The crisis:

A large contributor to low female literacy rates and school attendance rates is that up to 40 percent of girls in Uganda are married before the age of 18. Around 10 percent of these girls are married before the age of 15. Around 35% of girls drop out due to marriage and 23 percent drop out due to pregnancy. In contrast, allowing girls to continue through secondary education significantly reduces the chances of early marriage and childbearing. The past 8 years for our organization was a learning phase for our organization, we provided scholarships to both boys and girls randomly, we were challenged over the years on how the girls out-competed the boys and also kept in school because of the platform we offered.  And this made us focus on ensuring that a larger number of our students scholarship program are girls. 

 

What we do with BESO Girls:

1. We enroll more girls in model schools

2. Form a girls' club that helps them to build their confidence.

3. Run a sexual and reproductive program for both girls and boys.

4. Provide Sanitary towels for girls for free. 

5. Run a leadership development for girls

6. We have sanitary facilities for girls in model schools. 

7. Run a parents dialogue on issues with early marriage for the girl child and also advocate for the girl's rights.  

 

Research has it that; 

• A child born to an educated mother is more than 2 times as likely to survive to age five.

• Educated mothers are 50% more likely to immunize their children than mothers without an education.

• A girl who completes basic education is 3 times less likely to contracts HIV/AIDS.

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