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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 …

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

International Citizen Service volunteer Vix in her sari

Romana was a young girl when her family told her she was getting married. This is not unusual in Bangladesh; according to UNICEF, nearly two-thirds of girls are married before the age of 18 and more than a quarter of …

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 …

"I'm changing the way your story starts" – A Gambian gift on Mother’s Day

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Africa, Female Genital Mutilation, Girls & Women, Other

I had a moment of dizzying clarity during a visit to The Gambia last month, when policy lines revisited in briefings, meetings and documents burst back into life, regained their power and gave a renewed sense of purpose to my …

We cannot end FGM without supporting survivors

Pictures of girls at Samburu Girls Foundation in Kenya

We often associate FGM with the harmful physical effects suffered by more than 125 million women worldwide. There is much less awareness about the psychological effects that can haunt a woman throughout her lifetime. I know from experience that sometimes …

Why DRC’s youth need to take a stand to empower girls' lives

In DRC half the female population aged 15 to 24 are illiterate. Only 10% of girls reach some secondary level of education. Picture: DFID DRC

The Girl Summit 2014 is an important global campaign for DRC, where an estimated 39% of girls are married between the ages of 15 and 18  – and probably younger in rural areas. And that figure needs caveating with the …