Towards a Gender Equal World: the EU Gender Action Plan III

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• Gender marker: G2-Promotes gender equality as a primary objective

• Period of implementation: 2020 - 2023 

• Amount: EUR 548,732

• Geographical area: Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Pacific

• Implementing partners:

  • University of Lúrio 

  • Girl Move Academy 

• Links to the project:

  • https://www.unesco.org/en/girls-womens-education-prize/laureates#_021

  • https://www.girlmove.org/

• GAP III’s Areas:

  • Gender-Based Violence

  • Economic and social empowerment

  • Equal participation and leadership

We need to break the cycle of poverty and empower a new generation of changemakers in many parts of the world. That's exactly the approach being taken in Mozambique, where the Geração Transformação project aims to transform communities and empower adolescent girls and young women between the ages of 12 and 30 through an integrated and experiential training programme. The organisation’s approach nurtures and develops female role models, with an intended multiplier effect through mentorship and sisterhood circles that should last into the future. 

At a wider level, the goal is for Mozambican society to perceive adolescents and young women as agents of change promoting the sustainable and inclusive development of their country. To this end, other targets of the action include the wider Mozambican society, sectors of society involved in the training of young people (Universities; ministries, etc.), influential Mozambicans, ambassadors, and “champions of the cause”.

One of the main approaches used to generate results is the establishment of "Impact Teams." The project carries out recruitment, initial training and team building, and equips these teams with the skills they need to be sustainable agents of change. This is being done at both individual and community levels, by identifying and training community opinion leaders and promoting community engagement actions led by the Impact Teams. 

Broader actions across the country include communication planning and dissemination to mobilise different sectors and institutions (with a particular focus on higher education) to support the cause. Capacity-building work targets groups of ambassadors to motivate and practice advocacy, and events are organised to create communities of support and practice interested in replicating the programme. 

As a result of these activities, around 4,000 adolescents and young women are empowered to work within their communities to make them more capable of facing modern challenges. Communities are being trained along the same lines (with an impact on more than 88,000 inhabitants), and a national communication campaign has been launched to position young women as agents of change. An advocacy network has been created and activated, and ambassadors/champions have been trained to generate change in their areas of expertise. 

This project should stand the test of time. The Impact Teams are creating a mentoring network between girls and young women leading to a cycle of positive transformation. This has the potential to create intergenerational systemic change, impacting families, schools and communities where young girls and women are embedded. 

“Today I feel that thanks to Girl Move, I am a better person and a professional ready to face the labour market because I have been given the tools to do so.” Testimony by a mentor  young university student)