Reasons for Gyeongnam Volunteer Center's Move into the Women and Family Foundation Building: Support and Opposition?

On the 20th, 13 women's organizations in the province, including the Gyeongnam Women's Association Federation, held a press conference opposing the relocation of the Gyeongnam Volunteer Center into the Gyeongnam Women's and Family Foundation.

The organizations stated, "After the closure of the Gyeongnam Women's Capacity Development Center, the Gyeongnam Provincial Government and the Gyeongnam Women's and Family Foundation should strengthen the foundation's research functions and operational plans to promote a culture of gender equality. However, they are planning to proceed with the relocation of the Gyeongnam Volunteer Center, which is unrelated to gender mainstreaming policies."

They added, "The Gyeongnam Women's and Family Foundation should be a space where gender mainstreaming policy research functions are carried out, and where Gyeongnam women and women's civil society organizations collaboratively analyze, propose, and implement improvements to gender equality policies in Gyeongnam. The current space is already insufficient, and relocating the Gyeongnam Volunteer Center there is a disregard of the foundation's functions and roles."

They further said, "If the purpose is to reduce the rental fee for the Volunteer Center's space, the possibility of other public institutions moving in should be examined and implemented accordingly," and "We hope that through the foundation's public restructuring plans and initiatives, continuous cooperation, communication, and active gender governance with women's organizations in the province will be realized."

Women's organizations including the Gyeongnam Women's Association are holding a press conference opposing the relocation of the Gyeongnam Volunteer Center within the Gyeongnam Women's Family Foundation.
[Photo by Lee Seryeong]

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In response, Gyeongnam Province stated in explanatory materials, "The organizations moving into the foundation building were appropriately selected through the integrated public-private consultative body of the foundation and center, as well as the foundation's board of directors' review and approval."

According to the province, the foundation was integrated with the former Women's Capacity Development Center in January of this year.

To reorganize the space of the newly integrated foundation, a public-private consultative body composed of provincial assembly members, women's organizations, and public architects was formed in December last year.

The foundation planned to efficiently operate the building by designating functions for each floor, excluding the third floor currently in use.

The second floor was designated for institutions that could collaborate with the foundation through work linkage, while the first floor and basement were to be operated as shared cooperative spaces such as makerspaces and shared meeting rooms freely accessible to all residents.

The province explained, "The consultative body gathered opinions on the space reorganization through meetings on February 10 and March 9 this year, and during this process, only one organization?the Gyeongnam Volunteer Center?applied for relocation via official documents," adding, "The relocation target was selected after approval by the foundation's board of directors on the 4th."

They also stated, "If the Gyeongnam Volunteer Center moves in, the building rental cost supported by the province's transfer funds will decrease from the current 75 million KRW annually to 40 million KRW annually, saving 35 million KRW per year."

They continued, "With the saved budget, customized projects linked to the foundation's initiatives for residents can be developed," and added, "If the Gyeongnam Volunteer Center moves into the foundation, a network between the foundation's volunteer society and the volunteer center's volunteer groups will be established, enabling systematic practice of sharing activities and expanding opportunities for women's social advancement."

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