The GirlEngage Approach
Our unique development approach
GirlEngage is Plan International’s unique development approach that lets girls become the drivers of the change they want and need in their lives. It is a strategy focused on adolescent girls between the ages of 10 and 18 that makes it possible for the girls themselves to lead our programs — from designing projects, to leading activities, to measuring success. At all levels, girls provide expertise and insights into Plan’s work. We are constantly innovating and searching for new ways to involve them and achieve results.
For example, in Zimbabwe, the GirlEngage model was used to co-design a dorm with girls in The Graduation Project, so their home away from home meets their needs. And, in response to girls’ feedback, we connected participants with Purdue University to co-design a sustainable water solution for their school.
GirlEngage supports girls as they safely transition into adulthood and create the futures they want for themselves. We ask questions, listen and co-create sustainable change based on their ideas. This approach reflects the understanding that girls don’t experience life according to our program areas. Their education might depend on their health, their family or the culture they live in. We might anticipate that they need bathrooms at school, but they might tell us that first, they need a way to get to school without being assaulted.
At Plan, we believe that girls hold so much power within themselves. With GirlEngage, we act as the encouraging facilitator to help them see what they are capable of achieving.
So, how can GirlEngage unlock the potential of more girls around the world?
Without you, GirlEngage won’t be possible. And girls need this opportunity to be unlocked. Otherwise, more girls will be forced to quietly, maybe unknowingly, sacrifice their potential. And the communities in which they live will never progress toward supporting every child, regardless of gender, to have equal rights and equal opportunity to exercise those rights.
When you support GirlEngage, you’re creating a ripple effect. You help girls show their families how getting an education has changed their lives. You help boys see that girls are their equals, and that they can transform the way that girls and women are treated by boys and men. You make it possible for girls to reveal to their communities that they can thrive in unexpected ways and break gender norms. You create opportunities for girls to change lawmakers’ perspectives, so they can work together to design gender-inclusive policies.
Real change happens when girls realize the inner power that they were born with, regardless of the situations they were born into.
Right now, you have the chance to invest in girls. And your investment will create transformational change in all of our lives.
Girls are the experts in knowing how their lives are affected by inequality. We are the experts in facilitating the change they need. Fueled by supporters like you, we make a powerful team. And together, we won’t stop until we are all equal.
