October 11th marks International Day of the Girl, which signifies the disproportionate challenges todays generation of girls must face across the globe. From period poverty to discrimination and violence, gender equality is a mission needed across all lands and societies, with disadvantages being even more present in marginalized communities facing additional barriers linked to poverty, displacement and exclusion.

Thanks to support like yours, we are responding to the needs of marginalized children from emergency aid and school meals to gender responsive education seeking to support and encourage girls to reach their full potential.

Agal sits with her mother outside her home.

Girls, like Agal in Nigeria, who through our Girls for Girls project (G4G) is getting the additional support to continue her education as well as vocational trainings which will empower girls now and in the future.

Together we can transform the lives of girls!

My name is Agal Yunuwa, I am 13 years old and I am in Junior secondary school at Government Day Junior secondary school in Askira uba local government area Bornu state.

My parents are both farmers with seven children, because of the economic hardship in the country sending me and my siblings to school has not been easy for my parents.

The G4G project has helped me and many girls in the community a lot. The project has given girls like me support. In my school, we were given school uniforms, school shoes, books, pen, pencils and other learning materials.

The project also gave us some items for our personal use like sanitary pads, body cream soaps, toilet tissues, antiseptic, hair combs and other things. These items they gave us is to help us to keep our bodies clean as girls and we were happy to get the sanitary pads, since most of our parents cannot afford to buy us pads.

In the school, they trained our teachers and some parents on safe schools and gave our teachers some teaching materials like textbooks and a class register.

The project has also made our classrooms better. Two classrooms that were in bad shape were painted and now we can have classes in a beautiful looking class that is better and stronger.

“I can hope for things like that now and I’m so grateful!”

Other girls and I are being trained in other skills too, some learnt beadmaking, hat making, tailoring. I learnt tailoring and now I can make simple clothes for myself and if I continue to learn I hope to become self employed by the time I finish secondary school. I can hope for things like that now and I’m so grateful.

I am happy to be part of the G4G and I hope that more girls in the community can benefit too.

To support International Day of the Girl Child and help girls like Agal strive for a brighter future, donate today

For more on our education projects, visit: Our Global Work