Write a commentThe first meeting of the Newry hub of the Next Chapter, the new civic empowerment initiative for women, will take place in Newry on Thursday 6th September at the Sean Holywood Arts Centre at 7pm. This hub will welcome participants from right across the Newry area and surrounding counties.
Women of all ages and backgrounds are invited to attend the first meeting, which will see capacity building training in politics, peace and reconciliation and public life provided over the next two years. The Chapter Hubs will meet monthly and participants will have the chance to engage and interact with women from their own Hub and the other nine Chapter Hubs, which are set to meet in the coming weeks and months.
Speaking before the meeting Programme Director Joanne Jennings said: “Each Chapter Hub will be a thriving local network for women and the gateway to regional events, forums and networking activities. The Next Chapter programme has been designed to help women or all ages and backgrounds take their first steps into community, politics and public life and includes the opportunity to apply for training in communication, conflict resolution, decision making and a range of other top- ics.”
“Any woman who is thinking of entering public or civic life can register at www.thenextchapter.eu or come along to the first meeting. The opportunities within the programme are unparalleled and never before has a training programme of this size and scale been designed and implemented especially for women,” she added.
The Next Chapter is a new programme supporting women to develop their ideas, build communities and support the transition out of conflict. It aims to improve the representation of women in public and political life and contribute to a more gender-sensitive society in Northern Ireland and the border regions of the Republic of Ireland. Those interested in further specific information regarding the programme in Newry are urged to contact Alice Byrne at alice.byrne@politicsplus.com.
