| Gender Equality & Equal Opportunities |
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During the last three decades, most countries experienced significant changes in terms of female labour, which reinforced the role of women in the social context and, in particular, in the labour market. However, in most European countries and especially in Greece, female representation on the labour market is lower than that of men. A wide range of economic, social and institutional factors seem to influence adversely the percentage of female employment, as well as the types of professions most common among women and their position in the hierarchy. At the same time, stereotypes regarding the role of women are still today evident in most societies. In Greece, during the last years significant advances in terms of improving the role of women have been made. Employment conditions have been improved and the status of women heightened, as key measures have been implemented for the promotion of equal treatment in the workplace between women and men, combating sexual harassment and domestic violence, and the equal participation in decision making procedures. Yet, there is still a lot to be achieved, despite the significant advances made, in order for women to enjoy an equal status in the labour market. Since its foundation, KMOP has been actively involved in the promotion of women’s issues. KMOP provides advisory support to women and, more specifically, vocational training to unemployed women and those who risking unemployment. Moreover, it implements actions whose goal is to reconcile family with professional life, it undertakes initiatives against domestic violence, most commonly targeting women, and it has a dynamic participation in public debates emerging in relation to women’s issues. The services provided by KMOP tend to include advisory support towards women, while the largest proportion of beneficiaries in “Programmes for the Provision of Community- based support services” was women. In 2004, KMOP had a leading role among a variety of social partners in the implementation of the “Equal Capabilities - equal opportunities” project, in the context of the “Integrated interventions for Women” framework. The beneficiaries of the project were 2.309 unemployed women from the region of Attiki. KMOP has contributed significantly in highlighting issues regarding the reconciliation between family and working life. In 2000, KMOP as the leading organization among 12 partners from different EU- countries coordinated the implementation of a survey regarding best practices in reconciling family and professional life. One of the main outputs was a manual published both in Greek and in English. During 2005- 2007, KMOP participated as a partner in the Developmental Partnership “Network for Combating Social Exclusion of Women”, which implemented the “Alkistis” project within the framework of the EC programme Equal and aimed at reconciling family and professional life. During the period 2005- 07, KMOP partnered in the implementation of three European projects dealing with issues relevant to the above goals. The first in a series of programmes was the project “Two Images in Reconstruction: Maternity and Paternity. Overcoming Gender Stereotypes and Promoting Gender Equality”, which was succeeded by the programmes, “The Youngsters Reply: Comparison of Different Parental Models”, and “Equal Partners: Reconsidering the Role of Men in Work and Private Life”. During the period 2007-08, KMOP carried out two projects whose goal was to find effective ways for the conjunction of flexibility and social security into the labour market (flexicurity). The above projects were implemented under the framework of the D.G. “Employment and Vocational Training”- “Actions for the enhancement of the active participation of Non- Governmental Organizations” In addition, KMOP has provided consultation services to a number of enterprises, focused on the reconciliation of family with professional life, in the context of measure 5.1 of the D.G. “Employment and Vocational Training”. Some illustrative examples are the advisory support provided to:
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