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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.

Skills and jobs: part of the answer to ending child marriage in Afghanistan?

Sewing and handicraft products created by Afghan women in the Zardosi network. Picture: Zardozi.

I recently joined DFID Afghanistan as the Private Sector Development Programme Manager, and my first "trip out" was to a programme I manage called Zardozi. It was already warm at 7:30am as I set off to meet 3 women - …

Tackling barriers to education for Afghan girls

The Girls’ Education Challenge will help up to 1 million of the world’s poorest girls in 22 focus countries get an education and transform their future. Picture: Sarah Cottereau

When the Girl Summit is held in the UK in July, one of the key messages will be the role of education in transforming the lives of girls. Education enables girls to participate more fully in their communities and their …

Ending child and early forced marriage in Mozambique

A few days ago I had the great privilege of speaking at DFID Mozambique’s summit on ending Child and Early Forced Marriage (CEFM). Mozambique has one of the highest rates of CEFM in the world, with around 1 in 2 …

Community networks changing lives in Mozambique

Lynne Featherstone meets star seller of health products. Picture: Julia Smith/DFID

It always strikes me on my visits to Africa how imaginatively people use their mobile phones. Mobiles are not just for calls, texts or browsing the internet. Instead they are used to transfer money, like I saw on my last …

Finance for the feisty female entrepreneurs of Mozambique

Photo: Lynne Featherstone meeting the market traders in Zimpeto, Mozambique

Nothing can quite prepare you for walking into Zimpeto market, the largest wholesale market in Mozambique. It is a hive of activity, colour and noise with stacks of fruit and vegetables piled high in great walls of produce. It is …

More action needed on reproductive rights for all

Women queue to be registered for free family planning services in Malawi. Picture: Lindsay Mgbor/DFID

Twenty years ago the world took an important step in agreeing that population is not just about measuring the numbers of people in the world, it is about the quality of lives of individuals and that every person counts. At …