“I look into the future with hope”
By António Massipa
175 girls from the rural administrative post of Itoculo, in Monapo district in Nampula, north of Mozambique, graduated recently from a girl's empowerment club established to equip adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) with skills and knowledge that will enable them to live healthy lives and become active agents of change in their communities.
With this graduation, the number of girls graduating in that part of the country rises to 3430, after having been trained in various subjects including sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR), communication and decision-making, family planning and entrepreneurship/financial education.
On the occasion, the Head of Itoculo Post, Suzana Saquile José Natividade, challenged the graduating girls to replicate what they had learnt by raising awareness in "communities about women's empowerment and gender equality", as this is "content that, when properly understood, will prevent the various forms of gender-based violence."
In turn, Every Girl Can project manager, José Macaringue, revealed that actions are underway for another cycle of similar training for further 175 girls in the same district.
Girl’s empowerment clubs or girl’s clubs falls with one of the four project approaches by which Every Girl Can is driven, more specifically Safe Space Approach for Girls, where a secure and safe environment for girls to learn, share and interact is created.
The other three project models are Channels of Hope for Gender; Gender Transformative Citizen, Voice and Action; and Behaviour Change Model for Child Friendly Initiation Rites.
Sofia Constantino, 16, says "I look into the future with hope, because after learning about various topics, such as gender-based violence and communication, I can make better decisions about my life" and adds "but I'm also going to continue counselling girls in my community on how to prevent diseases and unwanted pregnancies, because I've already been doing that since I joined the girl's club."
Every Girl Can is a five-year, gender-transformative project, funded by Global Affairs Canada. The Project which is implemented by a consortium led by World Vision Mozambique, which includes Rede Homens pela Mudança (Men for Change Network) and Action Aid, in close collaboration with the Government of Mozambique, local civil society and community partners and stakeholders, especially women and girls.
Every Girl Can is committed to improved gender equality and the realization of adolescent girls’ and young women’s (8-24 years old) right to live free of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and discrimination, in three rural districts of Nampula province, in particular Nacaroa, Monapo and Murrupula. Between 2021 and 2026, the project is expected to impact direct adolescent participants aged between 18 and 24 years, including 73,640 adolescent girls and 73,137 adolescent boys