Stories

SDG10 week is powered by Novak Djokovic Foundation

"We should tackle inequality right from the early years. By giving all children equal access to quality preschool education, we are ensuring that everyone has a solid foundation for a bright future.” Jelena Djokovic, co-founder and global director of the Novak Djokovic Foundation.

10.03.2020.

In the week of reduced inequalities, we wanted to partner with an organization that is changing the lives of those underprivileged from the earliest age. That is why we are bringing you the story of the Novak Djokovic Foundation, founded with the goal to improve the quality of education in Serbia and benefit underprivileged children in Serbia.

The story of Novak Djokovic Foundation

"The Novak Djokovic Foundation was founded in 2007 as a global organization that invests in quality early childhood development in Serbia. After our country faced the worrying statistics (provided by UNICEF) that showed that only 50% of children in Serbia aged 3 to 5 are enrolled in a preschool program, we have chosen to address this issue. To us, every child is a champion and deserves a chance to make all of his dreams come true.

After 13 years, we can proudly say that behind our work there are 45 preschools opened all over Serbia, more than 22.000 children touched by our programs, 1.575 professionally trained teachers, and several thousand supported parents.

We tackle inequality right from the start

Our co-founders, Novak and Jelena Djokovic, believe in prevention through investing in early years programs rather than later rehabilitation. By providing access to quality preschool education, we are giving children equal opportunities right from the start which can have a great impact on their future life outcomes. Studies show that quality early childhood development heavily influences health, economic and social outcomes for individuals and society at large.

For that reason, we open preschools in rural and impoverished areas that have low preschool participation rates, which also increase their economic development. Namely, due to lack of quality education, families are usually forced to move to other cities or even to other countries in search of a better future for their children. That further contributes to the centralization of Serbia, the increase of the migration rate and impoverishment of rural areas. However, when we open a preschool, we give an incentive to the families to stay in their villages. We also contribute to the decrease in the unemployment rate by employing teachers and providing them with professional training. For more information visit: https://novakdjokovicfoundation.org/ 

"We should tackle inequality right from the early years. By giving all children equal access to quality preschool education, we are ensuring that everyone has a solid foundation for a bright future.” said Jelena Djokovic, co-founder and global director of the Novak Djokovic Foundation

We create ORIGINAL community with equal opportunities

We have created the Original platform to empower creative individuals, future leaders, and decision-makers and support bold entrepreneurs and innovators.

With a desire to enrich the community with new knowledge, we publish our Original magazine that provides young people with equal access to useful information, lessons, stories, and experience. Furthermore, we promote entrepreneurship in Serbia through our Dare to be Original conference where entrepreneurs from Serbia showcase their original products and share their professional path. We also organize educational workshops where young people can apply newly acquired knowledge and pitching competition with the best start-up ideas on the topic of technology and human-centric ecosystems.

Finally, we ensure equal opportunity and reduce inequalities of outcome, by helping young people in Serbia find their firsts jobs. Our Original talks conference provides young people with the experience of having a job interview with top HR managers from leading companies who help them with improving their presentational skills by sharing pieces of advice, knowledge and tips and tricks of the business."

For more information visit: https://www.originalmagazin.com/
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