What is GET
February 23, 2018
Girls Empowered by Travel is a non-profit organization that provides safe opportunities for women to travel and gets involved in community work with like-minded youth in a welcoming and safe environment. GET strives to promote leadership among women and youth that will have a ripple effect on the reality of their families and their communities.
Why Women?
Gender inequity is recognized as one of the reasons keeping us from a better, more sustainable world. Despite growing evidence of the positive outcomes of girls’ and women’s empowerment, women and girls continue to face gender-based discrimination, marginalization, and violence, across the world, including unequal access to education, healthcare, employment opportunities, which stifles their potential for leadership and participation. No country or region can achieve sustainable economic development if half of its population — women — are oppressed and/or disempowered!
The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal #5 is to achieve gender equality and empower women and girls. By 2030 we want to see a Planet 50/50. We surely need relevant laws, policies, and services, however bottom-up, grassroots level is also critical to achieving this goal.
We see meaningful travel as an alternative way to steer these social and gender issues and empower women in a practical and FUN way. Whatever economic situation might be, people intrinsically strive for joy, happiness, companionship and leisure.
Travel is an amazing way to experience those, as well as acquire new skills and competencies necessary for life. Travel cannot solve society’s problems or women’s issues on its own, but can be a very empowering element in women’s lives. It can contribute to development of their leadership and independence, building confidence and simply be a source of joy from exploring the world and making meaningful friendships.
By meaningful travel we understand that the girls from the start put some meaning, or mission, in their travels. It can be creating space for girls and women, capacity building, social engagement, community development and other positive changes in women's lives.
Travel seems to be less accessible to women as opposed to men (safety component and the traditional role of women); and to be less accessible to those living in poorer countries and more traditional cultures. We want to challenge this reality and inspire girls around the world not to be stopped, and search for ways to make travel accessible, safe and affordable.
Our Mission
Create a powerful network of Girl Travel Circles (GTCs) and a movement around the world, uniting women who support and empower each other through travel and community projects.
Our Objectives
- Enable GTCs to create and execute community projects, based on specific needs and issues in their areas. These projects must have a traveling element.
- Educate girls through experiential learning on how to travel safely, affordably and with a meaningful social purpose.
- Develop and strengthen their skills and knowledge, empower girls to take on leadership roles in the projects to leave them able to be powerful in all aspects of their lives.
- Creating safe and supportive spaces for women and girls to engage with each other and their communities, strengthen women’s and girls’ bonds with each other and their communities
- Create a Girls Empowered by Travel non-profit organization with the goal of providing fellowships for underprivileged girls, to fund their traveling community projects.
- Work with other non-profit organizations to promote and/or facilitate women's and girls' empowerment and freedom.
- Encourage exchanges between GTCs to promote ideas of cultural understanding and interconnectedness.
- In GET we believe in the methodology of non-formal education – organized educational activity outside the established formal system. This type of learning is not as much informational, as it is experiential. In a loosely structured environment (Girl travel circles, projects, and programs, workshops) girls will have space to develop competencies and have fun traveling, learning both from the curriculum and from each other and the world they travel.
Why Women?
Gender inequity is recognized as one of the reasons keeping us from a better, more sustainable world. Despite growing evidence of the positive outcomes of girls’ and women’s empowerment, women and girls continue to face gender-based discrimination, marginalization, and violence, across the world, including unequal access to education, healthcare, employment opportunities, which stifles their potential for leadership and participation. No country or region can achieve sustainable economic development if half of its population — women — are oppressed and/or disempowered!
The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal #5 is to achieve gender equality and empower women and girls. By 2030 we want to see a Planet 50/50. We surely need relevant laws, policies, and services, however bottom-up, grassroots level is also critical to achieving this goal.
Why Travel?
We see meaningful travel as an alternative way to steer these social and gender issues and empower women in a practical and FUN way. Whatever economic situation might be, people intrinsically strive for joy, happiness, companionship and leisure.
Travel is an amazing way to experience those, as well as acquire new skills and competencies necessary for life. Travel cannot solve society’s problems or women’s issues on its own, but can be a very empowering element in women’s lives. It can contribute to development of their leadership and independence, building confidence and simply be a source of joy from exploring the world and making meaningful friendships.
By meaningful travel we understand that the girls from the start put some meaning, or mission, in their travels. It can be creating space for girls and women, capacity building, social engagement, community development and other positive changes in women's lives.
Travel seems to be less accessible to women as opposed to men (safety component and the traditional role of women); and to be less accessible to those living in poorer countries and more traditional cultures. We want to challenge this reality and inspire girls around the world not to be stopped, and search for ways to make travel accessible, safe and affordable.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete