Building a Safe Haven for Girls to Pursue Their Dreams and Break Free from Child Marriage

In Bangladesh, many girls had to drop out of school due to poverty and unsafe school environment, making child marriage more prevalent. Plan International’s two-year “Empower Girls through Education and Skill” project aims at providing life skills training to girls who have dropped out of school, inspiring them to overcome obstacles in life, as well as enabling them to achieve self-sustainability and granting themselves the chance to return to school again; the project also focused on enhancing the water and sanitation facilities in schools so that more girls were able to stay in school. Around 20,000 girls and young women were benefited from the programme with their lives and status improved.

United Community to End FGM, Saving Girls from the Brutal Cut

In several countries in Africa, the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) still exists. In Ethiopia, due to traditional culture, many girls undergo FGM when they are only a few days old. This practice brings never-ending pain and suffering, leaving them traumatised for the rest of their lives. They endure immense pain, continuous bleeding, and the risk of bacterial infections, with some suffering lifelong disabilities or even death. Plan International has been actively educating girls, parents and communities about the consequences of FGM; at the same time, we have been partnering with local government departments in advocating for a complete stop of FGM and has set up One Stop Centre to provide medical support and psychological counselling to the survivors. Our ongoing efforts have paid off, in Gambia, we successfully collaborated with local partners and youth groups to prevent the authorities from overturning the ban on FGM in 2024, eradicating FGM from the root and protecting girls from harm.