Across the continent, GFC partners with community-based organizations that are advancing education, challenging injustice, and helping children and youth thrive. From Sierra Leone to Kenya, local leaders are building a more just and hopeful future together with children and young people.
The Africa region spans North, West, Central, Eastern, and Southern Africa. While the continent is rich in cultural heritage, natural resources, resilience, and innovation, many children, adolescents, and youth face systemic and intersecting challenges that hinder their development, safety, and wellbeing.
Across the region, many girls and young women remain vulnerable to discrimination and gender-based violence rooted in long-standing cultural and social norms. Harmful practices such as child, early, and forced marriage (CEFM)—prevalent in North, Central, West, and East Africa—and female genital cutting (FGC)—particularly widespread in West and East Africa—continue to threaten their rights and futures. These practices can rob girls of their childhood, compromise their physical and mental health, and deny them access to education, safety, and personal agency.
In addition, both girls and boys are increasingly exposed to modern threats, including substance abuse, drug addiction, and gambling. These issues, affecting both urban and rural communities, are driven by growing inequality, poverty, inadequate access to social and mental health services, and the lack of safe, inclusive environments for youth to thrive.
Climate change further compounds these challenges. Extreme weather events, environmental degradation, and climate-induced displacement are disrupting livelihoods, food security, and access to education—especially in already vulnerable communities. Children and young people, particularly those living in rural areas or as refugees or internally displaced persons (IDPs), are disproportionately affected.
Over the years, our work in the Africa region has evolved to become more community-led, inclusive, and intersectional. We intentionally center the voices, leadership, and lived experiences of young people—especially girls, refugee youth, and those from marginalized communities—in our programming and advocacy efforts. Through sustained partnerships with local organizations and grassroots movements, we co-create long-term, culturally relevant solutions that tackle the root causes of injustice, promote healing, and support children and youth to grow with dignity and hope.
With your support, our community-based partners can continue building a continent where every child, adolescent, and young person can thrive—free from violence, fear, and inequality—and grow into powerful agents of change for Africa’s future.
Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Kenya, Nepal, Uganda, Zambia
Africa in numbers
11
countries including Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe
55
local partners who are serving girls, children living with disabilities or HIV, survivors of child trafficking, child marriage and gender-based violence, refugees, children living in post-conflict environments, unemployed youth, and other young people.
Empowering communities to lead their own development: A pathway to sustainable change in Africa
Global Fund for Children (GFC), with support from the TIDES Foundation and People’s Postcard Lottery, is implementing in a groundbreaking project in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Using GFC’s flexible funding model, community-based organizations are supported to decrease incidents of gender-based violence and improve educational access for girls in the region.
One partner in Sierra Leone mentioned how they couldn’t consistently operate their programs due to frequent power outages and how they wished they could buy a generator. The leader was so happy when I told her that they could with GFC’s flexible funding, although she almost didn’t believe me at first. She expressed that it was a groundbreaking moment, as this was the first time a donor had offered such flexibility to fill their operational gaps.
Amé Atsu David, Regional Co-Director for Africa, Global Fund for Children
What inspired me most to join the Adolescent Girls’ Summit is that the summit is the only place where I can share my thoughts, especially things that are affecting me as a young teenage girl. For me, it is my safe space, and I think issues that are bothering me could be the same for most teenage girls, and sharing things affecting me will give opportunity for organizations working for us to have clear insight on how our issues as teenage girls are to be handled.
Tenneh, 17, AGS participant, Sierra Leone
Your support drives real change
Innovative community-based organizations turn small amounts of money into, lasting impact. Your donation will support our partners working at the hearts of local communities to create a safer, more just future for children and young people.
