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Girls & Women

DFID is working to give girls and women choice, voice and control over their lives. Across the developing world, women and girls bear a disproportionate burden of poverty - but we know when we invest in girls, they have the potential to transform their prospects, their communities and the world. In these blogs various voices will show why this is important and how the UK is helping.

Why Ligada is brilliant – reflections on the early stages of adaptive programming

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Africa, Economic Development, Girls & Women, Mozambique

There are apparently three stages to adapting to a new country; firstly, elation – everything is new, exciting and different; secondly frustration – everything is new, confusing and different; and lastly, normalisation – everything has its ups and downs, some …

The Power of Young People #YouthSummit

Last Saturday, I joined the Tanzanian Youth Summit, one of several such events happening across the world, that will culminate in London in a few days (check out the #YouthSummit site). It was a room full of young Tanzanians who …

Diary of an ICS volunteer: host families, hard work and hot chai

International Citizen Service volunteer Vix in her sari

...that brings together 18 to 25-year-olds from all backgrounds to fight poverty in overseas and UK communities. To find out how to become an ICS volunteer like Vix go to...

One year on from the Girl Summit: are we any closer to ending child marriage?

Annet, 17-years-old, Western Uganda: "I have been out of school for over a year now. I was here at home doing nothing so one of the evenings I met a man who promised to provide for me. A few weeks later I was pregnant and I went to live with him.” Picture: Rebecca Vassie/Girls Not Brides. All rights reserved.

Working on a taboo subject can be isolating and demoralising and, as evidenced by the experience of some Girls Not Brides members focused on ending child marriage within their communities, even life-threatening. Until a few years ago, child marriage was such …

How is Ebola affecting FGM in Sierra Leone?

The UK is working with the UN, the World Health Organisation and the wider international community to combat Ebola. Picture: Save the Children

The practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Sierra Leone is shrouded in great secrecy and mysticism. It usually takes the form of removal of the clitoris, sometimes using razor blades, penknives and even broken glass. It is at the …