Empowering Girls through SRHR Education
At Association des Guides du Rwanda (AGR), we believe that girls like deserve better and this belief drives all our initiatives to empower and protect every girl. They deserve to grow up informed, confident, and empowered to make decisions about their bodies and their futures.
Our journey in partnership with Plan International Rwanda, through the “Empowerment of young girls and adolescents on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) initiative,” has transformed lives in Nyaruguru and Gatsibo Districts both in schools and in communities.
Through SRHR clubs, girls have a safe and inclusive place to learn and share. Here, they discovered their rights, gained confidence, and realized that they share common issues. More than 360 girls have been trained to make reusable sanitary pads, helping them manage their periods with dignity and teaching others to do the same.
The clubs also link young people to health centers, youth corners, and Isange One Stop Centers, ensuring they have continued support when they need it most.
The initiative has taken into consideration parents. They were trained as parent champions, who bring Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights discussions to family gatherings like Umugoroba w’Imiryango and community meetings. This is to strengthen, families and communities to break the silence towards SRHR among community and family members.
AGR didn’t miss to join the world in celebrating the International Day of the Girl Child, a moment to recognize girls’ power and potential. During this celebration, we conducted a community campaign focused on ending teenage pregnancy and stopping gender-based violence, reinforcing the message that every girl deserves to live free from fear, abuse, and limitation.
The most inspiring of all, girls themselves are trained to lead and advocate for their own issues. So far, 18 girl champions have spoken directly to school and district leaders in Nyaruguru and Gatsibo, presenting their concerns and advocating for solutions. Among issues raised we have poor services to the teenagers sometimes caused by religious beliefs, teachers who don't explain deeply sexual reproductive health courses in class, culture barriers on talking about sexual reproductive health between parents and teenagers, some schools don't have girls’ room and those which have those rooms are not equipped or lack equipments totally.
When girls are informed, they transform their own lives. When they are supported, they lift their families and communities. And when they are given space to lead, they change the world.
At AGR, we are not just raising awareness, we are sparking transformation. But we cannot do it alone. We call on partners, policymakers, and communities to stand with us in ensuring that every girl in Rwanda grows up healthy, confident, and ready to lead.