Eva Suárez, Head of the Spanish Cooperation in Egypt, and Peter Luigi, Deputy Representative of the UNICEF in Egypt, accompanied by representatives of the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MoYS) conducted a field visit to Aswan to follow up on the implementation of the programmes Sports for Development (S4D) (Maharty…Lyaqty) and the National Girls’ Empowerment (Dawwie). With the support of the Spanish Cooperation, UNICEF has expanded the geographical scope of these programmes to Aswan and Assiut. Moreover, during the last year both programmes moved towards full integration with a common intervention framework that leverages synergies for better outcomes.
The Sport for Development programme provides girls with interactive physical training led by female coaches affiliated with MoYS in groups of twenty-five. This training is not only an opportunity to promote health through sport, but to develop important life skills such as teamwork, problem-solving or communication.
Dawwie is an over encompassing programme creating safe spaces for positive gender socialization in which small groups of five to ten young people are encouraged to share their experiences and stories through the Dawwie storytelling toolkit. The group work together for a period of four to six weeks tackling topics such as bodily integrity, health and well-being or skills and aspiration. Parents and community are involved in the group journey and attend the final presentation at the end of the cycle. Dawwie also includes sessions on digital literacy to enhance access to information and life skills for social inclusion and create awareness regarding the safe use of social media and internet.
The visit closed off with a screening and discussion of the award-winning documentary film It Takes a Village, that documents the lives of the girls and families who have participated in Dawwie, allowing the members of the community to share with the Spanish Cooperation and UNICEF representatives their views on how the project has positively impacted their lives. This includes the young ambassadors of the programmes, graduates contributing to spread the word in their schools and communities and encouraging other young people to participate.
Thanks to the contribution of the Spanish Cooperation 7,000 young people have taken part in the activities in Aswan and Assiut, and 320 female coaches affiliated with MoYS have been trained to ensure sustainability of the programmes beyond the scope of UNICEF support.
