Project Futura, to promote gender equality and combat educational poverty

As part of the 'Straight on Rights' event, the Futura Project made a stop in Venice. Active not only in the Venetian capital, but also in Rome and Naples, the project, promoted by Save the Children, Forum Disuguaglianze e Diversità and YOLK™ in collaboration with Intesa Sanpaolo, aims to combat educational and material poverty. The objective is to concretely remove the obstacles that prevent girls and young women (13-24 years old) from fully expressing their talents, abilities and desires in their schooling and training, with a special focus on the delicate transition in which they become mothers. The project is implemented in Venice by Save the Children in collaboration with the Itaca cooperative, in Rome by YOLK™ with the support of Asinitas and Be Free and in Naples by the Forum Disuguaglianze e Diversità with the Dedalus cooperative.

In the light of the experience gained in the two years of activity in close cooperation with the territory and with the Department for Social Cohesion and Social Policies of the Municipality of Venice, within the framework of the 'Dritti sui Diritti' (Straight on Rights) event, the meeting allowed us to take stock of the actions implemented, starting from the 'Personalised Educational Accompaniment Plans', lasting on average one and a half years, defined according to the specific needs and aspirations of each girl and young woman involved. The paths activated by Futura to date in the three different territories have been 300, of which 100 in Venice alone. At a national level 49% of all interventions are concentrated in actions aimed at the resumption or consolidation of studies and professional start-up (47% in the Venice area). 27% address hopes and aspirations (23% in the Venice area), proposing specific objectives aimed at achieving autonomy and wellbeing through concrete planning of their goals. 19% concern emotional wellbeing (20% in the Venice area), and include participation in sports, cultural and recreational activities and, when necessary, psychological support. The remaining 5%, addressed to social relations and support networks (10% in the Venice area), promotes the knowledge of tools to exercise active citizenship, knowledge of places, institutions and possible support networks in the area.

In particular, in the Venice area, courses were also implemented for young mothers, which include actions for wellbeing, combating isolation and supporting parenthood, as well as computer literacy courses and focused on combating gender gaps in Steam disciplines.

In order to strengthen women's empowerment, in the Venice area alone, thanks to the direct involvement of Intesa Sanpaolo's professional figures, financial education courses have been activated for girls and young women, to broaden their knowledge and acquire fundamental tools for their economic independence. Fifty per cent of the participants in these courses are young mothers. According to Pisa 2022 data, the average score in financial literacy obtained by the 14 OECD countries/economies was 498 points. Italy, with 484 points, was among the countries with a statistically lower score than the international average. The survey also shows that in Italy, the average score in financial literacy shows a gender gap in favour of boys. At the average OECD level, in fact, boys outnumber girls by 5 points. This difference is decidedly more marked in Italy, where it reaches 20 points between boys and girls. In particular, the percentage of boys capable of solving more complex tasks, corresponding to levels 4 and 5 of the scale, is significantly higher than that of their female peers (by 7 and 5 percentage points, respectively); on the contrary, the percentage of girls at the minimum level of competence (level 2) or level 3 is significantly higher than that of their male peers (by 6 and 4 percentage points, respectively). In contrast, no significant differences are observed between the shares of boys and girls who do not reach the minimum proficiency level.

"The Futura project opens the way to new, all-female horizons. The girls and young women involved have the opportunity to learn new skills that will be crucial for their career path and their emancipation. This passes also and above all through the acquisition of financial education tools that will make them independent and free to make important decisions and able to invest and bet on themselves. Opening a bank account, applying for a mortgage, investing in self-employed activities, these are fundamental skills that thanks to Futura allow women to discover and follow their aspirations and literally change their lives," stressed Daniela Fatarella, Director General of Save the Children Italy.