Help provide extracurricular learning opportunities, sports, and counseling and guidance to girls living in Gaza.
Why do we care: Girls growing up in Gaza must deal with social, psychological, and health problems due to the ongoing conflict.
How we’re solving this: Providing adolescent girls with extracurricular education activities that encourage them to develop intellectually, creatively, and professionally.
Girls in adolescence might have a hard time trying to form their own identities and develop their own beliefs, but now add on the perils of growing up in East Gaza, an active conflict zone. Adolescent girls worry about their own and their family’s physical lives and safety, and these circumstances force them to remain indoors and not attend school. Fear coupled with social exclusion often leads to trauma, health problems, and anxiety in social situations.
Eastern Gaza for Family Development (EGSFD) will open the doors to freedom for girls between the ages of 14 to 18 years old by providing extracurricular learning opportunities, sports and arts activities, and psychosocial counseling and guidance.
Through lectures and panel discussions, girls will learn about their rights to inherit property; express their opinions; vote; run for political office; access the same educational and work opportunities as boys and men; and choose their life partner. They will also learn skills for standing up against domestic violence.
A group of 50 girls will:
- Learn how to effectively communicate and listen to others, even in threatening or violent situations
- Develop English language skills
- Bolster their knowledge in mathematics, Arabic, and science
- Learn computer skills and become social media and Internet experts
- Know their legal and political rights, and how they can exercise these rights and advocate for an end to conflict
EGSFD will also ensure community buy-in for promoting girls’ leadership and rights by holding regular meetings with the girls’ parents and community leaders. Lecturers and workshop facilitators will also serve as mentors, ensuring that girls are gaining the respect of their families and communities.
This is where change begins: 50 empowered girls, with knowledge, skills, and confidence to stand up for their rights and the rights of others.