Enhancing Adolescent Girl’s Knowledge Through Life Skills to End Child Marriage and Other Harmful Practices (ECM)
Through its multi-faceted approach, the Empowering Girls, Ending Child Marriage programme in Koinadugu, Sierra Leone, equips adolescent girls with life skills and education while challenging harmful norms through community-wide dialogue and advocacy. This initiative is dedicated to creating sustainable and brighter futures for girls and their communities.
Centered in Koinadugu District, Northern Sierra Leone, the programme is dedicated to creating a future free from child marriages by empowering adolescent girls. We engage deeply within communities, equipping girls with critical knowledge, building their leadership capacity, challenging harmful norms, and ensuring each girl has the support needed to reach her potential.
Safe Spaces and Life Skills
A cornerstone of the project is the establishment of a Safe Space in each of the 20 communities. These safe spaces operate from Monday to Friday and are designed to provide a supportive and educational environment for adolescent girls.
To ensure all content is age-appropriate, the sessions are divided into two distinct age brackets. Girls participate in a structured curriculum, with 15 life skills sessions rolled out monthly based on our comprehensive manual.
Our Reach and Team
The ECM project engages deeply within the communities:
- Adolescent Girls: 30 girls per community benefit directly from the safe spaces.
- Boys and Men: 20 boys and men per community are involved in project activities.
- Support System: We engage 20 mothers per community to create a robust support network.
- Team: The project is led by a dedicated team of 40 Mentors and supported by 10 Volunteers.
- Schools: In the town of Kabala, the project also extends its work to 4 schools.
Community Dialogue
Fostering open communication and understanding is vital to our success. We facilitate a monthly community dialogue meeting in each area to bring together community members, parents, and participants to discuss progress and challenges.
