EMpower webinar showcases ‘‘A Window of Opportunity: Programming With and For Very Young Adolescent Girls” report in Spanish!

Posted 17 December 2020 in EMpower News, Grantee Partner News   |   Share

EMpower is excited to release EMpower’s report ‘‘A Window of Opportunity: Programming With and For Very Young Adolescent Girls” in Spanish! To mark the occasion, EMpower hosted a webinar featuring longtime grantee partner Tiempo de Juego. Founded in 2006, Tiempo de Juego works to empower young people in Bogota, Colombia through health education and life skills training.

EMpower Senior Programme Officer to Latin America, Daniel Parnetti, hosted the webinar and interviewed each of the participants. The first speaker, 12-year old Danna Alejandra Baquero Bohórquez, is a member of Tiempo de Juego’s Leadership Programme which prepares youth to become leaders within their community. Danna shared her experience as a girl leader and highlighted the programme’s focus on gender equity and inclusion. She gave examples of activities she enjoyed including dialogue about gender stereotypes and health classes about navigating puberty. Following Danna, we had the opportunity to speak with an older participant of Tiempo’s Programs, Juliana Mendez, who spoke about the importance of programmes specifically designed for girls and the influence gender-focused programmes had on her and how these contributed to her interest in feminism and gender equity.

Marian Morales Chacón, Tiempo de Juego’s School Strategy Coordinator, provided insight on how the organisation’s programs were developed to address the needs of very young adolescent girls. Marian emphasized that the involvement and inclusion of girls leads to not only program success but the further empowerment of girls. Following participation in the program, Marian noted that participants gained confidence and felt more comfortable speaking in front of groups.

Jennifer Catino, the Research Coordinator for the report, shared the key findings and recommendations from the research which supported the importance of including girls in the development and implementation of targeted programmes.The recommendations of the report were shown in practice by the stories from participants who emphasized that community knowledge needs to be shared, documented, evaluated, and financed so that it can be utilised better and more widely. Other recommendations for strengthening girl-focused work include:

• Link practitioners within and across regions by creating vibrant communities of practice where organisations from the Global South and the Global North can share, exchange and troubleshoot together.
• Facilitate research-practice partnerships that enable grassroots organisations to evaluate their programs and strengthen related capacities.
• Develop platforms to share the experiences and expertise of local organizations, and assist others in addressing chronic challenges associated with girl-centered programming.
• Act as a catalyst, champion and amplifier of work with VYA girls by encouraging greater investment in this population, raising the profile of innovative programming, and demonstrating the impact of more flexible and sustainable grant-making approaches.

Watch the full webinar here. Read the full report here.