International Day of the Girl Child is a day that is internationally observed on October 11th, to amplify the voices of girls, empower them, and dialogue on ways to eradicate barriers that impede the realization of their full potential.
This year's theme is: Our time is now; Our rights, our future.
On this eventful day each year, gender activists and organizations around the world organize programs to highlight the potential of adolescent girls and advocate for various relevant opportunities for them. This year, iGRED Africa focused on STEM Mentorship for Girls in the Bisease Senior High School located in Ajumako-Bisease, in the Central region of Ghana.
This community was selected for the project as a way of giving back to the birth-town of the Chief Executive of iGRED; Madam Noelyne Mensah.
Led by IGRED’s peer mentor; Lois Amoah Otto, over 400 girls were mentored and introduced to programming and coding, the future of work, and numerous career possibilities that come through STEM Education. Madam Patricia Klutse, the Special Guest Speaker, and the Girl-child officer and coordinator for Ajumako district second cycle institutions in Ghana Education Service admonished the girls to recognize their power and potential to rise beyond their present limitations.
The Assistant Domestic Headmistress of Bisease Senior High School, Madam Lydia Abraham, expressed her appreciation for the exposure given to her students through the workshop. She encouraged iGRED to endeavor to organize more STEM mentorship workshops to help build relevant competencies in girls at her school and to prepare them for the changing global job market.
It is iGREDs goal to mobilize the needed infrastructure and support to help girls in the Bisease community to become tech-savvy and tomorrow’s science innovators.