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Girls Leadership to Advance Education Equity

Thu, March 9, 3:00 to 4:30pm, Sheraton Atlanta, Floor: 1, Capitol South (North Tower)

Proposal

This paper examines advocacy as an engine for advancing girls’ access to quality education, using Rise Up’s Let Girls Lead program model as a key example. Many girls’ initiatives (whether in education, health or other disciplines) focus on direct service provision, often ignoring the need for systematic change in policies and laws in order to reach the most marginalized populations. Let Girls Lead strengthens existing in-country efforts to create a network of leaders working towards the goal of girls’ equal access to education. The focus on local leadership for systems change allows girls to lead change in their communities in ways that are both empowering and culturally-grounded.

By building the capacity of civil society organizations and individuals already working on the ground, Let Girls Lead encourages participants to directly engage with decision-makers and other key stakeholders in order to hold their governments accountable for allocating the required resources and services to girls’ education. By including the beneficiaries through girl-led advocacy interventions, the program upholds key practices that have led to the passage of girl-specific laws, policies and allocation of resources for girls’ education in 10 countries around the world. This initiative has the benefit of 7 years of global implementation, in addition to results from an external evaluation conducted by the United Nations Foundation in 2013. Under the evaluation of the Let Girls Lead Adolescent Girls, evaluators found that the program’s approach to advocacy capacity building has enhanced the effectiveness and impact of girl-centered advocacy efforts in participating countries, Malawi, Honduras, Guatemala, and Liberia.

Key words: civil society organizations, girl education, girls agency

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