She’s the First Hosts Our First-Ever Side Event at UN Commission on the Status of Women

By Kate Lord, Director of Advocacy & Communications

We kicked off the first day of the 68th UN Commission on the Status of Women with our first-ever side event: "Girl-Led Activism: How to Get it Right," based on the learnings of our Girl Activist Fellowship. How do we make sure we’re doing work that is TRULY girl-led and doing it well?

Our goal is to let GIRLS lead, not to adultify girls. Girls don’t need to act like adults to earn our respect. Rather than expecting girls to erase their girlhood to lead, we can create an environment where girls can thrive as themselves.

This event was a rare occasion to show how the programs of She's the First connect -- particularly how activism projects that girls lead engage girls served by our Partner Coalition (the community-led, girl-centered programs we fund and train). 

Our panelists included two alumna of our Girl Activist Fellowship, Allison Choong and Sania Hammad, as well as founders of two of our partner organizations in the Global South: Joyce Wanda of Arlington Academy of Hope in Uganda and Natalie Robi of Msichana Empowerment Kuria in Kenya.

The college students discussed their experience in the Fellowship where they created the children’s book Safiya Speaks Up. “Writing this book helped me understand that I do have a voice, and I will forever be thankful to She’s the First for that,” said Girl Activist Fellowship alumna Sania Hammad, 19. 

Her Safiya Speaks Up co-author and Girl Activist Fellowship alumna Allison Choong didn’t consider herself an artist but volunteered to learn and illustrate their book. “I have never been an artist, but I'm really happy to say that this is fully illustrated by me. We really wanted it to be by girls, for girls, which I think is truly what girl-led activism is. So this book is truly just by us for other young girls.” 

After publication, Allison was nominated for a Woman of the Future Southeast Asia for the Arts and Culture category for her work on Safiya Speaks Up.

Natalie shared how she founded Msichana Empowerment Kuria as a teenager to address ending Female Genital Mutilation by tackling its root causes and giving girls a chance to have access to education. What started as an informal safe space for girls has evolved into a girl- and young women-led community-based organization.

“One of the things that I know for sure is that just enabling girls to have a choice and then to start questioning—it sparks something so special. And truly education is the one opportunity that allows girls to do that,” Natalie said.

A campaign created by another group of girls in the first Girl Activist Fellowship cohort had a big impact on the girls at Joyce’s school in Uganda.  Despite the fact that these girls come from villages where it’s unheard of to speak about sex, they were eager to participate when the call went out for artwork under the theme “My Body, My Choice” for the Reproduce This! Art Show. Over years of partnership with She’s the First, Joyce’s school has established a robust sex education curriculum—and the girls were able to express their comfort with their bodies and their confidence in their rights through this art competition.

“The artwork was really focused on talking about their bodies, talking about everything from sex, from how they feel, you know, from their breasts—everything about how the girls develop,” Joyce said. “And five of our girls, their art was chosen to be displayed in New York. And you cannot even imagine how that felt for the girls. I cannot say enough, because it is a taboo in my in my community to talk about sex.”

Girls know girls’ needs best. By creating space where girls can lead and imagine and create, we allow them to build projects that ripple impact their peers in ways that we as professionals in the field may never have been able to perceive.

Thank you to Joyce, Natalie, Allison, and Sania; we couldn't fulfill our mission without you. To Babita Patel and kahani for being awonderful co-host. And to the UN Foundations's Nest Hub for the beautiful space!

5 Lessons for Girl-Led Advocacy

Developed by Janae Phillips, Advocacy Programs Manager, and Kate Lord, Director of Advocacy & Communications at She’s the First

#1 We’re in Girl World Now

Girl-led work takes time! Plan for a girl-led project to take about 3x longer than when you work with professional colleagues.

They’re not just executing the tasks, they’re learning HOW to do this at the same time.

“Know that we are learning so much while we create. We are trying to understand what we're doing and also understand how what we're creating impacts others.” - Allision Choong, Girl Activist Fellowship Alumna

#2 Girl Math

Never underestimate a girl: they will dream bigger and bolder than you might guess.

• Girls habitually overcommit and underestimate the amount of time it will take them to do something. This is NORMAL for their developmental stage! Girls are still learning about cause and effect, consequences, and predictive thinking.

• Rather than admonish them, plan from the beginning to work through these important life lessons with them.

#3 Big Feelings

Also developmentally normal: a lot of big feelings.

They are doing something they’ve probably never done before. Be prepared for a little bit of drama, but don’t underestimate their ability to handle it!

You don’t need to step in for every problem. Instead, try talking 1:1 with girls to coach them through navigating interpersonal relationships.

“Give girls the space to feel what they need to feel and help them understand that they are girls themselves. They are going to change the world, but you need to give them the space to understand how to do that.” - Girl Activist Fellowship Alumna Sania Hammad

#4 Your First Role is Translator

Girls likely won’t have all of the technical expertise and jargon you’re used to. Why should they?

Your job, as their mentor, is to listen with an open mind to what they’re saying. Then, translate what the girls say for colleagues and partners in a way that both honors the girls’ intent and intelligence AND makes their message clear to others.

#5 Being allowed to fail is a keystone of having true ownership over your work.

You should have a very clear idea of what is and isn’t critical at the end of the day. You can also ensure there is enough time (3x!) for failures and adjustments within the process. Communicate early and often with other stakeholders.

“We could design all these things for girls. But when you give girls the opportunity— we know they’ll make mistakes, but when they are doing it for themselves, they are so motivated, and the girls see for themselves that they can do it.” - Joyce Wanda, co-founder of our Ugandan partner Arlington Academy of Hope in Uganda