Underprivileged girls in their adolescence are at a critical age where they can easily fall off the grid by dropping out of school, getting pregnant or contracting HIV. By directly working with young girls, and enabling them to become change agents, it has been estimated that additional members of their family and communities can be impacted.
Adolescent girls account for nearly 11% of the Indian Population; most of them have limited understanding of how to protect themselves and manage the outside world. Even though they are an important part of the development process, adolescent girls are vulnerable to range of health issues, including HIV infection, due to social norms that often restrict them from making decisions about early marriages and sexual relations. The health of these girls has an ongoing, inter-generational effect, as they are the mothers and influencer of tomorrow.
Goal is focused for those girls in the following areas:
- Be Yourself – the activities relate to communication, building self-confidence and valuing what it means to ‘be a girl’
- Be Healthy – the activities relate to general health, reproductive health, and hygiene
- Be Empowered – the activities relate to rights, freedom from violence and an understanding of how to access resources and institutions in the community
- Be Money Savvy – the activities cover topics around money: saving, spending, making, storing and borrowing
