Girl community center in Addis Ababa
Recent demographic data from World Population Prospects show that out of the 120 million almost 74 million are 25 or younger and nearly 40% are under 14 years. In Ethiopia, there is limited amount of places where young people and especially girls can spend their time.
Czech NGO Skate World Better together with their local partner Ethiopia Girl Skaters tackle this problem with project Girl community center in Addis Ababa.
The idea of using skateboarding to positively influence youth communities is relatively new to the development aid. However, skateboarding is a sport where differences in age, social position or ethnicity are erased. It is a community-based discipline where individuals share their know how and experiences in order to grow as a group. The sport brings great benefits to individual philosophy, teaching us not to give up after the first failure.
The goal of the project is to provide a safe environment for young women where they can gather, spend free time and also educate themselves on life issues. The space will facilitate other activities such as: art courses and exhibitions, dance classes, movie projections, theatre, regular seminars on money literacy, sexual health, HIV/AIDS prevention, recycling and other. On top of that the project itself will contribute greatly towards gender equality as due to religious based biases, it is difficult for women in Ethiopia to take part in sporting and public activities.
Deliverables:
Press release