HerStory Initiative
Description
The HerStory Initiative combines innovative storytelling programs with engaging media outreach to listen, share and respond to the stories of girls. The goal of HerStory is to inspire action that will move the world toward greater justice, health and global well-being for all. HerStory Initiative builds life skills in girls through LitClubs which offers girls safe space, structured settings to read, write, and raise their voices.
The funds provided by LitWorld and Global GlOW are used to implement the following activities:<br />
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1) Provide mentoring and ongoing support: 8 LitCLubs after school program created with 160 girls and 8 mentors (1 mentor: 20 girls). 1h:30minutes weekly Litclub sessions for girls organised in Reading, Writing, Discussing, creating (Art), Expressing (Music/Games), and Becoming (Theater). Four 1-day mentor training workshops organised annually for LitClub Mentors to provide mentoring and continues support to our club girls based on 7 strengths: Belonging, Curiosity, Friendship, Kindness, Confidence, Courage and Hope.<br />
2) Organise Read Aloud: During weekly LitClub sessions and World Read Aloud days. Mentors select an appropriate read aloud book or poem and read aloud to the girls in groups of 20 girls. Mentors also make up a story that ties in the Strength of the day with an experience the girls can relate to. Mentors and girls share and encourage a love of reading. We celebrate the power of words and create a community of readers taking action to show the world that the right to literacy belongs to all people on World Read aloud days.<br />
3) Facilitate creative writing/thinking/arts/games: Girls are introduced by mentors to a range of theories of change that link creative engagement with strategic thinking around the 7 strengths during club weekly sessions; the girls think critically about artistic and cultural interventions; design, assess, enact, document and/or facilitate creative activities that contribute to more just and less violent communities.<br />
4) Organise Community building activities: On a monthly basis, girls engage in a game or activity geared towards community building; Environmental, assisting the less priveleged.<br />
5) During long holidays, a literacy-based experiential education holidays program is carried out. By combining a traditional camp experience with effective literacy, life skills training and empowerment, LitClub workshops, building the resilience they need to carry through the coming year. <br />
6) Every October 11th. We mobilize HerStory community and supporters, host Story Summits, led by trained mentors and volunteers that allow women and girls to share their stories and learn from one another's experiences. Together we raise our voices on behalf of all the world's girls so that they can build fierce, fearless futures, lit from within. <br />
7) Mobilise successive women to share their stories of strength and overcoming challenges that inspires others. The story summit takes place annually in August.<br />
8) Provide education on sexual and reproductive health rights and provide menstrual supplies <br />
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The initiative is funded by LitWorld and Global GLOW in the USA. These two orgainsations provide funding for the activies and WVED Cameroon does the implementation of the HerStory program in Cameroon in collaboration with the Delegation of women Empowerment and Family Mezam Division North West Region Cameroon. <br />
HerStory Initiative program is centred around LitClub curriculum which empower, mentor and equip girls with life skills necessary for their development through storytelling, creative expression, transformational literacy and mentorship in a safe place. LitClub Curriculum Sessions are structured around LitWorlds 7 Strengths, or foundational ideas that we believe guide girls understanding of themselves and the world. The 7 Strengths: Belonging, Curiosity, Friendship, Kindness, Confidence, Courage and Hope help to build the girls growing sense of their identities. There is a standardized curriculum developed by LitWorld. The curriculum provides detailed lesson plans for each weekly workshop. Each unit includes five core lessons: Writing, Discussing, creating (Art), Expressing (Music/Games), and Becoming (Theatre). The HerStory Program creates opportunities for women and girls to share their stories of achieving successes and overcoming challenges, supported by powerful mentorship in a safe place.<br />
LitWorld USA
Global Girls Leading Our World (USA)
A World at School
SDGS & Targets
Goal 4
Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
4.1
By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes
4.1.1
Proportion of children and young people (a) in grades 2/3; (b) at the end of primary; and (c) at the end of lower secondary achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in (i) reading and (ii) mathematics, by sex
4.1.2
Completion rate (primary education, lower secondary education, upper secondary education)
4.2
By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education
4.2.1
Proportion of children aged 24–59 months who are developmentally on track in health, learning and psychosocial well-being, by sex
4.2.2
Participation rate in organized learning (one year before the official primary entry age), by sex
4.3
By 2030, ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university
4.3.1
Participation rate of youth and adults in formal and non-formal education and training in the previous 12 months, by sex
4.4
By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship
4.4.1
Proportion of youth and adults with information and communications technology (ICT) skills, by type of skill
4.5
4.5.1
Parity indices (female/male, rural/urban, bottom/top wealth quintile and others such as disability status, indigenous peoples and conflict-affected, as data become available) for all education indicators on this list that can be disaggregated
4.6
By 2030, ensure that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy
4.6.1
Proportion of population in a given age group achieving at least a fixed level of proficiency in functional (a) literacy and (b) numeracy skills, by sex
4.7
By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development
4.7.1
Extent to which (i) global citizenship education and (ii) education for sustainable development are mainstreamed in (a) national education policies; (b) curricula; (c) teacher education and (d) student assessment
4.a
Build and upgrade education facilities that are child, disability and gender sensitive and provide safe, non-violent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all
4.a.1
Proportion of schools offering basic services, by type of service
4.b
4.b.1
Volume of official development assistance flows for scholarships by sector and type of study
4.c
By 2030, substantially increase the supply of qualified teachers, including through international cooperation for teacher training in developing countries, especially least developed countries and small island developing States
4.c.1
Proportion of teachers with the minimum required qualifications, by education level
Goal 10
Reduce inequality within and among countries
10.1
By 2030, progressively achieve and sustain income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the population at a rate higher than the national average
10.1.1
Growth rates of household expenditure or income per capita among the bottom 40 per cent of the population and the total population
10.2
By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status
10.2.1
Proportion of people living below 50 per cent of median income, by sex, age and persons with disabilities
10.3
Ensure equal opportunity and reduce inequalities of outcome, including by eliminating discriminatory laws, policies and practices and promoting appropriate legislation, policies and action in this regard
10.3.1
Proportion of population reporting having personally felt discriminated against or harassed within the previous 12 months on the basis of a ground of discrimination prohibited under international human rights law
10.4
Adopt policies, especially fiscal, wage and social protection policies, and progressively achieve greater equality
10.4.1
Labour share of GDP
10.4.2
Redistributive impact of fiscal policy
10.5
Improve the regulation and monitoring of global financial markets and institutions and strengthen the implementation of such regulations
10.5.1
Financial Soundness Indicators
10.6
10.6.1
Proportion of members and voting rights of developing countries in international organizations
10.7
Facilitate orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people, including through the implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies
10.7.1
Recruitment cost borne by employee as a proportion of montlhy income earned in country of destination
10.7.2
Number of countries with migration policies that facilitate orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people
10.7.3
Number of people who died or disappeared in the process of migration towards an international destination
10.7.4
Proportion of the population who are refugees, by country of origin
10.a
10.a.1
Proportion of tariff lines applied to imports from least developed countries and developing countries with zero-tariff
10.b
10.b.1
Total resource flows for development, by recipient and donor countries and type of flow (e.g. official development assistance, foreign direct investment and other flows)
10.c
By 2030, reduce to less than 3 per cent the transaction costs of migrant remittances and eliminate remittance corridors with costs higher than 5 per cent
10.c.1
Remittance costs as a proportion of the amount remitted
Goal 5
Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
5.1
End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere
5.1.1
Whether or not legal frameworks are in place to promote, enforce and monitor equality and non‑discrimination on the basis of sex
5.2
5.2.1
Proportion of ever-partnered women and girls aged 15 years and older subjected to physical, sexual or psychological violence by a current or former intimate partner in the previous 12 months, by form of violence and by age
5.2.2
Proportion of women and girls aged 15 years and older subjected to sexual violence by persons other than an intimate partner in the previous 12 months, by age and place of occurrence
5.3
5.3.1
Proportion of women aged 20-24 years who were married or in a union before age 15 and before age 18
5.3.2
Proportion of girls and women aged 15-49 years who have undergone female genital mutilation/cutting, by age
5.4
Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as nationally appropriate
5.4.1
Proportion of time spent on unpaid domestic and care work, by sex, age and location
5.5
Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life
5.5.1
Proportion of seats held by women in (a) national parliaments and (b) local governments
5.5.2
Proportion of women in managerial positions
5.6
Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of their review conferences
5.6.1
Proportion of women aged 15-49 years who make their own informed decisions regarding sexual relations, contraceptive use and reproductive health care
5.6.2
Number of countries with laws and regulations that guarantee full and equal access to women and men aged 15 years and older to sexual and reproductive health care, information and education
5.a
Undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws
5.a.1
(a) Proportion of total agricultural population with ownership or secure rights over agricultural land, by sex; and (b) share of women among owners or rights-bearers of agricultural land, by type of tenure
5.a.2
Proportion of countries where the legal framework (including customary law) guarantees women’s equal rights to land ownership and/or control
5.b
5.b.1
Proportion of individuals who own a mobile telephone, by sex
5.c
Adopt and strengthen sound policies and enforceable legislation for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls at all levels
5.c.1
Proportion of countries with systems to track and make public allocations for gender equality and women’s empowerment
SDG 14 targets covered
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Contact Information
Helvecia Takwe, Ms.