Girls Empowerment Initiative

Seventy percent of the world’s 263 million out of school children and youth are girls, and nearly two-thirds of the world’s 758 million illiterate adults are women.  These facts make gender equality increasingly difficult. We believe that education is one of the clearest paths to girls’ and women’s empowerment. Providing education for girls is the key to creating sustainable communities. The data reveals overwhelming evidence for the case of educating girls:

• When women and girls earn income, they reinvest 90% back into their families and communities.
• Education reduces the likelihood of child marriages. A girl with 7 years of education will marry four years later and have 2.2 fewer children
  Children born to educated mothers are twice as likely to survive past the age of 5
• Every extra year of basic school boosts a girl’s future wages by 10-20 percent, while the return on secondary education is 15-25 percent
• Educating women helps to shift long standing limiting social beliefs that shape the lives of women

Our girls empowerment initiative is dedicated to empowering young women to be bold, courageous, leaders in their schools and communities. To combat gender stereotypes, we encourage and inspire young girls to critically examine gender barriers that prevent them from achieving their dreams. Our programming specifically focuses on building self-esteem, developing leadership skills and how girls can use their voices and writings to effect change.