Girl Determined facilitates girls' recognition of their personal and group potential. In Myanmar, we are sparking a movement of girls with leadership skills to advocate for their own rights and a future that does not re-create the risks they now face.
Myanmar is a microcosm of the world's most pressing issues facing girls and women. Crises of environment, urban stress, religious strife, and gender-based discrimination have inspired radical responses in how to empower girls who must contend with the obstacles to leading fulfilling lives. Just coming out of 50 years of military repression, Myanmar, a country of roughly 55 million is at a critical juncture for affecting change. Girl Determined brings together adolescent girls from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds to grow their access to education, health knowledge, participation in decision-making and personal development. Since 2010, Girl Determined has been working directly with girls aged 12-17 across Myanmar's most remote regions as well as its populated urban centers
Ask just about any teenage girl in Yangon, Myanmar’s commercial capital and she will tell you that she would rather have been born a boy. At the core of Girl Determined programs are the Circles, which are weekly, structured, after school peer groups that span two academic years. About half way through the first year girls are proud of being a girl. Girl Determined trains women facilitators from the local communities to lead the Circles. There are currently over 2,000 girls throughout the country participating in these Circles. In support of the Circles, Girl Determined conducts an annual Girls’ Leadership Summer Camp, an annual Girls’ Conference, girls athletics programs and Girl-led Campaigns that give adolescent girls a chance to advocate for change on issues that directly affects them.
Evaluations show that regular participation in Girl Determined is having a deep impact on girls’ view of themselves in the world. The girls tell us that they have an increased desire to assert themselves in making decisions that affect their futures, including choosing school over work and directly addressing violence in their homes and communities. Girls who have completed the program know that leadership is not just for boys and men.
We need you to help spread the word and deepen the impacts for girls in Myanmar and beyond. Connect with us, get our newsletter, donate to our cause. Be a part of preparing the world's next generation of leaders to face humanity's most challenging time.