The Bodossaki Foundation and Fondation CHANEL are working together to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women in Greece.
During the first cycle of the Bodossaki Foundation – Fondation CHANEL collaboration, the initiative supported 15 Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) engaged in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment in Greece. As a result, more than 2,700 people benefited directly and more than 11,000 indirectly. At the same time, the 15 organizations had the opportunity to participate in a specialized Capacity Building Programme, designed and implemented by Social Dynamo, the Bodossaki Foundation’s NGO Hub, during which the organizations acquired the tools and skills to enhance their social impact and become more sustainable.
It also included the provision of small-scale grants of up to €10.000 to the 15 participating CSOs, in order to consolidate their effectiveness and foster activities promoting gender equality and/or women’s empowerment.
The programme aims to encourage the growth of smaller organisations across the country, ensuring their sustainability and the impact of their work. The capacity building programme offered the CSOs access to a wide range of services, including training, mentoring, coaching and consulting.
There is clearly a need for this initiative, as the annual report of the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) has ranked Greece last among EU countries in gender equality for yet another year, with its lowest scores in the areas of power and economic decision-making. In parallel, the Bodossaki Foundation has recorded the need to support the organisational development of smaller CSOs which are active in the field of gender equality throughout the country.
The Bodossaki Foundation is committed to promoting gender equality. In recent years it has supported a number of CSOs working in this field, as well as funding improvements in the services offered by Greece’s General Secretariat of Family Policy and Gender Equality. It has also implemented activities to improve gender equality in the Greek workplace. The Bodossaki Foundation is a member of the Alliance for Gender Equality in Europe.
The Bodossaki Foundation is also one of the leading providers of capacity building services to Greek civil society. Social Dynamo is an expression of the Foundation’s vision of a dynamic Civil Society that acts, influences, and engages, offering integrated support to Civil Society actors, with a particular focus on learning, professional support and networking.
Since it was established in 2017, Social Dynamo has welcomed more than 16,600 representatives of Civil Society organizations, supporting the organizational empowerment of more than 1,600 NGOs from all over Greece, in collaboration with an extensive network of 296 partners, including organizations such as KEMEL and the Hellenic Coaching Association, businesses, international NGOs, and experienced mentors and trainers.
Fondation CHANEL supports the freedom of women and girls to shape their own destiny. Over the last 12 years, it has developed a highly effective philanthropic approach which has directly impacted over one million women globally. The Foundation believes that those closest to the issues are best suited to developing the solutions. This guiding principle is reflected in the Foundation’s long-term relationships with partners as well as its offer of support to strengthen their operational capacity and amplify their voices. Fondation CHANEL has actively pursued partnerships in Greece since 2017.
