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Girl Rising: A Campaign to Educate Our Girls

Girl Rising
Breaking the cycle of poverty and creating the cycle of education, empowerment and uplifting out of poverty. “Girl Rising,” a feature-length documentary centers on these ideas, shining light on the importance of educating our girls around the world. Millions of girls across the globe are seen useful for one thing: reproduction. Girl Rising focuses on educating girls enabling them to use their voice that they were given to stand up for their rights, wait till they are stable to have their own family and educate their children, families and communities. By breaking those obstacles that girls face from the day that they are born.

Girl Rising focuses on removing those barriers that limit these girls such as young marriage, gender-based discrimination and violence, domestic slavery and sex trafficking. Removing these barriers will not only lead to stronger, healthier, safer and more vibrant girls, it will improve the outlook of the world as a whole.

Girl Rising, created in 2013, has since turned into a global movement and has been viewed by millions across the world in campuses, neighborhoods, communities and cities across the world in order to raise awareness and funds. You can bring Girl Rising to your classroom, campus, organization and community. There are so many opportunities to raise awareness. Join the community, host a screening, facilitate a fundraiser and invest in girls education. The options are limitless.

Girl Rising is also in partnership with USAID working on the Girl Rising’s Empowering Next Generations to Advance Girls Education (ENGAGE) project. Launched in 2014, the project focuses on teaching communities to value girls by understanding their worth and the benefits of educating and empowering them. Currently, the project works in India, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria, with hopes to grow and give all girls a chance to go and stay in school, and become healthy, functioning members of their communities and society as a whole.

The Girl Rising ENGAGE campaign works to create a better world for girls by:

  • Increasing public awareness of and attention to the importance of a good education and the barriers girls often face to accessing it.
  • Mobilizing men, women and youth to take concrete actions that create paths for girls to attain quality primary and secondary education.
  • Engaging corporate and government leaders to build an enabling environment for girls, promoting policy change for, and financial investment in their education.
  • Bringing the message to the source in the classroom.

Girl Rising has a teaching opportunity for educators to utilize the free Girl Rising Educator’s Edition and the Girl Rising curriculum. This can lead to engaging students in meaningful discussion and lessons that encourage them to think critically about the importance of educating girls.

The Girl Rising movement is on its way of establishing a name from its beginnings as a documentary to a force that is changing the educational climate for girls across the world. CNN International was so enraptured by the Girl Rising phenomena that the network continues to celebrate the world of girls in the series new “A Girl’s World.” The series chronicles the story of seven girls in seven different countries all writing unique stories of their own. Following their ambitions, dreams, adversaries, the seven girls may all be different but they can come together with their newfound voices. “Girl Rising” and “A Girl’s World” are reminders to value and honor your grandmothers, mothers, daughters, sisters and the girls of the world.

To become an advocate and learn more about Girl Rising follow here.

– Charisma Thapa

Sources: Girl Rising 1, Girl Rising 2, CNN
Photo: Scarlet Called Scout

Suicide Bomber in Nigeria Kills Students

suicide bomber
On November 10th, in the Northeastern Nigerian town of Potiskum, a suicide bomber killed around 46 students ranging from 10 to 20 years of age during a school assembly. The bomber was wearing a school uniform and entered the boys’ school in Yobe state unnoticed. Yobe’s state governor has shut down all public schools in the region and requested urgent action be taken by the Nigerian government.The suicide bomber was among the dead,  another 79 were severely wounded.

Police have suggested the terrorist organization Boko Haram is responsible for the attack. The militants have continuously targeted schools “during a deadly five-year insurgency” with the aim of establishing an Islamic state. Boko Haram, whose name translates to “Western education is sin”, believes that girls should not be able to go to school and boys should only receive an Islamic education.

The group has conducted a series of attacks and kidnappings, the most recent at the Government Science Secondary School. Boko Haram’s attack against the non-Quranic school was one of the worst attacks to date.

In Potiskum alone, Boko Haram has attacked roughly 10 schools, while another 5 schools in the surrounding parts of Yobe state have been targeted. However, the militant group rarely claims responsibility for individual attacks. Despite the large number of bombings against schools, there is still a huge lack of security for students.

The Nigerian military has not been deployed to safeguard school grounds in the North and the only protection at the Government Science Secondary School included a few local guards armed with sticks.

Citizens have been requested to report suspicious activities to security agencies. In addition, and in order to identify people with ill intent, people who rent property are asked to thoroughly check renters so criminals cannot hide in their midst.

Government officials have indicated to local communities that security is a collective responsibility, and that peace can only be achieved through collaboration with all interested parties.

– Leeda Jewayni

Sources: BBC, The New York Times, Reuters
Photo: Daily Mail

Child Brides Fight Back

Child Brides Fight Back - The Borgen Project
In recent years, a number of young women have rebelled against the husbands they were forced to marry. In April, a 14-year-old in Kano, Nigeria, murdered her 35-year-old husband with rat poison at their wedding celebration. Another, Zeinabou Moussa, ran away from her husband’s home on at least four separate occasions. After a final incident, her husband divorced her. Her parents say she will not be forced to marry again.

Zeinabou is one girl of many millions who are forced to marry early and become a child bride. In West Africa, around half of girls under the age of 18 are forced to marry. In regions of Chad and Niger, that number is around 70 percent. Girls under 15 in these countries are more likely to be wed than anywhere else in the world.

There are a number of reasons practices like this are kept in place. The first is poor education. Parents will often send their young boys to school because a higher value is placed on men. Many of the families who send their daughters to be child brides are often very poor and can expect that they will get a dowry in return from these educated men. Additionally, parents do not feel that it is appropriate for their daughters to engage in promiscuous activity out of wedlock, which is another reason early marriage is so prominent.

The practice is part of a vicious cycle. Adolescence, as well as education, is cut short, and this leads to an increase in teenage pregnancy and deaths during births. The spread of HIV is also adding to the problem.

Although there is some rebellion beginning against this tradition, many are not optimistic about the outcome. The Ford Foundation from New York conducted a study that showed that, on the whole, the trend in West African countries is headed toward even younger child brides.

Still, small pockets of land are getting better. In Nigeria and Niger, girls are learning about the potential risks of early marriage in special schools provided by the U.N. Population Fund. By the year 2018, over 150,000 girls will have completed this education.

The battle against child marriage is also being fought on the legal front. In countries like Malawi, girls can be forced to wed as young as 15 if they have their parents’ consent; however, upcoming legislation will attempt to bump it to 18, the legal age of consent in the country.

Such laws will play a big role in curbing the rising number of child brides, and all of the complications that accompany early marriages. The laws are prompting traditional chiefs to speak out against these marriages. Regarded for their community influence, these chiefs can spur campaigns that give girls the power to say “no.”

– Andrew Rywak

Sources: New York Daily News New York Times, The Economist
Photo: Girls Not Brides

Nigerian Startups Number One

When startups in Africa are discussed, people often generalize the continent as a whole. But it seems that Nigerian startups in particular are making big strides toward being the future of business on the continent.  A slew of investments and ideas suggest the country will be the most prominent for some time.

In April 2014, the Nigerian economy added 89 percent to the GDP literally overnight. After adjusting its figures, the country is now worth $510 billion, easily surpassing the now number two South Africa at $370 billion.

The country did not have to squeeze the numbers, per se, but simply updated figures that were two decades old. The economy had been growing steadily at 7 percent per year but this year, the appropriate values to the banking industry and the burgeoning film scene were added, among other areas.

Despite all the other numerous problems the country faces—like ranking 153 out of 187 on the U.N. Human Development Index—its position as number one should prove to be a much needed boon.

And so far it has, at least for the startups that are quickly appearing in the country.

In the technology sector, incubation center Co-Creation Hub has made $500,000 available in order to fund ideas and experimentation. Startups will be given between $10,000 and $25,000 to clarify ideas and work out issues with business models.

Other companies are excited about the future of tech in Nigeria as well. Microsoft Corporation will sponsor the 2014 DEMO Africa Event, which is scheduled to take place in late September. The event will feature the top 40 startups from the country.

One company featuring at this convention will be Integrated Medics. In a country that needs to advance its healthcare as quickly as possible, it is certainly a highlight that a medical care startup will be featured. The startup plans and promises to deliver smooth and mostly automated healthcare features.

The outlook for the Nigerian economy overall is positive. As the country continues to grow (it’s expected to surpass the United States in total population by 2050), it must also continue to rely on both small and big business to keep its place as the number one African economy.

– Andrew Rywak

Sources: The Economist, This Day Live, The Tribune 1, htxt.africa, The Tribune 2

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Pollution in Nigeria Ignored

Amnesty International has recently released a report claiming that United Nations Environmental Programme’s 2011 recommendations for pollution cleanup in the Ogoniland region of Nigeria have been ignored.

In 2011, UNEP found that pollution in Nigeria was caused by government negligence and, specifically, by the oil company Shell. UNEP was commissioned by Shell to review the area in an attempt to convince the locals to allow for their return.

Shell left the Ogoniland in 1993 amid a wave of protests. The company has been trying to reconcile with the locals ever since.

However, the UNEP report did not produce findings favorable to Shell, as it stated that people in Ogoniland have “been living with chronic pollution all their lives.”

For example, drinking water was found to have high levels of the known carcinogen benzene, and the amount was 900 hundred times higher than what the World Health Organization considers safe.

The UNEP concluded that it would take 25-30 years to clean up the oil pollution left behind by Shell.

Three years later, yet another watchdog organization is saying that pollution is still a serious problem in Ogoniland.

Amnesty international led a joint report with Friends of The Earth Europe, Center for Environment, Human Rights and Development, Environmental Rights Action and Platform to say that “in the three years since UNEP’s study was published, the government of Nigeria and Shell have taken almost no meaningful action to implement its recommendations.”

Recommended measures like emergency water supplies were said to be “erratic” by the locals. Water was infrequent and often smelled bad.

Shell has been slow to decommission much of the equipment they left behind in 1993. This equipment is subject to corrosions, which contributes to further pollution.

There are also continuing oil spills, but Shell blames the government. Shell believes the spills occur because gangs break the pipelines to steal the crude oil, and it is the governments responsibility to deal with this.

Amnesty International and other groups involved in the joint report call for Shell to stop making excuses and take responsibility for the devastation they have brought upon Ogoniland and its people. This situation is far worse than what a brief summary can explain. To see the full report, click here.

– Eleni Marino

Sources: Amnesty International, The Guardian
Photo: The Guardian

Conflict in Nigeria Escalates

Churches and mosques alike have been burned in Nigeria’s most religiously segregated city, Jos. The key city in Nigeria’s middle belt, Jos splits the predominantly Muslim north from the primarily Christian south. Christian tribes receive preferred access to public education, government jobs and other benefits, even though Muslim tribes (deemed “settlers” to their Christian counterpoints, who are viewed as the state’s indigenous people) hold the same obligations, including paying tax and upholding state laws.

While discrimination across Nigeria takes another form in states where Christians are controlled by Muslims, the fight for religious dominance in Jos has quickly escalated. In 1994, a Hausa (a group of Muslim “settlers”) was appointed as Jos North local government chairman, catalyzing the religious conflict in Nigeria between the indigene, who were upset at a settlers’ appointment to office. Nearly 4,000 people have been killed since 2001 in the conflict.

Twenty years ago, Hajiya Badamasi, a practicing Christian, married her Muslim husband in the central city of Jos, where she later converted to Islam. Badamasi claims that, prior to Jos’ evolution as the epicenter of religious strife in Nigeria, religious identification hardly mattered. Now, as the fighting continues to increase between the indigene and settlers in what Human Rights Watch has described as “horrific internecine violence,” many agree Jos remains at a violent standstill.

Some attribute increasing conflict in Nigeria to the country’s wealth gap. In fact, violence and religious conflict in the country is not unique to the city of Jos alone. While Southern Nigerian states boast economic growth through multinational corporations, Northern states suffer extreme cases of poverty. Poverty in the North is perhaps exactly what makes the territory so susceptible to widespread attacks – most recently those perpetrated by Boko Haram, the militant Islamist group.

Around 1,505 Nigerian Christians have been killed so far this year by the extremist group Boko Haram. While the group kills Christians for their religious beliefs, their approach with Muslims is a bit different; according to claims, Muslims are killed for a “reason,” such as working for the government or refusing to pay the group extortion taxes. The group has killed almost as many Christians in seven months as were killed in all of last year.

While most claim these religious problems will not fully disappear until the constitution grants settling tribes equal rights, some Muslim leaders have voiced optimism toward the religious conflict. “I’m an optimist,” said Mohammed Hashir Saidu, a state government official. “People are getting more enlightened.”

Still, older Nigerian couples remember a time when Jos was home to acceptance of inter-religious families and people. “When my parents went to visit my wife’s parents, they were received wholeheartedly,” said Alhaji Abdulaziz Haruna, a 59-year-old Muslim who is married to a Christian. Now, just four decades later, the fate of similar couples seems much more bleak.

– Nick Magnanti

Sources: IBI Times, Yahoo News, Naharnet, BP News
Photo: Naharnet

USAID Keeps Distance from Nigerian Election

The upcoming election for the governorship of the Nigerian state of Osun was already controversial, but the situation has recently been complicated by a purported United States Agency for International Development poll. The poll, which USAID has subsequently denied, put challenger Iyiola Omisore ahead of incumbent candidate Rauf Aregbesola by a margin of 58 percent to 30 percent.

What ensued was a battle of statistics. Aregbesola’s campaign pointed to research firm TNS-RMS’s poll that put the incumbent governor ahead with an insurmountable 73 percent lead over his competitors.

Omisore’s campaign quickly came out with a statement to legitimize the alleged USAID poll.

The statement pleaded, “The public should note that USAID, an international organization operating all over the world with unrivaled technical competence and impartial perspective on Osun political landscape, had put Senator Omisore ahead.”

However, USAID immediately distanced itself from both the poll and the election. The USAID Democracy and Governance Team claimed, “None of USAID Peace and Democratic Governance Implementing Partners support or plan to support any election related opinion polls in Osun.”

Both camps in the Nigerian election sent inquires to USAID asking to back up the poll. USAID could hardly have been more clear. “No USAID poll was taken in Osun.”

This spelled good news for the Aregbesola campaign, but Omisore was ready to strike back. His campaign lambasted the TNS-RMS poll to even the score.

“We urge the public to discountenance this last minute attempt to hoodwink the public. RMS is an APC outfit doing propaganda for Aregbesola. Its poll lacks integrity and [is] totally jaundiced because of a vested interest,” one of Omisore’s campaign workers said.

It remains unclear why USAID was ever brought into the conversation if there really was no USAID poll. Perhaps the organization’s name was used to give the poll gravitas, or perhaps USAID actually did conduct the poll but is now backpedaling.

Though past elections in Osun have been roiled with fraudulent and undemocratic practices, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan promised that “the Osun governorship elections will be very free, fair and credible.”

One way or the other, somebody is lying about the polls. Given the candidates’ willingness to bend the truth during the campaign, it is of the utmost importance that the election itself be free of any trickery.

With the election quickly approaching on August 9, the people of Osun will offer the final word on which poll was more legitimate.

– Sam Hillestad

Sources: Osun Defender, Premium Times
Photo: Premium Times

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Soccer Star Creates Kanu Heart Foundation

Nwankwo Kanu is not only the former captain of the Nigerian national soccer team, but he also goes to a great length in doing charity work. Born in Nigeria, he started to show his soccer talent on the Dutch Ajax team by scoring 25 goals in 54 performances in his first year in Ajax. He also led the Nigerian team win the Olympic Gold Medal in 1996. He was named African Footballer of the Year in the same year. In his charity path, he launched Kanu Heart Foundation, which he claimed as his proudest achievement. At the same time, he is a UNICEF ambassador.

Just after winning the Olympics, he was diagnosed with a heart valve defect, underwent surgery and did not return to his career for almost a year. Because of his experience, he started his Kanu Heart Foundation to make sure children with heart problems are able to obtain heart surgeries, especially underprivileged children in Africa. Through this organization, hospitals provide surgical heart transplants, laser surgeries and more.

“These kids remind me of when I was growing up as a little boy,” Kanu said to BBC Sport. “There’s no amount of success on the football pitch that can give me more smiles than the numbers of lives I’ve touched.” He wants to put smiles on the face of every child who deserves the chance to pursue their dreams.

According to its official website, the Kanu Heart Foundation has undertaken 452 open heart surgeries since the foundation was first established in 2000. All sponsored surgeries are done in countries such as England, Israel, India and Sudan. The Cardiac Specialist Hospital will offer free surgeries for children from 1 to 12 years old and those for adults will be subsidized.

– Jing Xu

Sources: BBC News, Wikipedia, Kanu Heart Foundation 1, Kanu Heart Foundation 2
Photo: Connect Nigeria

Instability Facing Nigeria

On July 24, 2014 an estimated 82 people were killed in a northern Nigerian city due to the blast of two bombs. The source of the bombs leads to the Islamist terrorist group in the area, Boko Haram.

Nigerian forces are currently at war with the terrorist group, and there is heavy speculation that the suicide bombs were a ploy to distract their attention from the war zone to a heavily populated area a few hundred miles away.

Both events seem to be targeting influential political figures in Nigeria. The first target was “Muslim cleric, Sheik Dahiru Bauchi, who has repeatedly condemned terrorism as un-Islamic,” according to the Wall Street Journal. He coincidentally missed the attack by minutes, leaving civilians as the only victims of the first bomb.

The second target was “Mohammadu Buhari, the ex-military dictator who remains the country’s top opposition leader.” With both attacks at the intended targets turning into failures, the only victims were helpless civilians who got caught in the crossfire.

This is not Boko Haram’s first attempt to create havoc in Nigerian cities, as they have bombed myriad other areas while trying to gain control of certain war-torn areas.

Nigeria’s financial stability is questionable at best, but the attacks have forced the President into pouring money the country may not have into military efforts in order to protect and police the country. It’s reported that over $1 billion have gone into the military fund as a result of these attacks.

Nigeria is acknowledging the public: “We call on Nigerian authorities to fully investigate these attacks,” State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said in a statement. “We urge all Nigerians to avoid reprisals and continue to practice the interfaith cooperation that violent extremists seek to undermine.”

It’s hugely important to acknowledge that the terrorist group behind these bombings are the same people that have kidnapped over 200 young girls, drawing international attention to the Nigerian political stage. The ruthlessness of their actions demonstrates the fact that little will stop them before they reach their goals of control of the nation.

Attacks on civilians are another of the many actions Boko Haram has taken to make its point clear, their brutality is unmatched in the area and the terrorists have little trouble demonstrating it at any given time.

The instability facing Nigeria is nearing its peak and it is beginning to look like there is a high chance that these attacks will manifest into a full out war within the nation, with unknown risks on the line. Nigeria has few resources to aid them, causing the strength of the country to waver in the eyes of civilians.

– Elena Lopez

Sources: Reuters, The Wall Street Journal, Associated Press
Photo: Associated Press

Malala Yousafzai Meets With Nigerian President

malala
Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani activist who in 2012 survived gunshots during a Taliban assassination attempt, met with Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan to urge him to meet with the parents of recently kidnapped schoolgirls.

Since the age of 11, Malala has advocated for girls’ education, which led to the Taliban issuing a death threat against her. When they tried to assassinate her in 2012 — when she was just 15 years old — they failed.

As a result, Malala dedicated her life to activism, spreading a message on the importance of education and urging political leaders to help young women in need.

Malala therefore felt deeply concerned about the 276 girls abducted from a secondary school by Boko Haram in Chibok, a region of northeast Nigeria. The girls were abducted on April 14, and 219 of them are still missing.

In a recent video, Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, announced that he would only release the girls if the Nigerian government released imprisoned Boko Haram fighters. In the video, Shekau also greeted Al Qaeda and other prominent terrorist leaders across the Middle East, and denounced democracy and all forms of Western education.

He ended the video by firing an AK-47 rifle into the air in a show of violence.

“Nigerians are saying ‘bring back our girls’ and we are telling [President Jonathan] to bring back our arrested warriors, our army,” Shekau said.

Malala spent July 14, a date designated international “Malala Day” by the United Nations, visiting with the Nigerian President, urging him to do everything in his power to free the girls captured by the Boko Haram militant group.

“As we celebrate Malala Day on July 14, I have both hope and heartbreak,” Malala said. “I did not think that, just one year after my U.N. speech, more than 200 girls would be kidnapped in Nigeria by Boko Haram simply for wanting to go to school. These girls are my sisters.”

During Malala’s meeting, President Jonathan agreed to meet with the parents of the abducted schoolgirls. He also promised scholarships to all of them once they were released.

“The president has expressed his solidarity with those girls and his sadness,” Malala said. “He has assured that these girls will come back home safely.”

She went on to say that the president is currently considering the safest option to bring them home.

Malala cited over 66 million girls lacking access to education worldwide. She blames the lack of education on the large numbers of child brides in her home country of Pakistan. She feels that if young women are allowed to go to school and given more opportunities, they will not so readily relinquish their youth and freedom.

“I know education is what separates a girl who is trapped in a cycle of poverty, fear, and violence from one with a chance at a better future,” Malala said.

In recent weeks, Nigerian officials have hinted at progress in planning a rescue mission for the captured girls. But, according to a recent statement released by President Jonathan, the Nigerian government refuses to make any negotiations with Boko Haram.

Some feel this may be a dangerous tactic, since Shekau has openly taken credit for at least two recent bombings of Nigerian cities.

No matter what the Nigerian government plans to do, Malala has hope that everything will work out for the captive girls.

“We raise our voices so that those without a voice can be heard. We pledge not to forget the voiceless. Not to get tired of calling for the creation of a world that we want to live in,” Malala wrote. “Not to lose hope, and not to stop caring.”

– Paige Fraizer

Sources: Biography.com, LA Times, Liberty Voice, The International News, Washington Post
Photo: CCTV