The first year of the AWARE project (Advancing Women’s employment in the Agri-food sector through Re-skilling and Empowerment) focused on understanding the real challenges faced by long-term unemployed women and identifying the skills and support that can strengthen their return to employment.

In Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Spain, partners combined desk and field research, including Community Mapping and interviews with women, agri-food businesses and VET professionals. Common barriers emerged: caring responsibilities, skills gaps after time out of work, gender and age discrimination, limited opportunities and low pay.

At the first national roundtables, women, employers and professionals proposed practical solutions: flexible and family-friendly work arrangements, fair recruitment processes, mentoring, and training linked to real labour market needs. These ideas will shape the AWARE Framework for a Gender-Sensitive Work Environment.

What’s next: attracting and selecting long-term unemployed women, delivering personalised training and career guidance, and developing the free, multilingual AWARE Digital Platform, featuring a six-module learning programme.

Read the newsletter.

Learn more at www.awareprojects.eu