About Us
Mission
Girls Empowerment Sierra Leone (GESL) is a social impact-based organization in Sierra Leone that nurtures and enhances the leadership skills of young girls to become effective advocates and social change agents in their communities.
Key objectives:
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Build the leadership capacities and skills of young sierra Leonean girls ages 12-17
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Engage young girls into the development of their communities
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Build intentional relationships between young Sierra Leonean girls and young female mentors
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Create a peer network of young Sierra Leonean leaders for the next generation
With a keen interest to support sustainable development at the community and national level, GESL offers year-round comprehensive training programs to participants. In addition to our year long programs, in the event of emergencies and natural disasters, GESL ensures that it can respond effectively to these emerging issues. We recognize the potential of young leaders as such, we are committed to facilitating an efficient process to leverage these opportunities for community and national development. Through our core programs that emphasize personal and leadership growth, community service, health and sexual reproductive rights, innovation and creativity, GESL has successfully impacted the lives of over 400 girls in the past 8 years.
GESL Backstory
GESL was launched by two Sierra Leonean women who felt that there wasn’t a space where young girls were being developed and nurtured to their fullest potential, so that they can ultimately act as catalysts for change in their communities. Through their interactions with a number of girls, they realized that the school systems were lacking a very important element in empowering young Sierra Leonean girls. Out of this concern and through various baseline studies, the need was confirmed and GESL was born in 2012. GESL partners with schools in Sierra Leone and execute year-round workshops and programming for girls ages 12-17 in the capital city Freetown, to help prevent various obstacles such as teenage pregnancy, abuse and exploitation, school dropouts, and to provide social support. In a post conflict environment such as Sierra Leone, relevant programs are necessary to enhance the outcomes of the education attainment of young people. We work particularly in the area of education with schools across the country.
