Girls Forum

The initial discussions in the pre-forum meetings focused on an assessment of the present mode of communication regarding HIV/AIDS, sexual harassment in and around schools, the effectiveness of the existing sex education, and parent/children communication on HIV/AIDS and sexuality. The discussions also looked at the availability and quality of guidance and counselling services in schools.

In total, 778 girls from 18 public and private high schools attended the Girls Forums; 100 of those girls were selected to attend leadership and facilitation training. The training aimed to advance the knowledge of the selected student facilitators on basic concepts of leadership. The training sessions were participatory and involved informative group exercises. Female teachers also attended the meetings.

The project also involved the production of diaries for high school students in the five participating regions. A total of 2,500 diaries were produced for high school girls; 500 were distributed to each of the five cities covered by the project. The diaries were designed to inform girl students of their rights and contained contact details of organisations they could turn to if they felt that their rights were being violated. The diaries also offered articles on the constitutional rights of women and provided information on women's organisations as well as inspirational proverbs and information written by women.

Youth, HIV/AIDS, Gender, Women, Rights.