Our Philosophy

Alleviating suffering: Several reports from across the world have established that girls and women suffer disproportionately from poverty. They also bear the brunt of gender-biased attitudes and practices that perpetuate their continued marginalization.

Improving well-being: A growing body of evidence indicates that girls’ well-being is critical to progress on a range of developmental outcomes: an educated girl is more likely to delay marriage and childbirth, enjoy greater income and productivity and raise fewer, healthier and better-educated children.

Effecting change: Girls can bring about powerful social and economic change when the opportunity to participate in their societies has gained increased recognition in international development dialogue.

Encouraging leadership: While many girls’ programs worldwide address issues of educational inequality, very few include leadership development as a priority. Leadership skills help girls to capitalize on their education, to express their opinions and ideas, to take action on issues of personal importance, to make healthy decisions, and to work toward future dreams and goals.

Achieving developmental goals: Well-designed sport-based initiatives can be powerful, practical, and cost-effective tools to achieve a diverse range of development goals, including leadership development, improving education success, enhancing economic opportunities, and social inclusion of marginalized groups.

Bypassing financial barriers: CARE (care.org) places special focus on working alongside poor girls and women because, equipped with the proper resources, they have the power to lift whole families and entire communities out of poverty. Several communities may lack the financial resources required for formal education. In such situations, informal education may impart social skills as well as value-based learning to such communities.

Influencing shift in attitudes: Evaluations of girls educational initiatives have found potential to influence shifts in community attitudes:

• In Bangladesh, girls from five villages gained the confidence to speak up for themselves and mobilized community members in advocating against early marriage. Girls also worked with young boys to address issues around sexual harassment and created awareness on girls’ rights and protection in their communities, leading to reduced incidences of abuse and harassment.

• In India, girls have become more vocal and are actively participating in both school and village-based activities. By encouraging girls to participate in public performances such as songs and theater, girls are now raising their voices against discriminatory practices which take place with their families and their communities.