The City of Antwerp’s Gender and Migration Support Center will ceremonially open its doors on March 8th. This is no surprise on International Women’s Day – a special day for those active in gender equality, including the Humanitarian Welfare Association.
GemmA is a partnership established and supported by the City of Antwerp, with HWA and two other organizations as core partners. The Support Center aims to be more than just a physical meeting place, but also a place of hope, advice, and support for those in need. GemmA’s doors are therefore open to everyone with a migration background who faces gender inequality and is eager to support anyone who encounters barriers at the intersections of gender and migration.
Through this close partnership, HWA will be able to better support its target group at its intersections and achieve its own sustainable goals, including combating domestic violence, women’s emancipation, and the empowerment of people with a migration background. From now on, the Humanitarian Welfare Association will operate from two locations: Deurne and Borgerhout, which will only benefit our services.
Following speeches by Caroline Gennez, Flemish Minister of Development Cooperation and Urban Policy, and Karim Bachar, Antwerp’s alderman for equal opportunities, integration, and community development, the opening was held in a more relaxed format.
In the afternoon, HWA also hosted a well-attended workshop on gender gap and stress, where we provided more information about how this gap arose, its impact on our lives, and what actions we could take to prevent it. This workshop attracted a large group of participants from all backgrounds and was a resounding success.
With this ceremonial opening, GemmA is off to a flying start, cementing our productive collaboration!
