World Urban Forum - 2006

 

Girls World Wide: Art, photos, documentaries & discussions on young women’s urban experiences

 

For two weeks in the summer of 2006, twenty-five young women representing five Girls Action Foundation network member organizations gathered in Vancouver to discover how urban sustainability is impacted by gender equity. They were joined by 400 youth from Canada and around the world for the World Youth Forum, and then by close to 7000 national and international delegates for UN-Habitat’s World Urban Forum III, “From Ideas to Action.”

 

The Girl World Wide delegates kept a rigorous pace at the forum, attending opening plenary sessions, youth roundtables, leading discussions and art activities, making speeches, showcasing their art and photography, and making friends from Africa, South and Latin America, Asia and Europe.


 

The Girl World Wide project highlighted three local girls programs – Go Girls, Girlz Group, and Knowledgeable Aboriginal Youth Association. The work of these programs was shown in:

  • A photo exhibit exploring poverty
  • Art displays
  • Videos about growing up in the city
  • Drumming performances
  • Speeches

 

 

At the World Youth Forum, the Girl World Wide project partners facilitated three discussions entitled Gender: Achieving Balance and Equity. These sessions were attended by 50 Canadian and international youth, and included art activities, video screenings, discussions, and biking in Vancouver’s beautiful Stanley Park. These discussions resulted in a page-long recommendation to UN Habitat and were added to the forum’s Youth Report.

 

During the World Urban Forum, the young women learned about many issues surrounding urban sustainability, including:

  • Youth engagement
  • Environmental sustainability
  • Urban planning
  • Disaster relief
  • Participatory democracy
  • Affordable housing
  • Food Security

  

The Girl World Wide project was a huge success. Young women were engaged thinking critically about cities, development and sustainability, and government representatives, policy makers, and NGO directors were encouraged to consider young women’s urban experiences in their future actions.