As a consequence of developing programmes that have emerged as a response to critical needs faced by community partners primarily based in the Global South, IPOW’s work aligns with the ambitions of several SDGs. Our three main areas of work (Education and Entrepreneurship, Cultural Spaces and Artistic Collaboration and Development) seek to contribute to Goals 4 (Quality Education), Goal 5 (Gender Equality) Goal 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) Goal 10 (Reduced inequalities) Goal 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions).

Our artistic collaboration projects such as GRRRL, a collaborative music project for women of colour from the Global South has provided new avenues for paid work and professional development for women artists from Venezuela, Ghana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Brazil, and Egypt. GRRRL has performed at festivals in the UK and Europe and were invited to perform part of the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Australia in 2018. The project has also provided the women with an international platform to discuss their work in addressing issues affecting women in their communities such as child marriage, FGM and domestic violence. Thus, this project aligns with the ambitions of Goal 5 (Gender Equality) and Goal 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth).

Equally, IPOW’s forum theatre project addressing disability stigma in northern Uganda has facilitated new pathways for social participation for people with disabilities corresponding to SDG 10. The project sought to challenge negative perceptions of disability by providing a platform for people with disabilities to engage with the wider community and share their experiences of disability. Working in partnership with local community organisation, Northern Uganda Hip Hop Culture, local volunteers were recruited and trained in Forum theatre by IPOW. Forum Theatre is a dynamic form of performance art whereby the audience are encouraged to interact with the stage characters. The production created through this partnership consisted of two performances: one addressing domestic violence, the other addressing discrimination in accessing work. After the performances, focus group participants with and without disabilities described positive change in their attitudes towards people with disabilities after watching the performance.

Boosting the development of physical spaces for cultural activities in communities affected by conflict also responds to the ambitions of SDG, Goal 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), Goals 4 (Quality Education), and Goal 10 (Reduced inequalities) and Goal 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions). A representative case is the development of IPOW partners, Trackside Creative, a community multi arts space in Soweto, South Africa. Soweto is a township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality which suffers from high levels of unemployment, child headed households, domestic violence and crime. Trackside offers arts education classes for children and young people, a recording facility and live performance space. IPOW, in partnership with the Ronnie Scott Foundation, gifted the space music equipment to boost the organisation’s capacity to host live shows and recording.

This has contributed to the sustainability of the space as Trackside has generated income from hiring out the equipment and their performance space as well as new employment opportunities for young people in the area. Furthermore, Trackside have also delivered In Place of War’s Creative and social Entrepreneur Programme as part of their after-school programme for young people in the local area. This has provided young people from disadvantaged backgrounds with new avenues for knowledge acquisition and soft skills development. Furthermore, it has enabled young people to gain a certificate of participation from the University of Manchester.

Supporting community organisations to raise young people's aspirations and provide alternatives to economic participation is a key aim of IPOW’s Creative and Social Entrepreneur Programme (CASE). The programme has been run in Comuna 13, Medellín an area suffering from high levels of gang violence, internally displaced communities, poverty and young people at risk of being recruited by gangs. Working in partnership with local NGO, Lluvia de Orión, young people aged 16-18 developed proposals for creative enterprises that seek to address socio-economic problems facing the community as part of the CASE course. Two of the projects have been selected to receive mentoring and seed funding to support the development of the creative enterprise. Furthermore, staff at Lluvia de Orión were trained as trainers in preparation for delivering the CASE programme and remunerated for their teaching, thus boosting professional development, skills and economic opportunities.