AFRICA4HER is an initiative created by the Young African Leaders
Initiative network to spur awareness and positive action around women’s issues.
It involves actions taken towards empowering women and girls such as helping to
increase a woman’s access to equal opportunities in the workplace, a girl’s
access to equal opportunities in the classroom, and steps you take to eliminate
the scourge of gender-based violence in the community, country, and continent.
The focus is on empowering women and girls because a gap exists
between the opportunities and resources available to men and boys and those
available to women and girls. The commitment to invest in women and girls in
Africa, is not only to help achieve gender equality, but also to promote
economic growth, good governance, and future innovation. Women and girls are
often the foundation of a community, and it is essential that they are
empowered for that nation to grow.
According to the U.S. Agency for International Development
(USAID), 1 in 3 girls around the world will experience gender-based violence in
their lifetimes, 1 in 5 girls in the developing world who enroll in primary
school never finish, and 1 in 7 girls in the developing world are forced into
marriage before their 15th birthdays. This shows that necessary action is
needed to ensure that women and girls are educated, informed and inspired to
help them develop their skills.
Investing in women and girls means taking actions — big and small
— to change society’s attitudes and behaviors toward women and girls. It also
entails creating a world where women and girls enjoy the same human rights and
have access to the same opportunities as men and boys.
TenderArts is committed to investing in women and girls by
creating platforms where they can express themselves through arts. The goal is
to act and, through these actions, bring about a more prosperous and secure
world for everyone.
MISSION
The Tender Arts Africa4Her
project aims to empower young women and girls through arts. It also aims to
provide a community event where girls and young women have access to mentoring
via artistic engagement with professionals in the field. Via several workshops,
these women would be able to enjoy one-on-one discussions with workshop
facilitators, and learn to undertake projects which include painting, drawing,
recycling, mixed-media, installation arts, printmaking, spoken word poetry and
writing.
OBJECTIVES:
- To
create a platform and opportunities where girls and women would be
empowered through creative engagements of the arts
- To
promote equality and opportunity for girls and young women.
- To
create a platform and forum where girls and women would be celebrated for
their creative prowess.
- To provide an inspiring
and educational environment for girls and young women.
TARGET PARTICIPANTS
Africa4Her is an event that
targets girls and young women between the ages of 12 and 25. The event will
attract youth from around Lagos state, including young artists, youth not
pursuing university education, girls at rehabilitation homes and girls in private
and government schools wishing to learn more about the arts.
The project expects to
attract 100 female participants. This number excludes representatives from
partner organizations, representatives of TenderArts organization, workshop
facilitators, media and the general public that would be present at
exhibitions.
Over the course of the
three months, it is reasonable to estimate that as many as 1,000 people may
attend Tender Arts Nigeria Africa4Her project in some capacity.
Here are the highlighted
target participants:
Secondary school students:
This group will consist of
girls from private and public schools and they will spend most of their time
learning at the workshop which would take place on Saturdays only. This is to
enable them attend school during the week thereby making out time for the
Empowerment through Arts Weekend Workshops.
Youth in rehabilitation homes:
This group will also spend
most of their time learning at the workshop which would take place on Saturdays
. Those living with disabilities such as Down Syndrome and Sickle Cell anemia
would also be considered.
Youth in Tertiary institutions:
This group who are already
into the art will have the privilege of working alongside the aforementioned
groups, learning through collaboration while the facilitators supervise their
works.
Mentors/Workshop
Facilitators:
These participants will be
involved in all areas of the project and would be accessible to the girls and
young women throughout the event.
WORKSHOP DATES #Africa4Her:
April-May,2016
CONFERENCE/SEMINAR FIELD
TRIP#Africa4Her
June-July, 2016
ART EXHIBITION #Africa4Her
August, 2016
