Following the Italian workshop held in Genoa the champions selected to pass on their work life balance knowledge and enthusiasm to SMEs have kept in regular contact with project partner Diciannove. New meetings of champions with SMEs representatives in the Piedmont region are planed to take place in March and early April. Strong contact has also been made with potential SME recipients of the Eurobalance information guide, both in Genoa and elsewhere in Liguria. A meeting is scheduled for February to regroup all champions and share experiences and thoughts.

In addition collaborative work is continuing with the Gender Equality Counsellor in Genoa's Province, who herself is championing the Eurobalance work to counsellors in other provinces around Italy. This is particularly important since the UN's Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 4-15 September 1995) argued that gender equality is a human rights issue necessary for achieving sustainable and people-centred development. The Beijing Platform of Action states that: "empowerment of women and equality between women and men are prerequisites for achieving political, social, economic, cultural and environmental security among all peoples". Further details about gender barriers to work life balance and to work in general, specially in the EU southern countries, can be found at www.unece.org/stats/gender.