Empowering girl child

• Empowering girl child/women through education and skill development
• Consciousness raising and awareness building on violence, health, education, development, and other issues critical for women´s individual and collective empowerment
• Advocacy on women´s rights and gender equality
• Dissemination of information and knowledge on feminist concerns to meet the needs of women´s groups, NGOs, and development organizations
• Production and distribution of creative material on feminist issues

Project Overview

Sakshi Girls Education Project supports underprivileged girls financially and academically ensuring they become graduate and have all the skills necessary to make life decisions successfully.

We understand it takes a village to raise a child and therefore, as with our other programs, we work on three fronts to ensure success: first, with the girls, second, with their schools and teachers, and third, their families and communities.

Impact of Our Initiative

• Self- reliant women with positive scope of income
• Increased literacy rates of Girl Child
• Respect among society
• Reduction in female feticide
• Women started enrolling their girl child in schools
• Decreasing rate of child marriage
• Empowering Women with self decision making capability

Goals and Activities of the Sakshi Empowering Girl Child project:

# Goals and Activities with the Girls:

We make sure they have the funding to continue school including for books, clothes etc. We make sure they get extra educational coaching after school to help them excel in studies so they have the ability to stand on their own feet if they wish.

Education in subjects is not sufficient. We provide them coaching in navigating circumstances they will encounter in life. For example, these are vulnerable girls from needy families. The parents being mostly at work, they are left without protection. There is high probability they will encounter a dangerous situation. We teach young girls to recognize situations where they are not comfortable and provide them a number they can call to ask for help if needed.

Activities are: 

• Life Skills sessions (in and outside schools)
• Academic and material support
• Mentoring
• Exposure visits to places like museums and book fairs to broaden their horizons

Girls needing additional academic support to catch up to their age-appropriate class are also entered into our Remedial Education Centres.

# Goals and Activities with Schools:

We make sure schools are able to provide a safe and encouraging environment for the girls. We also work with the schools to arrange academic and extra-curricular events for the girls.

Activities are:   

• Setting up Resource Centres at schools
• Organizing Academic and Extra-curricular Events at schools
• Workshops with school teachers around Gender Sensitization
• Regular meetings and follow ups with teachers
• Setting up Girls’ Groups for social interaction and peer support

# Goals and Activities with Family & Community:

We make sure the girls have the support of their parents and communities to study. We make sure the latter understand why it is important for a girl to be educated and able to stand on her own two feet even if she decides to become a housewife. In this way, they become truly invested in their daughters’ futures and will not put obstacles in her studies or ask her to stay back and help with the housework etc. We also run vocational training for girls in order to earn sufficient income after their study and skill development training.

Our activities: 

• Parents meeting & workshops
• Campaigns / Awareness events
• Orientation for the local level bodies

How You Can Help

• You can donate to Sakshi.
• You can sponsor a girl child for Rs. 200 per month.
• You can sponsor a teacher training workshop.

Project

Mahila Helpline Partner with Delhi Commission for Women, GNCTD