WGEP Executive Director Amy Maglio returned from a 12-day trip to Senegal for the United Nations Girls' Education Initiative global conference, "E4: Engendering Empowerment: Education and Equality."
WGEP was one of the smallest programs at the conference among policy organizations such as UNICEF and UNESCO and large NGOs like the Population Council, Action Aid and AED.

As such, WGEP represented the voice of grassroots initiatives that work with girls living in rural poverty--who are more likely to fall through the cracks of government and development interventions and thus are among those identified by UNGEI for necessary accelerated action if progress on girls' education is to continue worldwide.

Amy Maglio: "The UNGEI conference focused on this finding: that despite the amazing progress made in girls' education over the last decade--more than 22 million girls enrolled worldwide since 1999--the current rate of progress will still leave out 56 million children by 2015.

Most of these children will be from areas that already suffer the most neglect and deprivation, such as remote rural areas. And they are more likely than not to be girls.

I think our programs at WGEP were well-received because they address this very issue. Our work in remote, rural areas of Senegal and Kenya not only help more girls from these areas go to school, but also focus on helping them stay and succeed in school--and so also address the further issue of retention, as it has been shown that those who have been most excluded, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, are more likely to drop out of school even after overcoming the obstacles to enrollment in school.

We were able to showcase the following aspects of our program at the UNGEI conference: 1) we target the exact population that is falling through the cracks of larger initiatives, 2) we have formed effective partnerships with local organizations that are smaller, community-based initiatives living and working in the communities in which we serve (our partners themselves have very limited access to other outside assistance), 3) we are able to provide a comprehensive array of services to the community -- ranging from scholarships to increase access; to community awareness activities for mothers, fathers, and community leaders to change minds and attitudes about the importance of girls education; to an alternative rite of passage program to prevent drop outs due to early marriage and pregnancy.

I made many good contacts and connections through the UNGEI conference, and I am so happy and humbled that WGEP was selected by UNGEI to be part of it! WGEP is now pursuing opportunities to link with country-wide plans in Senegal and Kenya to increase girls' education and expand our impact. Thank you for supporting our work and mission!"

Amy also visited our program in Sine-Saloum, a day-long bus ride from Dakar. WGEP has worked in the rural Sine-Saloum region since our inception in 2003. To read more about the work of Women's Global in Senegal, click here.