Day 5 in Rwanda: Strengthening Communities through Girls’ Empowerment

On February 6, the TechWomen delegation visited the Kigali offices of Girl Hub, a partnership between the U.K.’s Department for International Development (DFID) and the Nike Foundation that is committed to empowering millions of adolescent girls to reach their potential and helping them lift themselves out of poverty.

After an energizing icebreaker activity and a brief overview of Girl Hub, its impact, and its new mobile platforms being implemented to reach more girls, the delegation watched a short video about the Girl Effect, the parent movement of Girl Hub.

The Girl Effect’s mission is to get girls on the global agenda and drive massive resources to girls through its three Girl Hubs in Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Rwanda, where the President Kagame himself invited the movement. These Girl Hubs work to help all girls in these countries graduate secondary school, make informed choices about reproductive health, and become financially literate. They also work to help the community adopt a zero tolerance to violence and come to understand the benefits that girls’ economic empowerment can have for the entire community.

Ni Nyampinga, a magazine, mobile platform, and brand, is one of the tools that Girl Hub Rwanda uses to achieve these objectives. “Nyampinga” means “miss” in the local Kinyarwanda language and refers to a female role model who empowers girls and steers them towards economic independence and a better future.

Ni Nyampinga (@NiNyampinga) magazine is the most widely distributed publication in Rwanda – by 15 times. In addition to its magazine, the Ni Nyampinga’s weekly radio show serves as a valuable means to talk about fashion, girls empowerment, and even “taboo” topics. Both the magazine and radio show are important because they teach girls things they that aren’t taught or discussed in school, and they are unique in that they are produced for girls and young women, by girls and young women ages 15-25.

There is much work to be done. Across the globe, only 5.7% of girls complete secondary school, while 50% of girls think that it is acceptable for a man to beat a woman, and 73% of unpaid farm workers aged 15-20 are girls. Despite these sobering statistics, Rwanda is leading the Girl Effect movement worldwide.

For more information on the 2014 TechWomen Delegation Trip to Rwanda, please follow @TechWomen and check out the #twrwanda hashtag on Twitter.

We also encourage you to read the following blog posts about the trip:

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