Help convene the first ever “Girls Political Conference” for rural girls in Kenya
Why we care: Girls in iGLOW’s target areas face harsh living conditions, have high school dropout rates and many marry and become mothers before the age of 18.
How we’re solving this: Providing leadership and political skills training to 500 girls at a three-day conference to enable girls to recognize their self-worth, abilities and immense career and leadership possibilities.
iGLOW (Girls Leading Our World Initiatives) believes that unless girls are prepared and inspired from a young age to broaden their horizon of possibilities and see themselves as leaders, including actively participating in politics, the cycle of poverty and poor governance will persist in Kenya. iGLOW’s approach uses young people to motivate the younger generation. We position ambassadors, young female and male role models who have recently graduated from university, as the inspiration for empowering young rural girls. We recruit exceptional ambassadors from all backgrounds with a passion for political leadership and girl’s empowerment to connect with the girls by facilitating iGLOW trainings and sharing their personal leadership and educational journeys.
With an overall aim of motivating girls to take on the mantle of leadership from a very young age, and building on iGLOWs momentum of the last two years, this project will help convene the first ever “Girls Political Conference” in December 2013 that will bring together 40 iGLOW ambassadors and a total of 500 rural girls between the ages of 11 and 18 with an interest in political leadership to dive deeper into iGLOW’s mission through three days of powerful female speakers and skill-based workshops meant to hone their leadership skills. The conference will be the first step in forging a powerful girl’s political platform bringing together the rural girls with leadership aspirations and connecting them with youth ambassadors and powerful women leaders from different political parties, sectors and regions. Conference sessions will cover topics including:
- Ms. President: Why we need more girls in political leadership
- Kenyan women in political office
- Global female leaders
- Effecting change in your community
- Sharing your ideas on local and global issues
- Leading with others
- Issue advocacy
- Running for political office
- Running for school office and starting a school club
- Public speaking and messaging
As the only program in Kenya that focuses on girl’s political preparation, iGLOW’s hands-on leadership program continues to build a strong cadre of confident young girls and women who will be at the forefront of societal change. Girls who become empowered as political change agents, not only become active citizens, but also motivate their parents and friends to become more informed and more active. Thus, the program has a large spillover effect that will encourage positive political engagement beyond the individual girls.
Budget breakdown:
- Stationery costs include folders, writing pads and pens for 550 people at $1.50 per person
- Food costs will cover meals for 3 days for 550 people during the conference
- Transport costs include bus hire and fuel and will cover the transport for 500 girls, 40 ambassadors and 10 speakers