Educational spaces provide empowerment tools that allow participants to develop their life project, know their rights and prevent situations of violence.
The Supérate program celebrated this Saturday the national graduation of 557 girls and adolescents from the educational spaces “Girls Club”, from the province of Santo Domingo, National District, San Cristóbal and Santiago de los Caballeros, who acquired the tools to develop their life project, defend their rights, prevent situations of violence and issues aimed at reducing early unions and pregnancies.
“Today we have more than five hundred reasons to celebrate,” said Gloria Reyes, CEO of Supérate, during the keynote speech at the inauguration ceremony, while expressing her gratitude to the institutions involved, as well as to the parents, guardians and support staff of the participants.
“Today we have more than five hundred reasons to celebrate throughout the country. And I thank our friends from UNICEF, from KOIKA, the allies of the Cabinet of Children and Adolescents; and of course the families and leaders of the communities throughout the country, for being part of our celebration.“, the official said.
Reyes also stressed that the greatest pride and gratitude is towards the girls and adolescents for the effort and perseverance shown in these six months of training and coaching, which he considered a huge reason for hope.
“Having completed these courses means that you have more opportunities to achieve your goals, to become the women you want to be and to have the means to overcome all the obstacles and barriers that lie ahead,” she said.
He explained that this step is just one step towards achieving his big dreams, so he called on people to continue their training in order to face the barriers and deal with the difficulties, since what comes easily is not enjoyed.
“You have the opportunity to change your lives, the lives of your families and your communities,” he said.
The Girls Clubs are the result of the strategic alliance between Supérate, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and is the main activity of the Project “Changing social norms for the prevention of violence, child marriage and early unions”.
Each community and/or educational space is made up of 20-30 girls and adolescents, aged between 12 and 17, selected from priority sectors, who live together in an interactive area, where they can exchange experiences with other girls of their age with the same dreams, knowledge and doubts.
With the graduation of these 557 girls and adolescents nationwide, the number of minors who completed this stage in 2024 reaches 953, under the coordination of Supérate, Unicef and Koica.
Of the 557 graduating minors, 63 are from San Cristóbal; 81 from the National District; 61 from Santo Domingo Este; Santo Domingo Oeste, 72; Los Alcarrizos, 69; Santo Domingo Norte, 189 and 22 from Santiago.
For months, the girls receive guidance on how to design a life plan, how to strengthen their self-esteem, and are accompanied by psychology specialists, as well as technicians in various areas.
The investiture ceremony was held in the Aula Magna of the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD) and was attended by Gloria Reyes, general director of Supérate; the Minister of Women, Mayra Jiménez; Carlos Carrera, representative of Unicef for the Dominican Republic, and Luisa Isabel Ovando, executive president of the National Council for Children and Adolescents (Conani).
