The Girl Parliament

Many girls continue to be denied fundamental rights and face enormous life challenges. These issues include education, legal representation, medical care; discrimination protection; and gender-based violence. To this end, there is a need to provide more opportunities for girls and raise awareness of the girl child’s unfairness. This includes, among other things, providing quality education, constitutional rights, protection against discrimination, and the abolition of child marriage and female genital mutilation. Girl children should be given equal rights and be allowed to pursue their dreams without feeling marginalized simply for being female and speaking up for themselves.

It is on these grounds the ESLA Uganda formed the Girl Parliament project. The project is implemented in schools and community settings where girls elect committees to run their clubs. With the help of ESLA administration, school management and local authorities, the girls share experiences and knowledge. The program advocates for Girls overseeing their own destinies by making informed choices.

The different clubs in the different communities meet once a week and discuss different topics as may be suggested by members. Once a month we also take inspirational figures to meet and interact with the girls. This is also in addition to teaching them various important life skills like financial literacy, leadership, advocacy among others.

The project also trains them in vocational skills like crocheting, making paper bags, bakery to mention but a few. This is to ensure that we decrease the amount of time they are redundant and also to enable them to learn how to earn.

The project was launched in 2018 and has so far reached over 3,000 girls in Jinja, Buikwe, Kamuli, Mayuge and Iganga districts in schools like WANYANGE Girls, PMM college Jinja, Rehoboth Integrated, Lord’s Meade Vocational, Iganga girls to mention but a few.

Every once a year the meeting culminates into the Annual Girl Parliament Symposium where all girls from all the schools meet and do networking and knowledge sharing.

You can join us by introducing the parliaments in your school or community to enable us to have a wider reach and impactful engagement.