Girl Child Network Kenya

In 1995, Kenyan civil society members went to Beijing for the Fourth World Conference on Women. Amid discussions of poverty, health, violence, and education, they encouraged delegates to consider the unique experience of the girl child. They knew that issues like child marriage, female genital mutilation, and lack of access to education were all too real for girls they knew and girls around the world. When they left Beijing in September of 1995, these women had the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which outlined nine objectives for work related to the girl child. They also had a plan for making these objectives a reality in East Africa: create a unified and informed network of organizations and individuals working with girls. For the next three years, they built these connections along with a strong, field-tested knowledge base. In 1998, Girl Child Network officially registered as an NGO in Kenya. Soon after, in 2000, one of the original visionaries came to work fo...