Thereās no denying that 2023 was a difficult year for gender equality. Natural disasters, war, migration, inflation and a global hunger crisis exacerbated the challenges that girls and their communities were already facing.Ā
But it is during our most challenging times that we have the opportunity for the greatest acts of kindness. This year, we came together to let girls know that they are seen, that they will not be left behind and that hope is not lost.
And, this December, Plan USA celebrated the end of our five-year We Are the Girls campaign. Thanks to the support of donors like you, we impacted the lives of 15.5 million people and exceeded our goal to raise $200 million in support of projects designed for and with girls.Ā
To celebrate the end of the campaign and help you feel inspired for all that youāve accomplished ā and all that we can accomplish together in the year to come ā here are 13 photos illustrating a small slice of the impact you made for girls and communities in 2023 and beyond.
1. You inspired girls like Erika to dream big ā and helped to make that dream a reality!
āIndigenous women, for the most part, do not study,ā Erika says. āMany think that sending a girl to school is throwing away money. Why would a girl study if she has to stay at home to clean, cook and take care of the children?ā
Growing up in a traditional Kichwa community in the Andes Mountains, college seemed like an impossible dream for her. Then, Erika became a Plan sponsored child when she was 8 years old. Over the years, she received encouragement and support from her sponsor. As she got older, she participated in Plan leadership programs, which helped to build her confidence, and after graduating from high school, she was awarded a scholarship from Plan to attend university.
āI have told my classmates at university, and in fact all the women in my community, that we must raise our voices, that we must all collaborate, so that other women can hear us and change their lives,ā Erika says. āIf we can help one person, it will help many others.
Erika, 21, is a former sponsored child who received a scholarship from Plan to attend university.
2. You helped girls like Nokuthula stay safe and educated.
In a rural community in Zimbabwe, girls were walking incredibly long and unsafe distances to school, facing abuse and harassment from men along the way. Then, to be closer to school, they started sleeping in an abandoned shed behind a liquor store ā and the abuse continued.
The Graduation Project made it possible for the girls to bring their dream dormitory to life. The girls worked directly with Plan staff to design two boarding houses from start to finish, requesting things like female dorm matrons, highly secured fences and a school garden. Living peacefully in the beautiful safe space they need, the girls are now able to stay in school and graduate.
āMy life has since changed and everyone sees in me as a healthy girl who is at peace,ā Nokuthula, one of the girls living in the dorms, says. āI enjoy comfortable nights now, as it is my first time ever to leave the mat and sleep in a bed. At home, my parents are the only ones who own a bed.ā
Nokuthula, 16, participated in The Graduation Project, supported by Planās We Are the Girls campaign.
3. You amplified the voices of young activists like Roshani.
Roshani, 19, lives in a town in Nepal that borders India. Through Planās PROTECT project, supported by the We Are the Girls campaign, she became an active campaigner against human trafficking, spreading awareness in her community.
āI believe that we have been trusted with the work we continue to do in our community,ā Roshani says. āI now realize that all the dots are connected to form one line.ā
More than 15,000 people in India and Nepal received information on trafficking risks and available support programs through information centers established by the PROTECT project.
Roshani, 19, is raising awareness about the dangers of trafficking in her community in Nepal.
4. You helped young women like Eliza kick-start their careers.
Planās Connection to Success project in Guatemala, supported by the We Are the Girls campaign, is improving economic opportunities for young people through activities such as entrepreneurship training, startup funding, vocational training and internships. Through the project, Eliza, 23, got a job at a hotel kitchen.
āI feel happy for the space I have been given in the Connection to Success project,ā Eliza says. āMy mom says she sees changes in my life. I tell her what I learned in the employment sessions. She tells me not to stop, to put everything into practice, and to keep growing.ā
Eliza, 23, participated in Planās Connection to Success project in Guatemala.
5. You planted seeds of hope for children in Niger.
To respond to the hunger crisis affecting the Central Sahel region of Africa, Plan created school gardening clubs and school meal programs in countries like Niger and Burkina Faso. Through these projects, schools are provided with seeds and gardening tools, while teachers and students are taught how to grow and produce their own food. Planās school meal programs are effective both in mitigating hunger and sustaining school attendance. With school gardens, students eat a nutritious lunch, and parents are motivated to send them to school, knowing they will at least be fed there.
Students tend to their school garden in Niger.
6. You supported Champions of Change like Dayana.
More than half of women in El Salvador have experienced some form of violence.
But youāre giving girls hope through your support for Champions of Change, a project supported by the campaign in El Salvador. Girls who participate in this project are learning important life skills, including how to lean on their peers for help. And, theyāre sharing what theyāve learned with other young people in their communities.
āKnowing about issues of gender, violence and others have made me see the world differently, and having participated in other spaces helped me feel more secure in my abilities and skills,ā Dayana says. āI have developed my inner power and it has allowed me to be a leader in my community to empower more girls.ā
āThe project has changed my life,ā Dayana, who participated in one of the Plan projects supported by the campaign in El Salvador, says.
7. You inspired entrepreneurship and helped women like Era launch their own businesses.
In Indonesia, women earn 23% less than men on average, and high-paying jobs are dominated by men. Young women need more, better options.
The GIRL 2.0 project, supported by Plan’s We Are the Girls campaign, focuses on providing young people, especially women, with the skills, resources and connections they need to start their own businesses. Through the project, young entrepreneurs learn technical skills like product development and financial management, while strengthening key life skills like decision-making. They work with mentors to develop business plans and, as the project progresses, pitch their ideas to panels of judges for seed capital. Local entrepreneurs are invited to network with project participants to build support and resources so young peopleās businesses are successful.
Era, 23, started a business selling ornamental plants in Indonesia, with support from the project. Now, she encourages other young people to follow in her footsteps with this advice: āDonāt be afraid to start a business. By becoming an entrepreneur, we can improve our familyās well-being, and ourselves as well.ā
Era, 23, started her own business selling ornamental plants after participating in Planās GIRL 2.0 project in Indonesia.
8. You helped to keep adolescent girls safe during crises like war and natural disasters.
Your gifts to Planās emergency response in Syria are providing girls and their families with the resources they need to rebuild and recover from the massive earthquakes that devastated the country last February.
Plan worked with local partners to rehabilitate six water networks and tanks, benefiting more than 100,000 people in Aleppo and Latakia.
To address the protection risks that adolescent girls and women face while living in shelters, Plan helped to install two gender-segregated bathrooms in a shelter in Aleppo, each equipped with four shower stalls.
“These shower facilities ensure that girls, in particular, have their privacy and protection while maintaining their dignity,ā Sara, who lives in a shelter with her family, says. āWe no longer have to worry about disturbing each otherās space, and can clean ourselves in an environment that respects our need for privacy. ā¦ This newfound sense of protection has lifted a heavy burden from our shoulders, and we feel safer and more secure within these walls.ā
Sara feels safer now that Plan has installed gender-segregated bathrooms in the shelter where sheās staying with her family.
9. You involved boys in the fight for equality ā and helped to level the playing field!
Through gender equality clubs, girls and boys around the world unite to build the confidence they need to become leaders and advocates of equality. Together, they share ideas about what change could look like in their communities and gather support. Boys reflect on their privileges and the ways they might perpetuate inequality in order to challenge machismo culture and support girls and women in their lives. Meanwhile, girls identify how being female affects their lives and how their experiences may be different from their male peers. Together, they practice what they learn through soccer games and other structured activities.
Boys and girls play soccer together and work as a team in Vietnam.
10. You protected migrating girls and families.
Planās Protected Passage project provided a lifeline for adolescent girls and families affected by migration in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico. The project helped to fill critical service gaps, including psychosocial support and protection services.
āPlan International helped me see what I want for myself,ā one adolescent girl living in a shelter in Mexico says. āI have to take care of myself so that I don’t damage my future and can get ahead in life.ā
Adolescent girls participate in an activity organized by Plan in the shelter where they are staying in Mexico.
11. You fought against period stigma.
For a long time, 15-year-old Theresia dreaded going to school when she had her period.
āWhen I saw my female classmate being shamed when she had a leak in class, my fear grew even bigger,ā Theresia recalls. āI promised myself I would never let anybody know when I was on my period; I would rather suffer in silence.ā
It was only after attending a training session on menstrual health organized by Plan at her school that Theresia’s perspective started to change. She learned that menstruation was a natural process and should be discussed openly.
Planās mobile menstrual health lab has been visiting schools in Tanzaniaās Kigoma and Geita region since it was set up in 2022. The labs have become a hub of knowledge, dispelling myths and misconceptions surrounding menstruation while fostering an environment where questions are welcomed, and discussions are encouraged.
“I used to fear going to school during my period, but now I know it’s natural,ā Theresia says. āI won’t let it stop me, and I want every girl to feel the same way.ā
Theresia decided to take action by organizing a series of meetings for other girls in her school. More than 150 adolescent girls attended the awareness raising sessions.
“Theresia showed us that we can talk about this openly,ā Dina, one of the girls who attended the meetings, shares. āWe don’t have to hide anymore.ā
Young people in Tanzania learn about menstrual health at Planās mobile lab.
12. You helped children like Thailan continue to participate in sponsorship.
People like you sponsor thousands of children in need through Plan. When youĀ become a sponsor,Ā you can help a child receive an education, have access to clean water and healthcare and be protected from violence.
Thailan, age 5, is a sponsored child with Plan who lives in Cambodia. She attends the pre-school in her community which was built by Plan.
Plan has constructed more than 400 pre-schools in Cambodia over the past 20 years. In most areas where Plan works, children under 5 now have access to early childhood care and development. More parents are sending their children to pre-school and investing in their education from an early age.
Thailan, age 5, is a Plan sponsored child in Cambodia.
13. You created a ripple effect by supporting a network of young leaders here in the U.S.
Gender inequality exists everywhere, including the U.S., so Plan USA works with young people here, too, to fight against it.
One of the ways we do that is through ourĀ Youth Leadership AcademyĀ ā a yearlong leadership program dedicated to training, supporting and mentoring young activists in the U.S. as they seek to create positive change in their communities.
In July, Plan gathered more than 40 young people from across the U.S. together for a four-day residential academy in Washington, D.C., with activities including a panel on youth in politics, a deep dive session focused on the sustainable development goals related to climate change and gender equality, and a model U.N. session.
One of the most important activities is participantsā leadership projects. Throughout the 2023-2024 academic year, YLA participants design, create and implement a project in their community on the social justice issue of their choice. The young leaders meet online with Plan staff and mentors from Planās Youth Advisory Board, attend skill-building webinars and access seed funding to launch their projects in their communities!
Four YLA participants stand in front of the White House during their stay in D.C.
change
Cocoās curated exhibition featured an installation named āGender over Emotions.ā
The Shield Initiative holds a flower-making self-appreciation workshop.
