New Zealand’s Ardern Announces Free Sanitary Products In All Schools To Beat Period Poverty
All New Zealand schools will have free access to sanitary products from June, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on Thursday, an initiative aimed at stamping out period poverty in the country. The announcement follows a successful pilot programme launched around the middle of last year, which provided free period products to about 3,200 young people […]
Over 535,000 Children Under Five ‘Acutely’ Malnourished
New data from UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has revealed worsening nutritional situation for children in Burkina Faso, with more than 535,500 children under the age of five suffering from acute malnutrition – an unprecedented level. Of them, some 156,500 children are “severely” malnourished, leaving them nine times more likely to die than well-nourished children, according […]
Mnangagwa Signs Law Allowing Pregnant Girls To Continue In School
Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa has signed a law barring government schools from excluding girls who fall pregnant from attending lessons. Teachers are also no longer allowed to cane pupils, under amendments to the Education Act which became law on Saturday. The new law also says that no pupil shall be excluded from school for non-payment […]
Plan Cameroon Partners With MINESEC To Promote Girls Education
Plan International Cameroon has signed a partnership agreement with the Ministry of Secondary Education (MINESEC) to promote quality girl child education and to improve the health of learners. The convention was signed between the Resident Representative of Plan International Cameroon, Miriam Berena Castaneda and the Minister of Secondary Education, Nalova Lyonga, on Tuesday, August 18, […]
Coronavirus Puts 4 Million Girls At Risk Of Child Marriage
Four million girls are at risk of child marriage in the next two years because of the new coronavirus pandemic, a global charity said on Friday, as campaigners warned that the crisis could undo decades of work to end the practice. Deepening poverty caused by the loss of livelihoods is likely to drive many families […]
Hundreds Of Child Weddings Thwarted In Ethiopia As Coronavirus Locks Girls Out Of Schools
More than 500 girls have been rescued from child marriage in northern Ethiopia since schools were shut due to the new coronavirus, a regional official said, as fears mount that the pandemic is reversing years of work to stop underage unions. Ethiopia closed its schools in mid-March, sending 26 million children home, where girls face […]
Pushing For Girl Education Among The Maasai Tribe Of Tanzania
LIKE other Tanzanian tribes, which used to deny girl children the right to education, the Maasai in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA), were also on the list. Girls were mostly assigned to look for cattle, on top of other home chores. Parents advanced such reasons as long distances from homes to schools as the […]
How Girls’ Education And Safety Will Be Harmed By The COVID Response In Africa
Abigail*, a young woman who lives in Zimbabwe’s capital Harare became pregnant by a much older married man when she was 14. She had left school because her mother couldn’t afford to pay for her fees, books and other school supplies. Her mother was also struggling to buy food and other basics for the family. […]
Tanzania Lets Pregnant Girls Attend School With World Bank Project
Thousands of pregnant girls will attend school in Tanzania as part of a $500-million World Bank loan which had been delayed for years due to the country’s ban on expectant students. Tanzania’s education minister Joyce Ndalichako said the loan aimed to improve access to and the quality of secondary education for all Tanzanian students – […]
Social Norms Stop Ethiopian Girls From Making Safe Choices About Pregnancy
Despite progress in reducing the rate of adolescent pregnancy, more than 16 million adolescent girls globally become parents each year. According to the World Health Organisation, 90% of these young mothers live in the global South. Girls in countries with the highest adolescent fertility rates, many of which are in sub-Saharan Africa, are also the most likely to […]
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