Activities for the Girls Voices began with a call for entries on the Essay competition titled “How Social Norms Affect My World as a Girl” on 19 July 2021 on online platforms such as YouthHubAfrica’s opportunities and its social media platforms. With over 5000 views. Letters were also dispatched to the Ministry of Education across the 36 states.
Over 250 entries were received from Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya Burundi and shortlisted by a team of 7 reviewers. Following this, the best 20 entries across the 6 geopolitical regions were contacted to attend the 2-day National Girls Summit in Abuja.
In addition, a short documentary on the journey of the YMN so far was produced. It shows the need that led to the formation of the network, the spread of the network across the country, the areas of interest as well as the challenges the network faces in carrying out its activities.
The summit in Abuja hosted about 40 young girls (aged 14-19) who contributed to the development of the Girls Charter which was validated, adopted by the girls and presented to 20 key stakeholders both the international development organizations and government officials who committed to the promotion of girls interests across the country. The conversations trended with #GirlsVoices across social media platforms and had engagements with 758,575 persons.
Read more on the Girls Charter document here
Moments captured from the Girls’ Voices Summit