The 2024 GirlPower Program

What are you raising money for?

For so long, adolescent girls and young women in Nigeria have faced many social and cultural challenges including child marriage, teenage pregnancy, gender-based violence, limited access to education, unemployment, hiring discrimination, and low wages, and these challenges have subjected them to higher levels of multidimensional poverty. Unfortunately, many cases of girls’ personal experiences go unreported in Nigeria for fear of stigma and family shame, making it harder to measure data accurately. However, the issue of gender disparity still remains a large concern, especially with the increased cases of femicide and education disparities that have made headlines recently. This fundraising campaign aims to implement an extensive 6-month education program for adolescent girls from vulnerable communities and low-income households. This is our strategy to change the narratives of these girls by empowering them with not only foundational literacy, but also life skills that will positively influence their life experiences. Over the 6 months, we will teach them financial literacy, academic excellence, leadership design thinking, sexual and reproductive health rights, gender-based violence, and S.T.E.AM Careers. Through this program, we are positive that the girls will experience behavioural transformation and mind re-orientation, gain better understanding of academic and career opportunities, improve academic performance, develop leadership skills, learn to protect their bodies, and advocate for their rights.

Why are you raising the funds?

To achieve the depth of impact we envision with this early and gender-responsive education, we are seeking your financial support. With your support, we will be able to achieve these outcomes with 300 girls: 1. Increase their interest in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) related subjects, and equip them with skills and resources to take advantage of opportunities in these industries 2. Improve their communication skills, self-awareness, mindset orientation, and confidence, encouraging girls to take up leadership roles in their school and communities 3. Enhanced their understanding of budgeting, saving, and investing, empowering girls to begin building wealth 4. Reduce the rates of gender-based violence by helping girls identify different types of violence and appropriate reporting mechanisms 5. Increase their awareness of sexual and reproductive health and rights to help girls take better care of their health and protect their bodies 6. Improve their school performance and attendance, by giving them access to e-learning technologies to learn school subjects

What will the funds raised help achieve?

The funds raised from this campaign will help us: 1. Develop the GirlPower Book - to ensure continuous learning and sustain the impact of our intervention, we have developed a workbook. This book will contain extensive insights, resources, models, etc., on our six (6) focus areas, co-written by 31 authors from 7 countries. 2. Organise a GirlPower Event - to commemorate the international day of the girl-child and commence the implementation of this program, we are organizing a 3-day event from October 9th - 11th, 2024, in 2 public schools in Lagos State, Nigeria. This event consists of intergenerational dialogues, presentations, and demonstrations for the girls to have practical experiences. 3. Post-program Activities - this is an important component of the program, as it allows us to interact and engage with the girls over a period of time to track their progress and provide them with continuous support. The post-program activities, called "Safe Space Engagements", will last from October 2024 till July 2025 when the program formally ends. 4. Provide technology facilities - the schools we are implementing the programs in do not have technology facilities, which would hinder them from benefiting from the program after it ends, e.g. e-learning tools for their academics. We want to solve this problem by providing 6 laptops in the 2 schools.