Are you a young Ethiopian creative looking for a platform to showcase your talent/content? NEWA’s Girls and Young Women (GYW) Movement Creative Challenge is here to provide you with just that.

Background

The Network of Ethiopian Women’s Associations (NEWA) is a pioneer women’s coalition of 35 member organizations, works vigorously to advocate for the enforcement of the existing gender-related laws, policies, programs and financing (GRB) and the formulation of gender policy, revision of national policies. NEWA’s goal is to reignite progress on gender equality by addressing the largest, least-recognized factor preventing women to reach their full potential. NEWA promotes a just society where women and girls have more choices across all stages of their lives, in economic, social and political activities, and where women voices are heard in decision-making about policies and budgets at all levels.

In Ethiopia, norms ingrained in the society are ones that generally discourage girls and young women from speaking about their rights and on matters that affect their lives. There are some youth/women associations, but they are often adult led and government initiated, established for political purposes.

Due to above-mentioned gaps in inclusion and representation, the existing laws, policies and government plans at the various levels as well as social norms fail to adequately reflect the perspectives of GYW. As such, the intended impact and the strategic objective of the She Leads Programme are perceived to be relevant to the Ethiopian context.

She Leads is a joint strategic partnership between other consortium members, TdH and NEWA. She Leads brings together child rights organizations, feminist/women’s rights organizations, and groups led by girls and young women (GYW-led groups) and aims to increase the sustained influence of girls and young women (GYW) on decision-making in political spaces and the transformation of gender norms in formal and informal institutions.

Read more on: Girls and Young Women Movement Content Creation Challenge 2023 (Deu date: June 25, 2023) – NEWA (newaethiopia.org)