Girls' Empowerment through Education

The cause:

Girls' Rights and Education

The facts:

• In Liberia, 20% of girls ages 15 to 24 don't know how to read or write.
• Only 66% of girls are enrolled in elementary school compared to 85% of boys.
• Even though 66% of girls are enrolled in school, only 39% attend regularly.
• During Liberia's 14-year civil war that ended in 2003, many children never attended school and the education system is still recovering.

The project:

The F-Sham Girls Academy in Liberia is attended by more than 500 students but it badly needed a makeover to make sure girls' rights to education were being fulfilled. Plan stepped in to give the Academy the overhaul it needed and help girls stay in school.

The details:

Making sure that girls stay in school is about more than just building a school facility. Quality education for girls requires community participation, teacher sensitivity, clean water, separate girls-only bathrooms and classroom facilities.

Plan took on the challenge. The library received a makeover and a new computer literacy program got under way. Another crucial step was to improve the school's water quality and build new bathrooms. The addition of a new computer lab and science classroom will help girls gain knowledge in fields typically considered the domain of men.

Two hundred girls received scholarships that covered the costs of school fees, uniforms and textbooks.

Plan couldn