• Maria Castillo-Fernandez, Ambassador of the European Union to the Republic of Korea and Gender Equality Ambassador of Korea, Youngsook Cho will each deliver opening speeches.
• The workshop will be co-hosted by the Gender Equality Training Platform Hyojae.

Monday, 8 March 2021 – (Seoul, Republic of Korea) The Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Korea announces that the Korea-EU CSO Network (KEN) will co-host together with local Gender Equality Training Platform Hyojea the 3^rd KEN Workshop on March 8, to celebrate the International Women’s Day. This workshop is part of the EU Delegation public diplomacy activities and can be followed online (Zoom) by interested parties from 5 pm. It will bring together representatives on CSOs and activists focusing on gender equality and women’s rights who will share views from Korea and the EU on past achievements, present challenges and future.

The Ambassador of the European Union to the Republic of Korea, Maria Castillo-Fernandez, will deliver an opening speech followed by a keynote speech by the Gender Equality Ambassador of Korea, Youngsook Cho and a moderated panel discussions with panelists - Myoung Ryoon Hwang Geum, the executive director of the Gender Equality Training Platform 'Hyojea' (GET-P), Seung-hee Seo, the founder of the Korea Cyber Sexual Violence Response Center (KCSVRC), Nicholas Spetsidis, the project coordinator at the Union of Women Association of Heraklion Greece (UWAH) and Gea Meijers the coordinator and board member at WIDE+ - on the current state, history and future of women’s rights.

"I am very pleased to acknowledge that Korean and European civil society organisations exchange and cooperate through this third Korea-EU CSO Network workshop”, says Maria Castillo-Fernandez, Ambassador of the European Union to the Republic of Korea. “This is a great occasion to engage in a visionary dialogue that helps women’s voices and rights be heard and better realised in our societies. At this challenging time, we need to ‘build back better’ stepping- up our engagement for gender equality".

"I think this opportunity is meaningful to introduce major achievements and activities related to women's rights in the Republic of Korea and to exchange opinions with European civil society organisations," said Youngsook Cho, Gender Equality Ambassador of Korea. "I look forward to strengthening mutual communication and cooperation with the European CSOs in the future, and to contributing to advance in this context".

The Korea-EU CSO Network (KEN) held several workshops and webinars involving civil society organisations from both regions as part of the public diplomacy project (EUPOP-ROK) funded by the European Union. In June and December last year, workshops were held under the theme of ‘Human Rights, Discrimination and the Unequal Impact of COVID-19 on Persons in Vulnerable Positions’ and ‘Successfully Engaging the Public : Strategies and Challenges of Korean and European CSOs with a focus on persons with disabilities and disadvantaged groups.’ KEN also held a webinar in November 2020 under the theme of ‘Empowering citizens through tailored advice, forward looking research, advocacy and campaigning.’ This year, KEN will be holding a webinar in April and an international conference in autumn.

This hybrid workshop is open on-line to anyone who is interested in women’s rights, particularly civil society organisation activists. Registration to attend the online workshop can be done through the Korea-EU CSO Network website’s event page (www.en.kencso.org/event). English and Korean simultaneous interpretation will be provided to encourage participation from the widest possible audience.

Media Enquiries:

The Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Korea 

KEN Media Contact: contact@kencso.org , Ms Cathy Paik +82 10 8318 0610

About the Korea-EU CSO Network (KEN)

The Korea-EU CSO Network (KEN) started in January 2019 as part of the European Union's public diplomacy project ‘Policy and Outreach Partnership in the Republic of Korea’ (EUPOP ROK). It aims at strengthening collaboration and exchanges between civil society organisations (CSO) from both regions. During the 2020-2021 period, several workshops, webinars and an international conference are prepared under the overall topic of human rights and touching specific subjects such as gender equality, disabilities and rights of migrants and transversal subjects such as advocacy and campaigning, fundraising and accountability.

About the Gender Equality Training Platform Hyojea

The Gender Equality Training Platform Hyojea is an NGO founded in 1992 by Lee-Lee Hyojea, a first-generation women’s rights activist and a professor at Ewha Womans University, who passed away last year. The professor called to amend the family laws and abolish the unfair hoju (mandatory male family head) registration system while bringing issues like ‘Japanese military sexual slavery’ to public discussion in the international community. She has initiated and led the overall women’s rights advocacy movements in South Korea. Previously called the Korean Institute for Gender Equality Promotion and Education, the institute’s name was recently changed into the Gender Equality Training Platform Hyojea in order to expand and reflect the spirit of Professor Lee-Lee Hyo-jae towards the development of a gender equal society in Asia and beyond.

Speaker Introduction