By Rosa Bransky, Jody Myrum, Ramatu Bangura, Zanele Sibanda, Fassil Marriam, and Chernor Bah. In formalized philanthropy and development spaces, adolescent girls’ work has fallen into narrative traps that obscure the reality of life for the girls who are organizing every day to build a world that is more safe…

At Purposeful, we are focusing on supporting the growing grassroots movement that can leverage its collective voice and action to challenge the values, narratives, and institutions that perpetuate Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Sierra Leone so that girls live in safety, dignity, and freedom. …

After a period of apprenticeship at a renowned photo studio in Freetown, a cross section of girls realised there was a serious absence of women in the field of photography. These girls came together to create a group they called Girls Behind the Lens in order to close this gap…

The Sierra Leonean society believes in a myth that girls as vulnerable, that they have no power or voice. Contrary to this myth, I have witnessed girls standing up to traditional and community leaders who wanted to disrupt their activities by controlling them within a patriarchal power structure. Let me…

On 14th October 2021, as part of our International Day of the Girl and birthday celebrations, we launched a seminal report about the State of Out-of-School Girls in Sierra Leone. We had an incredible launch event in Freetown, with girls, mentors, development partners, allies, the media and Government officials. Girls…

We are thrilled to announce that the Girls’ Fund will support 28 girl-led groups globally. The process Upon receiving the applications, the Plan International team conducted an initial review of groups to ensure that they had a clear proposal for engaging with the Generation Equality process and met the criteria…

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is rooted in patriarchy, and is a form of violence against girls and women. While there is a rich history of resistance against the widespread practice by girls’ and women activists over the years, there had also been a culture of fear — couched as cultural…

How do you continue to centre on girls’ lived experiences during a global pandemic? Just over a year ago, facing restrictions on our ability to physically reach girls, we didn’t quite have the answer but knew too well from girls’ experiences during the Ebola outbreak that we needed to figure…

What has COVID-19 taught us about how to respond to, and resource girls and young feminists? In the eye of the storm of this pandemic, girls and young feminists are showing up with the bravery, resilience and organising power they bring to all of their activism. As the state and…