Megan Gieske is a storyteller and photographer based in Cape Town, South Africa.
Ingrid and Enersh, two teenage girls in white button-downs, maroon jumpers, grey skirts, ankle-length socks, and matching black shoes, chat by the roadside on their way home from school. They hold backpacks that hang heavy on their shoulders with books and homework. The brilliance of their smiles stand out vividly against the afternoon light — young, hopeful, and full of promise.
Ingrid and Enersh are two of the...
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Even before COVID-19 hit, the world was experiencing a global learning crisis: 90% of children in low-income countries could not read and understand a simple story by their 10th birthday. In Nigeria, three-quarters of primary teachers could not pass a fourth grade test.
The onset of COVID-19 is exacerbating this: at its peak, the pandemic pushed 1.6 billion children out of school. 8 out of 10 children surveyed in 46 countries reported that they have learnt very little or not...
Olaoluwa Abagun is an activist and founder of the Girl Pride Circle. Here’s her story about how COVID-19 has impacted girls in Nigeria, and her hope for the future.
For many young girls across Nigeria, their classrooms and schools have served as safe spaces – where they can interact with their peers, learn critical skills, and express their hopes and dreams without fear.
Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated the closure of these safe spaces with very limited alternatives for learning...
Falling on 11 October, International Day of the Girl Child is a United Nations day that brings attention to “girls’ rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world.” Empowering young girls early in life can give them the “potential to change the world — both as the empowered girls of today and as tomorrow’s workers, mothers, entrepreneurs, mentors, household heads, and political leaders.”
However, as we’ve seen with previous health crises, COVID-19’s lingering economic and social impacts on...
As the world continues to battle coronavirus, the pandemic is wreaking havoc on the economies of the poorest countries and could push millions of people into hunger and poverty.
Governments desperately need money to fund emergency plans but are faced with the impossible choice of saving lives or making debt repayments. We can do something about it.
But what of the people that will be profoundly affected by the decisions world leaders make? We asked our Global Activists how the pandemic...
The World Bank predicts the greatest drop in remittances in recent history, with low-income developing countries set to receive US$110 billion less, due to COVID-19 in 2020.
Remittances, which are the cash flows sent home by migrant workers to help their families, are a huge source of finance for low- and-middle-income countries. Last year, these countries received 78% of the US$714 billion that were sent around the world. Global remittance flows were five times higher than official development assistance in...
Megan Gieske is a storyteller and photographer based in Cape Town, South Africa.
Two young men in Langa are taking a stand against gender-based violence by mentoring and educating young boys.
“We need to educate men about gender-based violence and gender equality, so women and young girls can be free,” explain the two co-founders of #LangaforMen, Siyabonga Khusela and Luyolo Lengisi.
Siyabonga and Luyolo are young, just 21 and 22. They started #LangaforMen in response to the violence against women they witnessed as...
It has been more than three months since Isaac Mutua, a Kenyan working in Durban, South Africa, sent money home to his family back in Kenya. Mutua, a renowned chef, lost his job after his employer closed down the restaurant where he worked following the COVID-19 lockdown measures in South Africa starting on 24 March.
Since 2015, Mutua has been sending $300 monthly to Nduta, his wife based in Kitengela, outside of Nairobi. His remittances have been their sole source...
Healthcare is being hit hard by the pandemic. COVID-19 has disrupted services for the prevention and treatment of noncommunicable diseases, could disrupt essential interventions for malaria, and has put an enormous amount of pressure on health systems.
But, as we’ve seen with education and work, the pandemic could have an even greater, disproportionate impact on healthcare for women and girls, specifically maternal, reproductive, and contraceptive care.
Here’s why.
Previous health crises impacts on women and girls’ health
Prior to COVID-19 in 2017, over...
Even before COVID-19 hit, 90% of children in low-income countries could not read and understand a simple story when they reached their 10th birthday. In Nigeria, three-quarters of primary teachers cannot pass a fourth grade test. The onset of COVID-19 is exacerbating the global learning crisis.
At its peak, COVID-19 pushed 1.6 billion children out of school. By October, schools in 92 countries will remain closed. These months of lost learning disproportionately affect the poorest and the most marginalised. In...