Global Fund for Children supports a network of community-based organizations in West Africa that are helping girls aged 6 to 18 achieve educational success, tackling violence against girls in their own communities, and powering girls to exercise agency and autonomy over their bodies and their lives.
Our partners in this initiative are primarily located in the rural border areas of Liberia and Sierra Leone and across across Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea, where girls and young women often face higher rates of violence and more limited access to education than in the capital cities. Diverse in programming and experience, the local groups in this initiative share the following attributes:
They are led by women and/or by youth
They work to address the root causes of violence against women and girls, with an emphasis on ending female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), child marriage, and sexual abuse
They have experience working with and empowering adolescent girls
Our partners bravely address the barriers girls face in accessing education and reaching their full potential by:
Ensuring a return to school for girls, addressing academic gaps, and creating complementary learning spaces.
Working with young people, schools, communities, and local governments to remove obstacles to girls’ education.
Advocating for girls’ rights, including the right to education, and for an end to harmful practices like child marriage and female genital cutting that create barriers to education for girls.
Empowering girls and boys to make informed decisions about their sexual health and to prevent unplanned teen pregnancy.
Building expanded and more dynamic networks of grassroots organizations, and sharing learning opportunities to help achieve education programming and advocacy goals.
GFC is providing these local organizations with flexible funding and capacity strengthening services to aid their growth and effectiveness.
Most people were not taught comprehensive sexuality education and that has led them to make the wrong decisions in terms of sexual activities. A lack of knowledge on comprehensive sexuality education has led them to have a lack of information about their body parts and about when and how to be sexually active.
Jonathan Kargbo, AGS participant, Sierra Leone
Working with GFC and other partners has not only been a rewarding experience but a powerful testament to our collective commitment towards empowering and amplifying the voices of young people across the region. The AGS has provided a platform where the aspirations, challenges, and resilience of adolescent girls are not only acknowledged but celebrated, and it has been my utmost joy witnessing and experiencing that.
Dora Muhanuuzi, The Fund for Global Human Rights
I have never been in a platform where 80% of participants are adolescents, my peers. I was happy to see that the girls can take and make decisions and discuss on issues they face and lead the process. In many gatherings, it has been older people leading and making decisions; therefore, the feeling of me as an adolescent owning the space was extraordinary.
