OVER 3000 GIRLS BENEFIT FROM KCCAs GEG PROGRAM

Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) has registered success under the Girls Empowering Girls(GEG) program where 3,000girls have been supported.

GEG is the first ever urban social protection program for adolescent girls in Uganda, which seeks to ensure that girls transition safely into adulthood, receive skills and be empowered to achieve their goals.

It focuses on empowering girls both in school and out of school setting who undergo a rigorous selection process of registration, approval and enrollment. The girls are selected from parishes with relatively higher levels of school dropouts and homes with multidimensional poverty. So far the program has empowered two cohorts since 2019.

Recently a 3-day workshop was held at Imperial Resort Beach in Entebbe to reflect and take stalk of the achievements and lessons learnt since the inception of the program in 2019. This workshop took place from July 24 to 26, 2024.

Notably, in 2023, 74 girls who had previously dropped out of school returned to their studies with 60 sitting for their Primary Leaving Examinations and 14 sitting for their Uganda Certificate of Education exams.

During the workshop Her Worship Deputy Lord Mayor Doreen Nyanjura rallied for more support from stakeholders towards the program in order to empower more girls in the society,

“Empowering girls should be the joy of everyone because many have been tortured, kidnapped, raped, which has made their dreams shuttered.” Nyanjura said.

Jacqueline Nassaka the Monitoring and Evaluation officer from Uganda Youth Development Link (UYDEL) emphasized the effectiveness of mentorship and skills development in empowering adolescent girls.

According to Nassaka, prior to the program’s implementation, many adolescent girls dropped out of school due to lack of funds and vulnerabilities but cash transfers have proven to be a game charger enabling girls to overcome fear, improve their financial stability and set achievable goals.

The girls are supported with scholastic, cash transfers, mentoring and equipping girls with different skills such as baking, digital skills literacy, life skills and upshift skills where groups of 8 adolescent girls come up with innovative solutions to address community programs.

“This is a remarkable progress that underscores the impact of targeted interventions in supporting vulnerable girls in attaining their goals,” Nassaka added.

The Deputy Director Gender Community Services and Production, Daniel Kaserengenyi and Dr. David Musunga the Deputy Director Marketing and Production attended the workshop.

Kaseregenyi thanked UNICEF for their support and congratulated the team on their efforts towards gender integration. He assured other partners that KCCA remains committed to continuing this vital work, with a focus on high vulnerable communities in Kampala.

The Girls Empowering Girls Program is implemented by the government of Uganda, Under KCCA with support from UNICEF and the Belgium government and this aligns with the smart city agenda, the third pillar of people wellbeing through health and education.