‘Programme gives young girls the space to dream’
DIEPSLOOT – Johannesburg Development Agency service providers will work with the participants on the project’s technical work and facilitate the design session.
The Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA) and Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo have partnered with UN-Habitat and The Wot-if? Trust on the Indlela Yabafazi project to have young girls make a difference in Diepsloot.
The project is based on the HerCity process – a joint urban development initiative by UN-Habitat, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme and the independent Swedish think tank named Global Utmaning, translated to Global Challenge. Through the project, the girls will be involved in a series of workshops, discussions and forums. They will be responsible for gathering and assessing crucial data to further the urban development process.
According to a statement by JDA, the girls will use the information they gather to redesign the visited spaces, using design tools such as Minecraft.
Gail Styger, founder and trustee of Wot-If? said the partnership between the trust and JDA was thanks to a visit from the Swedish Prime Minister. “I got a mail from the Swedish Embassy – who had visited Diepsloot to prepare for the visit and seen what we do – to ask if we would be interested in the HerCity project. Our initial engagement was with the UN-Habitat team and JDA project manager. We agreed to step in and provide support and information on Diepsloot that we had at our fingertips,” she said.
“We are always keen to work on initiatives that support a better Diepsloot in the future and that grow the community and we were especially excited that this one targeted girls and young women.”
Styger added that it was important to have projects like this for the youth due to poverty and lack of opportunity. “A programme like this gives young girls the space to dream, to have a voice and to see that what they think and say matters. It has also given them access to technology and the exciting world of Minecraft – which talks to one of our other burning issues, digital poverty.
“It has been amazing to see how the girls have blossomed, and how leaders have emerged. We have girls and young women lobbying for spaces that accommodate people with disabilities, the elderly and those with different needs.”
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