In Special Consultative Status to the
UNITED NATIONS ECONOMICS AND SOCIAL COUNCIL (UN ECOSOC).
Schools Without Borders' signature program, the GIRLS! Project, empowers girls in Sierra Leone, West Africa through early grade reading; and Social and Emotional Learning (SEL).
Sierra Leone remains among the world’s poorest countries, ranking 180th out of 187 countries. The total adult literacy rate is 43.3% and only 52.1% women and girls aged 15 and 24 can read and write; and school participation and attendance decreases for girls in Sierra Leone from 75.6% in primary school to 33.2% in secondary school. (Unicef, 2018).
The GIRLS! Project also provides workshops in the areas of the five Social and Emotional Learning core competencies and psychosocial support to change the life trajectory of GIRLS! in Sierra Leone.
To date 231,497 books have been distributed through the GIRLS! Project. 4812 girls have benefited from our workshops. GIRLS Project participants are inclusive of disabled girls; and Ebola (2014) and Landslide (2016) survivors.
GIRLS! Project supports the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3, 4, 5, and 10.