Young women in Kibera are more likely to face some of the world's most urgent challenges which can often prevent them from fulfilling their potential. Providing girls a safe space, both physical and emotional,to express themselves is crucial to helping them escape poverty and leverage important opportunities. Our Binti Pamoja [Daughters United] Core Program seeks to empower young women in Kibera by creating safe spaces where girls build confidence and discover their personal leadership.
Across the world, and especially in Kibera, adolescent girls are marginalized and more vulnerable than boys. In addition to struggling with extreme poverty on a daily basis, girls often face tragedies like early marriage, sexual violence, and female genital mutilation from a very young age. What is more alarming is that less than 1% of girls in Kibera have access to a girls-only program.
Binti Pamoja reduces vulnerabilities for girls by advocating for girls' rights, educating the community and promoting a safe environment to grow. We provide scholarships, financial literacy and IT training, health education, support for teenage mothers and advocate for their re-enrollment in school, and develop leadership skills for girls and young women in the Kibera slum. Our aim is a holistic approach to support young women in leading healthy lives and becoming agents of social change.
Binti Pamoja employs a cascading leadership methodology in which alumni create their own safe spaces, ensuring more girls in the community are receiving support. With the establishment of our newly constructed Girls Center, we have launched several new initiatives including a referral network and counseling services, a school-based pilot program, a girls parliament exploring leadership and advocacy, and school re-enrollment project to support pregnant and parenting teens.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
