THE EMPOWERED GIRLS INITIATIVE
Lack of safe sanitation and clean water at school has a disproportionate impact on women and girls—particularly when it comes to completing their education.
We know that for every year a girl spends in school, she raises her family income by up to 20 percent. Increased income often equates to increased health, opportunity and long-term prosperity for the entire family. Just as much as we believe that clean water changes everything, so too does education.
A few years ago, we were alerted to the fact that there were many adolescent girls being sexually abused, getting pregnant, being cast out from their families and then being pressured to marry their abuser.
Together with longtime WaterSchool advocate, Jane Otai, we started the Empowered Girls Initiative to provide the support and advocacy adolescent mothers (aged 12-18) need to complete their education or vocational training. This includes identifying and providing support to schools that will accept adolescent mothers as students, as well as working with families to find childcare.
Armed with an education, a young mom is then able to secure a better future for herself, her child and her community. We know that ensuring young women and girls have access to education advances the health and well-being of the most vulnerable Ugandan families and communities.
Empowered Girls Initiative in 2020
We started the year aiming to champion 120 very young moms to head back to school or into vocational colleges. But with schools shuttered due to COVID-19, we pivoted and used all the funds destined for school fees to instead help these moms start businesses. From dressmaking to food preparation, mask-making to animal husbandry, the participants were as creative as they were hardworking. As COVID-19 restrictions lift, we are looking forward to supporting these young moms in returning to high school, universities and vocational colleges in Uganda.
