AFAEMME held in Madrid the 2nd Seminar-Workshop "Adding Value, Breaking Stereotypes"

Last May 13th, AFAEMME held the 2nd seminar-workshop of the project "Adding Value, Breaking Stereotypes". The data presented in the event confirmed that the implementation of gender equality plans is a viable option for SMEs in times of economic crisis.

AFAEMME organized the event with the collaboration of the Spanish Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Madrid (ASEME-Madrid) and the Organization of Women Entrepreneurs and Active Management (OMEGA) this workshop which had the support of the Spanish Ministry of Education, Social Policy and Sports.

The inauguration and opening of the seminar-workshop was made by Mrs. María José Pérez-Cejuela, the General Director for Women of the Autonomous Community of Madrid, that reminded that the achievement of gender equality in the workplace is one of the main objectives of the European Commission, which invests in projects that serve as a roadmap so that "national and local governments can implement new policies to improve the situation of men and women in business, promote women's access to leadership positions and to establish the reconciliation of working life and staff."

Ms. Perez-Cejuela also spoke of the need for local governments to assist SMEs in their autonomous region in the implementation of equality plans, as there is a legal obligation, "to be set aside by a culture of equality in the workplace and secondly, to make them more competitive”. Furthermore, Ms. Perez-Cejuela stressed the role of business associations as AFAEMME, OMEGA and ASEMME as "fundamental to the government" because "through its efforts and fight the Governments have the projects more clear" because they serve as a source of information to diagnose what the industry needs of the society that they took them and, secondly, help the development and implementation of new laws such as the Gender Equality Act.

The launching and presentation of the event was made by Mrs. M ª Helena de Felipe Lehtonen, President of AFAEMME and Mrs. Inmaculada Álvarez Morillas, President of ASEME Madrid and OMEGA. Ms. de Felipe talked about that in the last 50 years there has been many achievements on gender equality at the social level and especially at work but stressed that there are still two inequalities which need to be overcome. These include the pay gap between men and women and the other is the low representation of women in decision-making processes and economic policies. Mrs. de Felipe Lehtonen also spoke of the importance of "networking", "to create social networks among women to work issues and even personal issues such as family, health, leisure, etc.. Men do what they have done for years, to diagnose what the needs of women and see how we can help and support between us." She also emphasized the need for women to learn to interact in the labour and political power to make their needs or solutions and also to position itself.

Apart from this, Ms. Elizabeth Villagomez Morales, AFAEMME’s Expert on Gender and Enterprise, presented to the audience the results of research on the benefits of gender equality and other issues, and economic information from sources such as the Financial Times, which provided information that shows that firms ran by women are better positioned in the market compared to those ran by men and more in this year's crisis, since women stopped the buying spree.

Finally Ms. Villagomez Morales, gave a series of practical tools to enhance the capabilities of companies in their struggle to eliminate gender discrimination in the workplace what the guide so that attendees can teach this workshop in their respective associations or companies.

In the picture above we can find: from left to right: Mrs. Mª Helena de Felipe Lehtonen, President of AFAEMME; Mrs. María José Pérez-Cejuela, the General Director for Women of the Autonomous Community of Madrid; Mrs. Inmaculada Álvarez Morillas, President of ASEME Madrid and OMEGA and Ms. Elizabeth Villagomez Morales, AFAEMME’s Expert on Gender and Enterprise.