GIRLS SUPPORT CENTER (GSC) is Non-Governmental women led Organization founded in 2019; by women with a zeal for Community empowerment in response to gendered impacts of infectious disease outbreaks and their propensity to a huge death rate population combined with widespread poverty that creates a staggering reality, where teenage mothers, victims of child marriages, women, youth, orphans and vulnerable children are left to fight for their survival making them prone to abuse and exploitation. But in the midst of this devastating reality, the member of GSC sees a biblical mandate and a viable means to respond to the suffering of “the least of these.

The Organization developed a holistic approach which meets Health, Education, Livelihoods, and spiritual needs of the disadvantage categories of people in Uganda to create a normal change; we believe that the person who best understands the needs of the woman is the woman.

It is upon this platform that young women took initiative to bring about a desirable change among the women and other marginalized and vulnerable groups of people such as, women, youth, Orphans and Vulnerable Children through holistic approaches that live an impact in the lives of the target groups. Hence this led to the development of GIRLS SUPPORT CENTER.

RATIONEL

Soroti District with focus on Kamuda Sub County, Aukot Sub County, Asuret Sub County and soroti city selected as project area because of the magnitude of the problem of teenage pregnancies and school dropouts.

Available statistics from the District Probation Office in Soroti indicate that 47% of the girl children are married before the age of 18. Several of these are forced marriages, resulting in teenage pregnancies and dropout of school. Social, cultural and gender factors in this area play a big part as well. 40% girls in the age group 6 – 15 years are not attending primary school, which contributes to both their low literate levels, but also vulnerability to practices and activities that subject them to risks of teenage pregnancies.

 Teenage pregnancies are culturally unacceptable and quite often result in the pregnant girls being thrown out of their homes by their parents. Some are married off at that tender age, or they end up living as street children/beggars or single teenage mothers, while others get overwhelmed by the responsibilities and resort to prostitution as an alternative source of survival.

 Initially the project will focus on awareness building in the local environment, information about the Rights of the Child as well as possible consequences of casual sex.

The intention is to enlighten the girls and make them understand the gender-based cultural challenges they face and encourage them not to accept the pitfalls, but to strive for better conditions.

 Therefore, the intervention is relevant in its efforts to change the sexual behavior among the youth and empower them to continue with school; this will reduce the number of teenage mothers, spread of HIV/Aids and school dropouts.

The project prioritizes a supportive environment through interventions that promote girl child rights awareness and joint advocacy between parents, schools and community leadership for girl-child school retention and support to the female school dropout.

GIRLS SUPPORT CENTER wishes to collaborate with the government and any non-government agency to contribute to the reduction of teenage pregnancies, early marriages and unemployed youth through our interventions.