Promoting Girls' Education & Equality in Guatemala

In the wake of the pandemic, an education crisis has gripped the globe, in some regions far more severely than others.  Guatemala is one of the hardest hit regions due to years of underfunding, lack of support for teachers, poor infrastructue, poor connectivity and long distances between schools. 

Girl Rising has responded to these urgent needs by expanding and adapting our approach.  The mental health needs of both teachers and learners is great, and our curriculum and teacher training has incorporated self care and community building.  We have developed new learning activities and modules for our popular radio program, and have created activities that involve parents so that they can learn and explore alongside their children.  We have supported new peer learning activities so that adolescents build a wider community of allies.  We have also piloted a new storytelling module so that adolescents can discover the power of their own voice and their own story.

In January we also launched a new communications campaign to advance girls’ education by creating and distributing culturally relevant media content to key stakeholders (prioritizing fathers and community leaders) on the value of girls education, inspiring them to become allies in advancing education and opportunity for girls. 

Our overall objective for this work is to inspire key stakeholders, prioritizing fathers and community leaders, to become allies in advancing education and opportunity for girls.The campaign has been created through a participatory process, empowering adolescent girls to develop the key campaign messages and drive the strategy, as well as including the inputs of educators and parents who are investing and believe in education. This inclusive process puts girls’ voice and vision at the center, leading to culturally-relevant, creative and persuasive messaging and campaign materials.  This approach also serves to build girls’ agency, leadership skills and communication skills.