Voices of Olympia Canada School Competition
VOOC Awards Ceremony May 9, 2024! Stay tune for your invitation
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VOOC Awards Ceremony May 9, 2024! Stay tune for your invitation 〰️
Voices of Olympia Canada is a global citizenship learning-based initiative. Through a yearly school competition, high school girls in Canada use a human rights approach to reflect on the central theme of gender inequalities and its impact on the empowerment of girls and women.
Theme of the 2023-2024 edition of the Olympes de la Parole Canada School Competition:
Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective
Besides your contribution in helping to curb poverty in your local community, you will be able to:
Increase your skills in team work
Increase your critical thinking skills
Build capacity for public speaking skills
Win Scholarship
Show leadership by implementing your project in your community
Have your project viewed by, and shared with a national and international network that promote the rights of girls and women
Receive a certificate attesting to the community hours you have invested in this competition.
All the reasons why you should participate in the Voices of Olympia Canada competition are detailed here. Do not hesitate!
Why participate to the 2023-2024 edition ?
Make a gift to education
Your donation will help us promote global citizenship learning among high school girls by:
Providing scholarships to winners of Voices of Olympia Canada school competition.
Creating awareness and facilitate critical analysis of issues affecting girls and women around the world and in Canada.
Supporting financially the implementation of community-based projects that result from recommendations made by the winners.
Promoting action-based community involvement, youth leadership, and collaboration.
Testimonies
« Olympes de la Parole encouraged us to find ways of using simple technology to do the most good for Indigenous girls and women. This influenced my decision to start my university studies in the STEM field, to provide technological advancements that help the communities that need them »
— Aristi Constantopoulos, Villa Maria College team member, (2018).
« This has been an incredible experience for us all. The girls have learned invaluable lessons about practical matters, such as the research, writing, and presentation processes, but above all, they got to exercise their innate compassion. As a teacher, witnessing their evolution as women, as leaders, and as compassionate, socially conscious citizens, has made this experience the gift of a lifetime. »
— M. di Scala, lead instructor at Villa Maria College, (2018).
« When I hear what these young girls have to propose, I see a model of how to reconcile relationships between Canadians and the original people of this land. »
— D. Kahwinehtha Diome, Chairperson for Kahnawake Combined School Committee and member of the competition review panel, (2018).
« I can’t tell you how warming to the heart it was to see my Mohawk people involved in the opening and closing of the event. I was inspired by the energy these young women put towards solving pressing issues faced by Indigenous women in the North. »
— K. Cook, Special Advisor, Indigenous Initiatives, Office of the Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic), McGill University, (2018).
« It was a privilege to take part in this first edition but above all, it was not only a very valuable learning experience for The Study team 1 and 2, but also an experience of an immeasurable human amplitude for them who turned out to be young women determined to help, act and make a difference. »
— M. F. Sénécal, International Program lead instructor at The Study, (2018).
« My participation in the Olympes de la Parole school competition provided an opportunity to understand the gaps in the Canadian social service system. I am now enrolled in McGill University’s School of Social Work, where I am continuing to develop an understanding of ways in which such systems can be improved through policy. »
— Dalia Vita, Villa Maria College team member, (2018).
Advocacy
Advocacy is a process of raising awareness about a specific issue with the purpose of informing, encouraging knowledge and best practice uptake, support collective actions that influence policies and promote positive changes.
Voices of Olympia Canada advocacy days are coherent with its vision and mission, and are inspired by observance days from the United Nations, UNESCO and Canada.