Sauti ya Dada

Empower
Growth

Sauti ya Dada – The Girls' Voice

The Challenge

Globally, over 122 million girls of school age are out of school.¹ As they get older, the dropout rate increases from 39% in primary school, to 64% in lower secondary school (middle school), to 81% in upper secondary (high school).²

As girls enter adolescence, they confront significant barriers to education - from harmful gender norms that perpetuate child marriage and are exacerbated by climate change, to starting menstruation but lacking sexual and reproductive health education and menstrual products.

As a result, in the countries where we work in East Africa 77% of adolescent girls drop out of upper secondary school ³ and are at risk of early pregnancies, poor health outcomes, and a lifetime of limited opportunities.

¹Malala Foundation. “Why Girls.” Available at malala.org/girls-education.

², ³ UNESCO. “Visualizing Indicators of Education for the World.” Available at education-estimates.org.

Our Model

An educated girl has the power to transform her community and shift inequitable practices that prevent her from accessing her human rights. To equip girls to stay in school we build their leadership, climate justice knowledge, and advocacy skills by:

Mentor Training & Support:

Developing mentorship skills among women leaders and teachers who provide 1 on 1 support to girls in their Sauti ya Dada circles that operate throughout the year, including school breaks, to connect girls, provide a safe space for them to discuss their challenges and build leadership and advocacy skills to address those challenges.

Sauti ya Dada Clubs:

Convening Sauti ya Dada circles every two weeks to guide the girls through a curriculum designed with input from girls to develop leadership skills; sexual and reproductive health and rights knowledge; climate justice knowledge; and advocacy skills.

Advocacy:

Creating opportunities for girls to apply their leadership and advocacy skills to inspire and educate others through our Sauti ya Dada podcast.

Convening:

Creating a space for girls in SYD to deepen advocacy skills, learn about climate justice, plan for a Creative Advocacy Practicum (CAP) and engage in peer exchange at the East African Girls’ Leadership Summit (EAGLS). This is also an opportunity for SYD recent graduates to showcase their completed CAPs, inspire girls still in the program, and gain additional leadership skills.

Resourcing:

Providing financial resources, project design support, and artist accompaniment to activate leadership and advocacy skills in a Creative Advocacy Practicum (CAP), a project designed and led by girls to engage their communities in issues they have identified as critical.

Impacts

99% of girls in SYD stay enrolled in school.

The school attendance rate for girls in Sauti ya Dada is significantly higher than the rates for girls in upper secondary in the countries where we work: 46% in Kenya, 21% in Uganda, 39% in Rwanda, and 27% in Tanzania.

99% of girls in SYD do not become pregnant.

Teen pregnancy is common in East Africa and an obstacle to girls finishing high school. SYD participants are less likely to become pregnant due to increased understanding of key sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) topics as well as safe peers networks and trusted adults that provide support.

All SYD participants gain increased agency.

Agency is measured in-terms of participating girls being able to exercise their voice, self-determination, and leadership skills. Participants report significant changes in all areas. For example, on average, within a year of being in the program, 90% of participants report understanding who they are as leaders; 87% have key leadership skills such as collaboration, creative problem solving, public speaking, and know how to set goals; and 80% feel confident that they can speak up if they need help or see that someone is being hurt.

91% of SYD participants know what climate change is and what causes it.

Climate change is an increasingly significant barrier to girls' education, so girls learn about it and their role in climate just solutions in their SYD clubs as well as at EAGLS.

"Sauti ya Dada helped me discover my voice and believe in myself as a young leader. Before, I was scared to speak in front of others, but now I feel confident to share my ideas."

– SYD Cohort 4 Participant, 2025

Our Partners and Mentors

Our Mentor Fellows are chosen from women who have completed our leadership training programs. They work closely with girl leaders in the Sauti ya Dada clubs to support them in understanding their human rights, particularly their right to sexual reproductive health and the right to be free from gender-based violence; provide referrals to local health and safety resources; distribute monthly sanitary pads; and produce educational radio dramas and podcasts for the Sauti ya Dada clubs.

Meet the Sauti Ya Dada Mentor Fellows: