A stronger tomorrow for Nigerian girls

Help girls understand their rights and create opportunities for Nigerian children to shape their future through education.

Why we care: In Nigeria, 40% of children aged 6 -11 are not in school. Girls’ attendance is especially impacted for reasons such as economic hardship and early marriage.

How we’re solving this: By providing Nigerian girls with the opportunity to learn academic and life skills that create a brighter future. With your support, we’ll fund essential salaries for three teachers and a social worker, carry out extracurricular sessions on sexual and reproductive health, and train one peer educator. 

Located in the center of Nigeria, the city of Jos is the site of recurring interfaith conflict. Violent clashes have left 2,000 people dead, displaced many more, and disrupted students’ education. In direct response to this crisis, SOS Children’s Villages began working in Jos in 2011. In addition to running a kindergarten and primary school, we’ve helped 421 girls re-enroll in school through our community outreach program.

For this project, our specific goals are to:

  • Educate 187 girls and boys in the SOS Primary School in Jos. We’ll educate both girls and boys, as boys are important advocates and allies in empowering girls. 
  • Develop material and hold monthly extracurricular sessions for female students about sexual and reproductive health, students’ rights, and the importance of education.
  • Provide counseling services for female students led by a social worker.
  • Train one peer educator about sexual and reproductive health and life skills development

In collaboration with Halt-AIDS Foundation, Plateau Aids Control Agency, and the National Youth Service Corps, we’ll host monthly extracurricular sessions with more than 400 girls. The sessions will be held at the SOS Primary School and 11 public schools to raise awareness on sexual and reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, and the importance of education. In addition, at the SOS Primary School, sex education classes will be held for 49 girls to help them understand their bodies and gender roles in positive ways. During extracurricular lessons and counseling sessions led by a trained social worker, girls can talk openly about their sexual and reproductive health and concerns.

SOS Children’s Villages has more than 40 years of experience in Nigeria. Operations in our fourth and newest location, Jos, began in 2011. Despite the threat of violence, including the twin bomb blasts in May that killed 118, SOS is committed to protecting and supporting the children of Nigeria. Given that SOS Children’s Villages is widely recognized for its neutrality, our programme facilities often serve as safe havens in communities suffering from military conflict.

By providing access to knowledge and education for both girls and boys, we’ll support Nigeria’s girls to lead independent lives and become productive members of society. Nigeria’s children are Nigeria’s future. Empowering and educating these girls now will secure a stronger tomorrow for Nigeria.

Give courage to 2,000 women with cancer

Hair loss can rob a woman of her confidence. A chemo cap can protect her scalp and help restore her self-confidence. Why we care: One in three women is diagnosed with cancer in her lifetime. We believe that a woman should be empowered to face the disease with confidence. How we’re solving this: By providing a simple chemo cap, we’ll help protect her sensitive scalp and give her the courage to face her illness with hope and optimism. With your support, we’re striving to support 2,000 women by providing them with a chemo cap at no cost. In a recent survey, 82% of women diagnosed with cancer experienced changes to their physical appearance, and 67% experienced emotional changes. These are our mothers, sisters, daughters, friends, and loved ones. Cancer affects nearly one in three women, but touches countless more lives of those who love and support them. We believe that if a woman with cancer can be helped to look good, she will be more empowered to face her cancer with confidence. With an act of kindness, 10-year-old Tamara inspired us to support women with cancer during one of the most traumatic parts of their treatment. From her inspiration, we have appealed to the many lives affected by cancer to unite together to support our loved ones. Through the work of our Foundation and its cancer support program Look Good Feel Better®, we strive to supply each woman who attends a two hour Look Good Feel Better hair and cosmetic workshop with a chemo cap at no charge. A cancer diagnosis and subsequent treatment can have detrimental long-term effects on a woman. Each chemo cap represents a woman’s ability to overcome these devastating social and emotional impacts. We believe that if we don’t treat the whole person in mind, body, and spirit we run the risk of leaving that person broken and unable to go on with their lives. The chemo caps are a small but powerful tool during the cancer journey. We’re well prepared to ensure that 2,000 women can receive chemo caps through our current distribution channels, if we can raise the money. Our greatest challenge is raising the funds to purchase the caps so that we can offer them at no cost to the woman with cancer. With your support, we can meet our goal and touch the lives of many.

Giving girls a voice globally

We’re turning up the volume of girls’ voices by celebrating and connecting girls globally.

Why we care: The female voice is under-represented in all media – from press, to radio, to film. This disparity of gender in media obstructs the ability of women and girls to influence change at local and global levels.

How we’re solving this: By training 12 teenage girls in digital, solutions-based citizen journalism GlobalGirl Media seeks to build a more ethical, fair, accurate, and diverse media landscape.

According to the Women’s Media Center, worldwide, only 24% of news stories are about women. Yet women make up more than 50% of the world population and over 70% of the population living in poverty, according to the United Nations. The typical representation of women and girls in media – films, TV, music, print, and social media- is sexist, sexualized, stereotyped, and inaccurate. This adversely impacts girls’ self-esteem, how they represent themselves online, and how they see themselves and their futures.

Our first goal is to train 12 new girls in a new location we’re launching this year – Oakland, California! Our second goal is to produce 24 short web videos in this new location focused on reporting current events through a gender lens. Our third goal is to produce 200 new blog posts over the next year. Your support will cover the cost of an entire training session – from staff for digital media training for three weeks, to digital media equipment, to the travel costs for girls.

Through intensive digital media trainings in camera, sound, blogging, and social media, we’ll target underserved girls, ages 14 to 22 worldwide. Since 2010, we launched projects in South Africa, Morocco, Chicago, and Los Angeles, and are expanding. We partner with local grassroots, non-profit, government, and educational organizations, building capacity to help us realize our goals.

Increasing the number of healthy and complex images of women and girls in media will have a lasting effect on society at large. Cultivating global citizenship and educating viewers about girls and their diverse experiences, attitudes, and realities will provide authentic, powerful content for media outlets and help promote women’s and girls’ rights.

We face government censorship and safety challenges in some locations. However, because we are an educational organization and a student-based organization, the reporting the girls do is not often tracked or challenged by governments.

With your support, let’s amplify the voices of girls together!