by Ruth Gibson
Over the years, Strong Enough Girls’ Empowerment Initiative (SEGEI) has worked to advance Sustainable Development Goal 4 – quality education, by ensuring the inclusive and equitable education of girls in underserved communities. It has been observed that girls from the Gbagyi community in the Kurudu area of the Federal Capital Territory (Abuja) do not attend school. They stay back to tend to the affairs of the home, and this is due to traditional norms, early marriage, teenage pregnancy, peer pressure, and financial challenges. In a bid to bridge the educational gender disparities in the community, SEGEI with funding from the Nigeria Youth Future Fund (NYFF) in partnership with LEAP Africa, has enrolled 12 promising out-of-school girls between the ages of 15-25 years in school from the Gbagyi community in Kurudu, Abuja.
Though the project kicked off later than expected, the girls are currently in their schools.
To ensure a community-engaged process, members of our team paid an awareness visit to some government parastatals such as the Ministries of Health and Women Affairs, and the Secondary Education Board (SEB) on 15th January 2023. An advocacy visit was also done at the community level where members of the team had an advocacy meeting with the community leader and other stakeholders in the community. During the meeting, team members emphasized the importance of girl child education and the development it will bring to the community. It was a productive meeting as the community leader gave a go ahead to commence the project.
Similarly, we held a consent meeting with parents in the community on the 21st of January 2023 through the support of the community leader, to help them understand the project and prepare the girls for successful participation.
At the end of these meetings and advocacy visits, over 21 girls were nominated by the community members and out of the nominated girls; our team selected 12 girls who met the criteria for selection. These selected girls were then mentally prepared through an orientation program organized by the SEGEI to help prepare their minds for the path ahead of them.
As earlier stated, all the beneficiaries have been enrolled in school and all the school necessities have been provided including school bags, books, mathematical sets, calculators, pens and sandals to ensure quality and inclusive learning.
It cannot be denied that education is a means of empowerment. It reduces the rate of child marriages; breaks the cycle of poverty; increases opportunities for employment and female representation in politics, appointive positions and decision making platforms. Girls from these low resource communities deserve to have access to quality education. Governments, communities, and the whole world must prioritize education for all to achieve lasting peace and sustainable development.
