Policy Adaptation on Girls Education

LYFT Africa Executive Director represented the organization at iCampus in Monrovia to discuss and adapt a toolkit on How Girls Can Engage with Education Stakeholders

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The How-To-Guide resource or toolkit is developed to support young females or girls and advocacy groups in their respectiv

e advocacy efforts, to advocate for change in the education sector in Liberia. However, this tool or guide could be used by any other advocate universally as necessary.

Distinct areas described in the guide include:

What is advocacy?

Why Advocate?

How to design an advocacy campaign

Who are the education stakeholders in Liberia

Tools for communicating in advocacy

Background

Young women across Liberia have experienced serious challenges in accessing quality education for the last three to four decades. On a resource level, there is a large funding gap when it comes to education. The overall budget is 14% lower than the funds needed to run the sector efficiently, and this has led to frequent increases in the cost of education. This directly impacts girls, who often leave school at the 5th-grade level.

A report released by the United Nations earlier in 2018 estimates that Liberia’s female school dropout rate increases by 6% each year, which leads to high teenage pregnancy rates.

In its 2006 National Girls Education Policy, the government committed to prioritizing this issue but has not delivered on this promised.

Including female voices in advocacy around education crucial, because they are greatly affected by the poor performance of the sector and this guide is aimed at providing a knowledge-based and practical steps for young women in advocacy approaches.