What we do

Improving the conditions of young women and girls cannot be achieved without effective advocacy at all decision-making levels with the various stakeholders that influence their lives. Thus, our advocacy efforts toward state actors is visible through key partnerships with entities such as Ministries of Human Rights, Youth, Education, Health, etc., depending on the context and needs of each country. By involving these state actors, we aim at creating stronger political commitments that would translate into the adoption and effective implementation of legislation for the respect of women’s and girls’ rights, as well as the implementation of targeted and coordinated programs in their favor based on their specific needs.

Besides state actors, we are also aware of the influence and impact of international actors on the lives of women and girls. Indeed, we cannot but notice that despite decades of funding injected into development aid programs, the situation of women and girls in francophone West Africa has changed very little. At the root of this problem are international donors whose predefined development programs fail to take into account local realities. Our advocacy towards international NGOs is therefore aimed at making development programs more sensitive to the specific issues facing young women and girls in our region.

Lastly, our advocacy efforts are directed at society in general who, under the guise of religion and traditions, perpetuates negative stereotypes about young women and girls. Through awareness campaigns, we work to deconstruct stereotypes and society’s imaginary in order to bring about a change in mentality, behavior and hierarchies that have been institutionalized over time, to the detriment of young women and girls.