Support Girls Leading Change in Honduras

Dear Friends,

On March 8th, we joined the world in conmemorating International Women's Day. A day to reflect on the struggle and achievements of generations past and inspire new generation of activists to continue the movement. A day to recognize how far we have come but also how far we still have to go to achieve gender equality.

To conmemorate the occasion, a team of gender and sex education youth promoters - accompanied and guided by the youth leaders of our gender, sexuality and masculinity programming - organized a series of activites to reflect on the situation of girls and women in Honduras, the challenges they face and the struggles they undertake to defind their rights and build a more just and equitable world for all. They:

• Wrote and dramatized a spin on popular tales, specifically Beauty and the Beast and Little Red Riding Hood, to exemplify violent relationships and street harrassment.
• Told stories of Honduran women activists, including the late environmental and indigenous activist Berta Cáceres, and later painted their reflections and key messages on paper
• Shared national statistics on gender-based violence and femicide and highlighted how mainstream media downplays and reports on violence against women.

In every space, the youth promoter team asked questions to promote deeper thinking and reflection among participants.

Soany, age 23, shared the following reflection: "We shouldn't romanticize anyone. That is an error. Sometimes we believe that for love we should put up with anything and think that someone is perfect. No. We should be realistic, see their flaws and try to work through them. And if we can't, then each person should go his or her direction. Because if we can't talk through things and understand each other, things will always end badly."

Earlier this year, in January, two young women leaders represented OYE at a convening of Global Fund for Children grantee organizations. At the same time, two of our adolescent girl leaders participated in the first generation of Rise Up's initiative 'Girls' Voices" in Honduras. For the first time, Rise Up invited adolescent girls to participate as fellows alongside mentors from their respective organizations for a week of girl-led and girl-centered advocacy training. At the end of the training, OYE was invited to submit a proposal for a local advocacy project on an issue affecting girls in our community. Our girls decided that they wanted to finish what they started and continue to advocate for the passing of a local public policy to make comprehensive sexuality education mandatory in public schools. You can read more about this initiative in previous reports.

Also in January, after a three-step selection process - including a written application, interview and home visit, - we welcomed 21 aspiring adolescent girls and young women scholars (and 11 adolescent boys and young men) to our signature "Adelante Jóvenes" Scholarship Program. We can't wait to see and share how they grow as scholars and leaders over the course of the coming year.

As always, thank you for being a part of this community and believing in the potential of girls and young women to change their lives, families and communities for the better.

In appreciation,
Amanda

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