School Girls Unite Favorite 

School Girls Unite started as a community-based pilot program in the Washington, D.C. area in 2004. An intergenerational team included 12-year-old girls and young African women who joined together with the Youth Activism Project. A natural link existed with Mali because two of the founding members of School Girls Unite are from this West African country. UNICEF identifies Mali as one of the 25 countries needing “emergency action” where less than 20% of girls attend high school and only 2% go onto university. In the capital city, Bamako, two dozen young women who have the opportunity to attend high school or university comprise our partner organization called Les Filles Unies pour l’Education.

Since its inception, School Girls Unite and Les Filles Unies activists advocate for gender equity and universal education in the U.S. and in Mali about the benefits of educating girls and to make an immediate impact on the lives of girls in West Africa.