When a girl goes to school, the world opens up to possibilities.
Access to education offers girls around the world a future promising dignity, health, safety and a chance to lead. Education protects girls from early marriage, delays their entry into the workforce and opens doors to a future filled with opportunity.
This year’s UN Women statement, “The girl I am, the change I lead: Girls on the frontlines of crisis,” calls for a shift in how we see the girls of our world, especially in conflict, climate-impacted and displacement settings. UN Women+1
UN Women notes that:
- 122 million girls are still out of school globally, undermining their potential.
- Nearly 1 in 5 young women aged 20–24 were first married before age 18.
- In 2024, 676 million women and girls lived near deadly conflict, facing disrupted education, violence and barriers to health.
UN Women emphasizes that girls should not be treated as passive victims of crisis, but as powerful agents of change:
“On this International Day of the Girl, we celebrate the courage and leadership of girls everywhere, especially those facing crisis and conflict.”
At All Hands & Hearts (AH&H), we develop educational programs through our school rebuilds that support all children to thrive in holistic learning environments. Through our education and WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) programs, we help girls return to, and stay in, school by creating safe, healthy and supportive spaces to learn with confidence and dignity.
Building the foundations for girls’ success
Girls need safe, supportive environments that honor their dignity and meet their specific needs. We integrate gender-sensitive infrastructure to our school rebuild programs, including private bathrooms and incinerators for menstrual waste, so girls don’t have to miss class during their menstrual cycles. Equally important is the educational component of change. Through Menstrual Hygiene Management workshops and Child Rights Protection trainings, provided with support from local partners and experts, we aim to give girls the knowledge and tools to protect their health and their rights.
Workshops that build confidence and self-reliance
Menstrual Health Workshops
In certain countries, especially in remote areas, menstruation is surrounded by cultural and religious taboos. Many women and girls are excluded from daily activities, facing restrictions like staying away from religious spaces, kitchens, male family members, or even missing school during their periods. To break these barriers, AH&H has partnered with local schools and Female Community Health Volunteers to create awareness among students, teachers and the wider community. Through training focused on adolescent girls’ personal health and hygiene, we aim to normalize conversations around menstruation and support girls to take pride in their bodies.
“It’s important to provide safe and fun spaces to ask these questions, because sometimes they don’t want to ask. It’s also about knowing that it’s not all terrible — it can be fun to get to know your body, how it works, and how to read the messages your body gives. Ninety-five percent of girls and boys say that after the workshop, they learned new things about menstruation that they didn’t know before.”
Recently, we partnered with María Fernanda Cano from our partner organization Concentrarte to host a menstrual health workshop in Santa Ana Necoxtla, Mexico. Together, we explored how the menstrual and ovulatory cycles work, why tracking them matters, and the different options for menstrual hygiene products. The workshop included a hands-on session on making reusable cloth pads, teaching girls a sustainable and empowering way to manage their menstrual cycles. For many participants, it was the first time they had openly discussed menstruation, and the response was transformative.
Students were deeply engaged and left feeling informed and confident in their bodies and menstrual cycles.
Child Protection Trainings
“This training is so important for teaching children here in Southern Leyte how to protect themselves and recognize when someone doesn’t have their best interests at heart. I hope that one day, they’ll also use what they’ve learned to help others in need. As a teacher here at Mahayag Elementary, I’m deeply grateful to All Hands & Hearts and Streetlight for the support you’ve given us.” – Arlene De Aisis, a teacher at Mahayag Elementary School
Child protection remains another urgent concern. Across Nepal, Mexico and the Philippines, children face violence at home, at school, in the community, and online. Cases of child marriage, trafficking, child labor, and physical or mental abuse are reported regularly. AH&H addresses these challenges through Child Protection Training programs in each country that educate students, teachers and community members about identifying, preventing and responding to violence and exploitation. Through these programs, children and adults alike gain critical knowledge and the confidence to protect themselves and others.
Join us in standing with girls this International Day of the Girl Child.
Together, we can keep girls in classrooms, protect their rights, and empower them to lead the way forward.
