Traditional educational approaches often fail to address girls' specific challenges in Cambodia. 'Gender Transformative Education' offers a multi-pronged approach to tackling the barriers girls face, with a focus on the interconnectedness of gender-based issues such as early marriage and pregnancy, vulnerability to trafficking, and gender-based violence. Mothers and Girls Clubs are crucial in successfully delivering this approach and integrating knowledge and new practices into the community.
Girls in rural communities face significant barriers to access, participation, and quality learning. While UWS is proud to have achieved gender parity in access to education, we recognize that girls face many additional barriers to attending and thriving in the classroom, placing them at risk of early school dropout. Approximately 11% of girls in Cambodia were married before the age of 18. This means that around 1 in 9 girls are married before reaching adulthood.
Girls can learn about reproductive health and menstrual hygiene management by participating in clubs. The girls will build self-confidence and leadership skills by learning about their rights as children and young people and empowering them to advocate for human rights for themselves, their peers, families, and communities. Mothers play a crucial role in their children's education. They will learn about the importance of a girl's education and give them a voice in the community.
In just over a year, our program has supported young women and girls through the following key areas: One thousand one hundred ten teachers received training in gender-responsive teaching methods, and 9,196 girls participated in the first year of the program, receiving information and support to promote gender equality and to challenge gender norms and customs, including child marriage. We are poised to have a more significant impact by engaging even more young women in our initiatives.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
