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Description
The girls from rural Romania with whom has worked our organization have stated in a recent research study that 53% of them have been victims of verbal abuse, 20.6% have been victims of physical abuse, 39% have been bullied, and 47% are worried about their future (http://www.progressfoundation.ro/studiu-atitudinile-si-provocarile-fetelor-din-romania-rurala-in-anul-2021/). Within the context of the severe incidents (Caracal murders, the rape from Vaslui county) and the fact that Romania in on the second spot in EU as regards adolescent mothers we deem important to address this category. We want to invest in the development of the rural girls, so they face better the challenges of their future, through education and civic local events organized by themselves for themselves and their communities. The earlier the intervention, the better the results are according to recent research (Yeager DS, Dahl RE, Dweck CS. Why Interventions to Influence Adolescent Behavior Often Fail but Could Succeed. Perspectives on Psychological Science. 2018;13(1):101-122.). The target group of the project will be girls from the rural areas within 10 to 14 years old. The vehicle for their education will be public libraries from 50 communities which will work with 500 girls. The subject of the intervention, already determined through our research study, are: health, communication, entrepreneurship, media literacy, environment, violence and bullying, jobs of the future. The public libraries of the project will be chosen via a competitive process from a network of 200 with which the Progress Foundation work at this point. The public libraries are positioning themselves as facilitators of community development and have already a consistent track record as hubs for competency development of vulnerable groups.
Summary of project results
The project aimed to empower and enhance the social skills of 500 pre-adolescent and adolescent girls aged between 10 and 16 from 50 rural communities in Romania, a project carried out through public libraries. Preliminary research showed that the topics that concern the girls are: health, communication,
entrepreneurship, media literacy, the environment, violence and bullying, jobs of the future, active citizenship and the phenomenon of human trafficking and aggression against children.
The main activities and results achieved are: selection of participating libraries (50), training of librarians and development of educational
materials (50 persons participating in 5 training series, 15 podcasts and 12 lesson plans, selection of teenage girls (585 members in 50 localities in 19 counties), establishment of GirlPowerHubs (50) and carrying out the activities themselves. After completing the 10 themes, most of the GirlPowerHubs interacted with local authorities to present community activity plans. The girls identified local problems and organized events such as debates about the environment, fundraising for social causes, modernization of parks or creation of street libraries. A total of 32 local civic events were organized, mobilizing over 1850 people.
The actions led to increased civic awareness of the beneficiaries, the beneficiaries have more self-confidence, have better relationships with parents, are optimistic about the challenges of the future and are better prepared to face bullying and discrimination. The selected libraries have the know-how to be able to replicate the project at any time with the materials created, the hubs established in the project remaining open.