Dear Friends of Enhance Worldwide,
Our fifth annual summer school program ensures investment in girls year-round. Girls in resource-poor settings who attend summer programs are less likely to encounter sexual abuse and exploitation and are more likely to return to school in the fall. And that’s exactly what we want: to ensure that our girls have a safe summer and then walk back into the classroom in September. The core components of this critical support program are education, protection, and social-emotional learning, providing girls with exciting, engaging experiences to ensure their well-being and increase their academic success.
Our team in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia continues to confront new challenges. The Malala Fund’s Full Force initiative reports that nearly one billion girls and young women lack the 21st century skills to succeed and that this gender digital divide is growing. In sub-Saharan Africa, data demonstrates an urban-rural digital divide wider than other developing regions, with student-to-device ratios exceeding 100:1 and women’s internet access is 25% lower than men’s.
In response to these gender digital divide trends, information and communication technology (ICT) access and literacy are core components of our summer program. Your generous support provides a responsive continuum of resources — from primary school through university or technical college — ensuring girls and young women are empowered in a rapidly changing world.
On behalf of the entire Enhance Worldwide team, thank you for standing up for girls! And for the latest field reports and program news, please visit our GlobalGiving page.
Heather
Heather Mahardy | President & Cofounder, Enhance Worldwide
