A SUSTAINABLE YOUTH VOICE IN UGANDA

Phase II of the Global Programme to End Child Marriage addressed gender-transformative approaches (GTA) to ending child marriage. This plan required sustained investments over time as it looked to focus on the root causes of gender inequality and transform power relations through localized program partnerships with grassroot feminist, women-led and youth-led organizations.

Eighteen-year-old Maliama Hope Bridget is a student at Alere Senior Secondary School Adjumani District in Uganda, one of the 12 focus countries in the UNFPAUNICEF Global Programme. She works hard on completing her own education and encourages her female peers in her community to do the same, specifically through a youth-led organization: Girls Education Club. Education is the leading initiative to help young female adolescents delay marriage and discover other possibilities for a viable future. Maliama uses radio programming and outreach to inform her community how to protect adolescent girls and empower them to be safe and stay in school.

On her adolescent-run talk show, Maliama encourages girls to be confident, speak up about their challenges, and to wait to be married and get pregnant until they are adults. The goal is for adolescent girls to complete their secondary education to pursue their dreams, and even go on to continue their education in college if they choose.

Every girl deserves a chance to thrive, learn and build a future of her own choosing.

“My club has 35 members, 15 of whom are boys. We all work together giving each other advice on menstruation and careers and how to cope with the different challenges that we face. You may only be seeing us today but behind us are our teachers who give us opportunities to pass on the information which they impart to us to others.”

All proceeds will go to the Zonta Foundation for Women International Service Fund to support global initiatives to address gender-based violence