PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The campaign intends to provide education regarding HIV prevention, human rights and gender through skills building and counseling to girls at risk. The program’s peer education will train at risk adolescents to become peer educators utilizing spots, plays, and songs about HIV related issues to facilitate discussions.

PROJECT JUSTIFICATION
Girls Empowerment Network organization has a concern that adolescent girls especially school drop-outs may be at particular risk of HIV infection due to earlier age of sexual onset and higher likelihood of sexual exploitation or abuse. Of interest on this project are educationally disadvantaged girls resident in urban poor areas of Blantyre mainly Soche, Chensomba, Zingwangwa and Chilobwe.

Educationally disadvantaged girls face a unique set of challenges and risks as they move into adulthood. This campaign intends to address the gamut of risks they are exposed to and the challenges they face in independent living, early pregnancies, parenting, life skills, mental and social health, lack of employment, violence (gender based violence) and homelessness.

PROJECT OBJECTIVES
• Increase in knowledge, skills and capability for vulnerable girls and young women to protect themselves from gender based violence, abuse and HIV/Aids through various assertive trainings conducted targeting vulnerable girls.

• To raise awareness on girl-child rights and censure and criticize societies’ beliefs and mores that devalues girl-child thereby creating a supportive environment for girl-child social and economic development. This will be done through conducting sensitization campaigns and community mobilization activities.

• Formation of girls’ network and collective groups to advocate for Girls and women rights and protection. The network is going to provide adolescent girls with a dialogue podium in which girls will learn from each other.

• To reduce exposure to risky sexual behaviors and HIV amongst adolescent girls and teen mothers by providing sustainable survival means or options and providing counseling services.

Project Activities
The following main activities will be conducted during the course of the project;
> Peer Education and HIV/Aids training.
> Sensitization and awareness performances.
> Production and distribution of information materials (IEC)
> Counseling and career talk.