Developing Women In The Community Programme Open For Applications

Communities Minister Gordon Lyons has announced the opening of applications for Phase Three of the Developing Women in the Community Programme.

This initiative, part of the Executive Programme on Paramilitarism & Organised Crime, aims to empower women in communities across Northern Ireland by providing them with the skills and confidence to become active participants in community development.

"I am pleased to be able to launch the third phase of this important programme, which will provide training and support to women of all ages," said Minister Lyons. "The programme will give women the tools to develop themselves as leaders, allowing them to take on key roles and drive change and improvement within their communities." Phase Three builds upon the success of previous phases, incorporating learnings and recommendations from an Advisory Panel and evaluations conducted by Queen's University Belfast.

Key elements of the programme include:

• Providing participants with the opportunity to partake in volunteering roles and to develop and deliver a small programme; 

• Providing Family Support; and

• Delivering modular training relating to personal, community and families resulting in personal progression, reducing individual risk factors and strengthening the women's confidence to engage with their communities.

Delivery organisations are encouraged to adopt a trauma-informed approach and promote the principles of the Ending Violence Against Women & Girls Strategy (EVAWG). 

Applications are invited from areas identified as having the greatest need.