Training Methods, appropriate To Local Needs
Our methods of training women are deliberately very interactive. This is
especially important in countries where democracy is new or weak and the
population has been encouraged to take a passive role, doing what they were
ordered to do.
The workshops look at practical ways of making thousands more women's
voices heard in political, public and business arenas. Our workshops are
conducted on an equal basis of sharing knowledge.
We tailor our courses to the particular needs of each group. Where possible
we like to involve the participants in helping design their own training
course - we believe this is part of empowering people. This may involve
an initial visit to discuss the needs of the people.
Our workshops teach the skills vital to success in democratic politics
and public life, including international and conflict situations.
Eyecatcher and Project Parity have run training workshops with partner groups
all over the world. In just the last 2 years we have operated in countries
stretching from Ukraine to The Caribbean, from Nigeria to Estonia and from
Turkey to India.
Eyecatcher Associates was represented by Senior Partner Lesley Abdela as
a Trainer aboard the UNDP Beijing Express train travelling to the 1995 United
Nations Conference on Women in Beijing. Women aboard the Beijing Express
came from 33 states.
Examples Of Our Training Topics And Themes
These are examples of just a few of the workshops we can organise:
Ex. 1 - Women and men working in partnership
in political parties
Participants
· national and regional leading women and men from the political
parties - 50/50 female and male representation or at least 30% male participation
· journalists and editors
· NGO leaders
Content
This training event will focus on how to develop a more woman friendly culture
in political parties, the media and among the electorate so women and men
can work together in equal partnership at all decision-making levels in
politics and public life.
This includes:
· how to get women selected by political parties as candidates for
winnable seats
· how to get women elected
· how to get items important to women onto the main political agenda
It is not enough to train women to become good candidates if they bounce
back into their political party full of confidence and enthusiasm, only
to come up against old stereotyped views about politics as a 'man's game'.
A woman-friendly culture needs to be prepared ahead of training women. One
part of this workshop will look at a wide choice of electoral systems, candidate
selection procedures and quota systems.
The best method of persuading people to change values, behavioural patterns
and perspectives is to get them to draw their conclusions themselves and
to live the change. The seminar will include examples of actions that have
succeeded in other countries and how they could be adapted to the local
context. Participants will be given sample case histories for practical
exercises.
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Ex. 2 - The power of women organising
Part 1 - Building An All-Party Campaign
Among Women To Get More Women Elected
Participants
Participants will be women and men who are prepared to come together as
a non-aligned cross-party campaign group to focus on getting more women
into the decision-making levels of politics and public life. Participants
may include people who don't belong to any political party as well as people
who belong to the various parties.
Part 2 -
Organising Within Political Parties And Lobbying
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Ex.3 - Women in politics
Participants
· women who hope to stand as candidates for local and national elections
· women and men who hope to be campaign managers
· press officers for women candidates
· journalists
Content
· Annual women's campaign school - practical skills for political
participation.
· 5 day residential training course
The focus of the campaign school will be to equip women with the political
skills, strategies and tactics to get selected and to run a winning campaign.
This includes training women in lobbying, campaigning and advocacy skills.
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Ex. 4 - Empowerment through communication and presentation skills
Content
· how to persuade people to support your ideas
· the power of public speaking - preparing and delivering a talk/speech
· thinking about your audience
· working out your messages
· how to make your messages connect with your audience
· your visual image, voice, words
· getting your points across in meetings
· making your voice heard and negotiating in committees and groups
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Ex. 5 - Media workshop for women in politics
Content
· Learning to understand the press and media. How to give effective
press, TV and Radio interviews.
· Dialogue with Journalists and Editors.
· Presentations followed by workshops in which participants divide
into groups to practice giving TV and radio interviews
· learning to increase women's communication with the media - when
to contact, who, and how - understanding what is newsworthy.
· building lists of contacts in the media.
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Other Workshop Titles Include:
· Meetings That Cause Action - How to organise and chair a meeting
efficiently
· Congratulations You've Been Elected - A seminar and workshop for
newly elected politicians
· Peace Resolution And Conflict Prevention - Increasing women's role
- 4/5 day symposium mixed with skills training
· Training Trainers - training women to train others in the future | 
Training Programmes and Workshops