It is a project of the Multilateral Investments Fund of IDB, Cirque du Soleil and Circo del Mundo-Chile, which benefits young people from vulnerable sectors.

The Multilateral Investments Fund of the International Development Bank, the Cirque du Soleil and the Circo del Mundo-Chile shall launch on Friday 25th April the Chilean part of the project called “The Social Circus as an alternative to improve employability” which benefits 1500 young persons who belong to vulnerable sector in Chile, Argentina and Peru

In Chile launching will be performed at 11:00hs in the Circo del Mundo-Chile, located at Gral Bonilla 6100 Lo Prado. Such event will count with the participation of Koldo Echebarria, who is the IDB’s representative in the country; the Minister of the Culture and Arts Council, Claudia Barattini; Cirque du Soleil’s Social Action and Relationship with Communities Citizen Services director, Gil Favreau; Circo del Mundo-Chile’s Chief executive, Alejandra Jimenez; and Lo Prado’s Mayor, Gonzalo Navarrete.

Some of the attributes to be developed by the 1500 youngsters who will be part of the project during the three years it shall last, are: effort, discipline, achievements evidenced in their own bodies, goals and collective results, individual and group responsibilities, among others.

Alejandra Jimenez states that “the circus is a very potent tool for education and social and personal development”. Jimenez is the director of Circo del Mundo-Chile, an institution that has worked in social circus for over 19 years. She explains that the circus is not only about entertainment, for it includes motivation and the connection of young people with a practice that has an extended cultural tradition in our countries and, simultaneously, it strengthens their self-confidence and socio-emotional skills, which enable their integration to the towns, neighborhoods or communities were they belong.

The social circus emphasizes on the artistic experience those who practice it have, rather than on their performance, allowing that during their practice, these persons may train and assume responsibilities from a creative, professional and social perspective. All these variables contribute to improve school dropout rates and strengthen socio-emotional skills needed to enter the labor market or to establish their own labor entrepreneur.

THE PROJECT
It is an innovative project that seeks to improve the conditions of young people looking for a job or starting their labor projects, by using non-traditional training methods.

This effort is possible thanks to the professional and economic support of the Multilateral Investments Fund (FOMIN) of the International Development Bank, the Cirque du Soleil and the Circo del Mundo-Chile, La Tarumba (Peru) and the South’s Social Circus (Argentina).

In Chile, the project’s strategic ally is the National Council of Culture and Arts, having also the support of the Lo Prado Municipality.

The FOMIN is an autonomous fund administrated by IDB, promoting the expansion of opportunities and private sector’s development within Latin America and the Caribbean, as a sustainable tool for social inclusion and for overcoming poverty. In this project, the FOMIN has committed financial and technical resources to strengthen the management of the participant circus entities, as well as in installing capacity for the creation of youth entrepreneurs and fortify employability on young people who participate in the program.

The Circo del Mundo-Chile is a ground-breaking institution in circus art, with 19 years of experience in the practice of contemporaneous circus, using it as a tool for intervention and personal and social transformation, and in training the circus as an artistic discipline through the School of Circus Arts. Furthermore, it promotes the development of circus Arts as an artistic discipline in the social area and the extension of its practice at all levels. The circus as an art in general, is a discipline that widens expressive abilities of those who practice it and provides new languages and audiences to the national culture. The circus, differently to any other kind of art, may be practiced by everyone, creating valuable importance spaces.