Action Girls Africa (AGA) is a women-led national Non-Governmental Organization, non-profit charitable Organization that aims at providing humanitarian assistance to the needy.
AGA started and established as an association of Girls and has now advanced to an organization officially registered in January, 2017 as a National Non-Governmental Organization with the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC) of The Republic of South Sudan in conformity within the meaning of Chapter 3, Section: 10 of NGO Act 2016 with Reg. No. 585 for its legal operations.
The establishment of the Organization is in response to the felt needs of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged groups in the society who are mostly the Girls, women and children. These groups are always the marginalized and most affected. Undergoes an unpleasant inhuman situation which is worse in our war torn setting of the civil hostilities including natural disasters as well as other man made adversities like Gender Based Violence’s and harmful traditional practices.
With the nature of felt needs of their vulnerability and the conditions faced by the groups, has driven in for strong feeling and concern to seek urgent action for possible solutions that are geared towards improving and saving the lives in the society.
AGA is a girl and women centered organization whose main aim is to promote economic and capacity empowerment initiative activities. In South Sudan, the long civil war and current ongoing political context, internal communal clashes among communities’ natural disasters like flooding, harmful traditional practices among others has caused internal and external displacements of people. These have resulted into economic and capacity gaps especially among girls and women who are the most affected as the majority have no professional qualifications, no vocational skills, high rate of unemployment and increased financial dependency hence lack of basic demands and increased domestic violence’s. Due to the mentioned problem, Action Girls Africa, focuses on initiative activities that aims at increasing the knowledge and skills on all ideas and programming that can generate and increase income among the most vulnerable girls and women. Since 2017, AGA has initiated and implemented projects in the areas of;
Vocational Capacity building Skills Trainings: AGA has trained over 300 girls and women through community based women vocational skills initiatives, like knitting, beading, pottery and aims on more training of tailoring, baking among others. Food Security and livelihood that includes- Crop production and kitchen gardening, Floriculture and Animal husbandry and Poultry farming, trainings on Micro finance and business management skills for the disadvantaged girls and women introducing them to Village Savings and Loan Association(VSLA) to help them manage the small livelihood activities to translate into profits for sustainability of family’s basic needs.
Education and mentorship program of AGA focuses on the promotion of education among girls and working towards elimination of the barriers that hinders opportunities for girl’s education and mentorship programs. Action Girls Africa works with the relevant government entities Ministry and the humanitarian actors with similar vision, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Information, Games and Sports, Ministry of Gender and Child and Social Welfare both at national and state levels and together finds and advocates for gaps in the access to education of girls.
The program activities in this thematic area includes advocating for rights of girls to education, strengthening gaps in the education systems, training and awareness for teachers, parents and traditional leaders to increase their knowledge in the importance of girl child education. The mentorship includes career guidance, menstrual hygiene management, adolescent awareness, scholarship, co-curriculum activities and awareness, games and Sports, music, dance and drama including other school friendly activities media arts, inter school academic competitions, entertainment and talent search. AGA has so implemented the following activities. School debates, Peace competition drawing for school children, menstrual hygiene awareness and distribution of pads.
Sexual and reproductive health rights for girls and women has been challenged by many aspects of life, economically, social, religious, political and more so economically meaning girls and women are left without making independent decisions and ability to address their sexual and reproductive health issues. The increasing health challenge needs to be addressed to save the most vulnerable and disadvantaged groups by improving the capacity of girls and women to be able to make informed, free, ability to advocate against SGBV and access to sexual reproductive health services.
Action Girls Africa is concerned and will focus in mobilise resources for creative initiatives that helps to respond and improve the sexual reproductive health of girls and women through its health program department and personnel focusing mainly on menstrual hygiene and sanitation management, sexual gender based violence, adolescent and sex education, Human Immune Virus (HIV) and Sexual Transmitted Diseases (STDs) among others related initiaves.