The initiative aims to promote the implementation of feminist and gender equality policies and practices.
The Award is promoted by representatives and organisations of civil society, international development cooperation agencies, universities and the diplomatic world.
Rome, 11 January 2024 – The Bianca Pomeranzi Award was created today to build a living legacy of her extraordinary contribution to the promotion of women’s, girls’ and children’s rights and freedoms at the Italian, international and transnational levels.
Bianca Maria Pomeranzi (1950-2023) was a leading figure in the world of Italian development cooperation and the feminist movement. Her achievements include co-founding AIDOS (Italian Association for Women in Development), working as Senior Advisor on Gender at the General Directorate for Development Cooperation of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, directing the Local Technical Unit (UTL) in Dakar of the Italian Cooperation in Senegal and East Africa (2010-11), and being elected as a member of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
The Bianca Pomeranzi Award aims to build a legacy in her field of work by intervening in the transition period between academic studies and the labour market.
It is aimed at graduates in Science for Development Cooperation (LM81) having written a thesis focusing on feminist and gender equality policies and practices in the political, social, cultural, environmental and economic spheres.
The winner of the Award will be given the opportunity to carry out a three-month internship at a leading organisation in the sector. The organisation chosen for the first edition of the competition is Oxfam Italia / Gender Justice Department. “It was an honour to have Bianca Pomeranzi on the Board of Directors of Oxfam Italia from 2021. The professionalism, competence and passion with which she always promoted women’s rights was greatly appreciated. We wholeheartedly support the Award and we are delighted to have its winner as an intern in our Gender Justice Programme, in the hope that it will be a useful experience to approach the labour market and work on issues that are central to our organisation’s mission” commented Emma Romaro, President of Oxfam Italia.
Thanks to the generous contribution of the RUT Foundation and the European Women’s Management Development Network / Rome chapter (EWMD Rome), the internship will be remunerated.
The Promoting Committee of the Bianca Pomeranzi Award is made up of Mrs. Elena Zambelli (Lancaster University) and Maria Rosa Cutrufelli, who conceived it, and AIDOS, Casa Internazionale delle Donne, Differenza Donna, Department of Political Science of the University of Roma Tre / PhD in Political Science – Gender Studies Curriculum, EWMD Rome, RUT Foundation and Oxfam Italia.
The initiative is also sponsored by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (Agenzia Italiana per la Cooperazione allo Sviluppo, AICS). “Bianca Pomeranzi’s work has been fundamental in promoting the key role that women, girls and children play in the development of their communities. AICS did not hesitate in providing its sponsorship to the award dedicated to her, confirming the Italian Cooperation’s commitment to gender equality, in the hope that this initiative will contribute to the development of new skills thanks also to the contribution of the academic world and of civil society organisations,” said AICS Deputy Technical Director Leonardo Carmenati. The Bianca Pomeranzi Award is also supported by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI).
More than twenty women from the aforementioned organisations participate in the Scientific Committee, together with cooperation experts, representatives from the diplomatic and parliamentary worlds, university professors, activists and exponents of feminist and women’s associations.
They are joined by friends who have donated texts, images, time and work to build the initiative’s website.
For information: www.biancapomeranzi.it; premiobiancapomeranzi@gmail.com
