the development of interests and passions through activities undertaken in other countries and in local communities.
Together with our EU partners we design inclusive entrepreneurship trainings for women with disabilities.
Low labor market position of women with disabilities results from the educational shortcomings of this social group, which are the basis of further difficulties in the labor market. Meanwhile, "work is a value that enables the individual to participate fully in social life”. It provides the material conditions of existence, defines the role and status within the social organization. It should be emphasized that work in addition to its economic function, also has many others - is a condition, opportunity or means of achieving many needs beyond economics. Increasingly, in the case of illness and disability specialists emphasize the importance of working as part of social rehabilitation. There are psychological barrier, consisting of lack of confidence of women with disabilities caused by a sense of not having sufficient professional qualifications, lack of or limited range of measures to improve professionals skills and build positive self-esteem. Women with physical disabilities are especially discriminated. They are losing the most at the stage of recruitment. Women with impaired movement face problems regarding the infrastructure and architecture accessibility, but also barriers related to the other people dislike of staying in an environment of people with visible physical deformities. Development of entrepreneurial skills for such women are very important so that they can regardless their physical limitations organize their professional life.
The EXCEL Project
In the EXCEL project we aim to increase advanced financial literacy and raise awareness to sustainable finance of women entrepreneurs when taking financial and strategic company decisions, fostering innovative and ESG-based business practices, and its guidance set ensures the continued professional training of CVET providers on future-oriented entrepreneurial competences.
The equality between men and women is an EU core value. Gender equality is also a matter of human rights, according to the UN’s Agenda 2030. The EC, through its Gender Equality Strategy, among other key actions, aims to close the gender gap in the labour market by 2025. This means offering women better opportunities to access training and learn new skills to better adapt to labour market changes (SME United, 2022), particularly related with the green transition (EISMEA, 2021), which can be seen as an opportunity for self-employment or career transition. In fact, women-led enterprises have shown to achieve higher ESG scores, being more likely to be innovative and support the green transition (EIB, 2022; Bloomberg, 2020; UN Women, 2022; FP Analytics, 2020).
CVET is key role in increasing women’s interest in entrepreneurship as a possible career path, embedding advanced financial literacy skills and ESG considerations as part of their entrepreneurial training, aligned with the European Skills Agenda and EISMEA’s key actions to fostering women’s entrepreneurship. The offer could be gender-sensitive and sustainability-oriented and take many different forms, effectively helping women get financing, find the resources they need, join business networks, and consider more sustainable long-term investments, so they can reach their business goals (EISMEA, 2021). Thus, in the realm of entrepreneurship and sustainability, financial literacy for women is more than a skill – it is a transformative power.
Project INCASA
Project INCASA embraces the empowerment of young people with disabilities. Our efforts seek to foster their inclusive participation, generating stronger links with society through their active involvement. By involving young people in the creation of a documentary that captures their personal journeys, we aim to give them the opportunity to express their experiences and acquire practical skills that encourage them to actively contribute to society. The purpose of this documentary piece is to reflect this internal process, recording the reflections of young people with disabilities on the meaning of their disability and the challenge of undertaking an excursion such as the Camino de Santiago. The filming of the development experienced during the Camino, their opinions and what this experience has represented for them, aims to encourage similar activities for any person with a disability and to become an inspiring example of self- improvement. This interconnection between empowerment and active participation reflects the values of active citizenship, fostering a sense of empowerment, community and collective growth.
