Education is a fundamental human right!
Working with Girls in and out of school as key actors and partners in shaping education systems is pivotal in creating gender responsive education systems. Tujifunze Africa Foundation engaged girls out of school in one of Uganda’s slums Namuwongo in a “Girls’ Education Talk” to discuss challenges faced by girls in this community and collectively brainstorm solutions and recommendations to decision makers and other stakeholders.
The session was facilitated by the girls and aimed at building girls’ voice and agency to speak up, take up space and reclaim their power to make decisions for themselves, challenge injustices in their homes and community and create change, but most importantly, hear from girls themselves, the challenges affecting their education.
Challenges identified included but not limited to; household poverty, limited access to mentorship and financial literacy skills, stigma directed towards ‘child mothers’ affecting their return to school, negative gender norms and stereotypes, high cost of public education in Uganda especially at Secondary level, lack of menstrual supplies, School Related Gender Based Violence to mention a few.
The girls demanded for; provision of education scholarships for girls grappling with poverty, called on police and local leaders especially the LC1 and LC2 to apprehend perpetrators of violence against children, and provide Sexual Reproductive Health Services and information to girls to enable them make healthy life choices, and stay in school.
Tujifunze Africa Foundation commits to link the girls running small businesses to potential mentors and funders and mobilize for capacity building opportunities for them to improve their financial skills. The organization is to fundraise for scholarships for some of these girls to return to school, continuously engage communities through community dialogues to raise awareness on girls’ education, train local leaders; LC1 and 2 on prevention, documentation and response to Violence Against Girls.
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