Championing for education rights of girls

According to the 2019 Gender Equality Report, about 70% of women in Mozambique are illiterate, in comparison to 30% of men. This harsh statistic indicates a sad reality: access to education for girls and boys is not equal. Within some parts of the country, cultural practices prepare girls for marriage and motherhood instead of preparing them for school. This is not fair, because girls and boys should be able to enjoy equal rights to access all levels of education. Harmful social or gender norms often prevent girls from accessing an education. It also exposes them to high risks of sexual and gender-based violence, child, early and forced marriage, early pregnancy, and limited agency for decision-making in their lives.

In 2021, Save the Children launched She Belongs in School (SBIS), a five-year project focused in the areas of Nampula and Niassa in Mozambique. With funding in partnership with Global Affairs Canada, SBIS works with in-school and out-of-school adolescent girls between the ages of 10 and 19 to exercise their right to quality, safe, and gender-responsive education and enhance their foundational learning outcomes, such as literacy, numeracy, and life skills.

One aspect of the SBIS project includes the training and deployment of 560 Gender Equality Champions (GE Champions), who connect and engage with members of their communities. Their purpose is to help shift views around discriminatory and harmful gender norms that hinder girls from attending school and realizing their rights.

GE Champions are both men and women who, through their networks, aim to reach more than 28,000 caregivers and community leaders. “The GE Champions will promote the message that girls have rights. They will discuss and collaborate with the community to come up with solutions for societal changes,” said Claudia Banze, a gender specialist in Mozambique for the SBIS project.

Men as GE Champions

Men and boys are critical contributors or barriers to the empowerment of women and girls. Therefore, recruiting male GE Champions is integral to our programs, as they can relate, engage, and positively influence other males in the community—like fathers, husbands, brothers, male extended family members, and leaders. Claudia explains, “Already we have 41 men as GE Champions, so we believe men are eager to support these activities

Men acting in this role are viewed as agents of change as they are helping to break gender norms. Claudia continues, “These men that decide to be GE Champions also inspire other men in the community to change their harmful attitudes and behaviours.”

All GE Champions are trained on key topics such as building advocacy, communications skills, gender equality, and education principles. With their training, the Champions can then develop and implement strategies and communication campaigns to effectively engage with different community stakeholders, including female and male caregivers and community leaders.

The success of GE Champions 

Building a network of GE Champions, which includes men, women, adolescent girls, and boys, is a key part of Save the Children’s overall gender-transformative education strategy. This strategy works to advance the realization of rights for girls worldwide. Within other girls’ education projects, funded in partnership with Global Affairs Canada, GE Champions have been trained and successfully reached thousands of families and community members.

Through the Education for Crisis-Affected Girls project in Nigeria, 216 youth GE Champions (108 girls and 108 boys) were trained and formed networks in schools to advocate for the enrollment and retention of crisis-affected girls. Through their work, they successfully supported the enrollment of more than 650 children.

Through the Ni Someshe! project in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 392 GE Champions (102 men, 116 women, 89 girls, and 85 boys) were trained to help raise awareness on positive gender norms in education, adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights, the prevention of sexual and gender-based violence, and the recruitment of child soldiers. These GE Champions in the DRC reached 14,200 youth and 6,800 families through their awareness-raising campaigns.

Through the Beyond Borders project in Colombia, 703 girl GE Champions, including Venezuelan migrant girls, were trained in clubs and led the “Girls in Charge” campaign to advocate and have their voices heard. Their campaign focused on their right to education, sexual and reproductive health services, protection, and gender equality, as well as the prevention of sexual and gender-based violence and xenophobia against Venezuelan migrants. This included girls leading social media campaigns in collaboration with five female influencers; conducting interviews with community and government leaders; and developing short films to share their stories and experiences about migrating to Colombia. The campaign reached 805,000 people on Facebook, 735,000 on Instagram, and 53,000 on Twitter. In addition, 459 boys in Colombia received masculinity training to be GE Champions. Significant changes were observed as a result of the program, including boys showing more cooperation in household chores, as well as an increase in the respect shown towards girls and women.

GE Champions are influential leaders and are transforming communities for long-lasting change. Mariangel, a 15-year-old Venezuelan migrant and GE Champion in Colombia, explained:

“Save the Children gave me the opportunity to be heard and to become the voice of thousands of migrant children in Colombia. I never thought that I had these skills to express myself in front of so many people, and thanks to their intervention and support I am discovering new potential. I want to continue being the voice of the boys and girls because we must demand our rights.”