What is Girl Alert?

Never give up

‘Never give up’ was the title of Darlene Cunningham’s teaching when she spoke in The Netherlands not too long ago. As Youth With A Mission’s co-founder (the international missionary organization representing nearly 16,000 missionaries in more than 150 countries) she shared in a humorous and yet earnest way about some of the specific challenges Loren and she have encountered during their work and lives. We can only imagine it must have easier at times to give up, but they didn’t. Neither did Joseph when he heard Mary, Jesus’ mother, was pregnant; or Daniel when he started praying. He held on until he knew his prayer was heard. Esther didn’t quit, even though she knew by meeting the king, she could get killed. Because of her courage she saw justice happen for the people group she represented.

Making a difference

We all have dreams. For some it is to become a doctor or a musician or a teacher. For others it is simply to live in peace, to be loved at home, to attend school. Unfortunately we all know that for some people it is unlikely they will see their dream become a reality. As a matter of fact, if you would look at it statistically, girls rank as the highest group in our society that is unable to live life to the max. Worse than that, many girls find themselves in vulnerable and even dangerous situations. You and I can be part of making a difference in their lives.

Sixty-two Million girls

Why our concern? Because an estimated number of sixty-two million girls are not in primary school; because 4 million women and girls are bought and sold worldwide either into forced prostitution, slavery or forced marriage; and 62% more young women are living with HIV/AIDS than men. Two-thirds of teenagers newly infected with HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa are female. These are just a few of the many statistics that are registered by organizations such as the U.N. Youth With A Mission works with girls that represent these statistics. We often don’t think in statistics, we think about the faces, the personalities, the girls we love and cherish: the girls in Thailand that we provide programs for after they leave the sex industry; the girls in India that we welcome to our primary schools; the teenage girls we teach about HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Hopeful news

Fortunately there is also hopeful news to report when it comes to girls. Studies show that girls that have attended school are more likely to see their children live beyond five years old. Also young people who have completed primary education are less than half as likely to contract HIV as those missing an education. Universal primary education would prevent 700,000 cases of HIV each year – about 30% all new infections in this age group. The truth is, educating young women also gives them the skills to generate an income. This can lift a whole family out of poverty thereby benefiting entire communities and generations to come.

Girl Alert’s activities

Mobilizing people for Justice

Girl Alert is YWAM’s advocacy and campaigning initiative for girls worldwide. We can’t and won’t see the girls we work with give up their dreams… and we are willing to share their dreams with strategic, decision making leaders. Sometimes just to remind them of the promises they have already made to improve their situation, sometimes to share our ideas and expertise. Around the world, we are asking thousands of people who care passionately about justice to sign up to receive our Girl Alerts. We will regularly send out petitions which we initiate in coordination with leading advocacy organizations. We are sure this will be a powerful stimulant for governments and leaders to pay attention. By bringing our voices together, we believe we can have an even greater impact in the fight against injustice.

Empowering schools

As Girl Alert we would like to give attention to several challenges girls face, starting out with highlighting the millions of girls missing out on an education. As YWAM we run about 35 primary schools. The majority of these schools are located in the 25 countries that the UNESCO has selected by five criteria: low enrollment rates for girls; gender gaps of more than 10 % in primary education, countries with more than 1 million girls out of school, countries included on the World Bank’s Education For All Fast Track Initiative, and countries hard hit by a range of crises that affect school opportunities for girls, such as HIV/AIDS and conflicts. We’re linked to six schools in India, Mali, Zambia and Tanzania which you can read more about on our website.

Creating awareness

Girl Alert is eager to team up with those who want to make a difference. We seek to create awareness of the importance of issues girls are facing world wide, beginning with education. We want to expand our relationships with public and private sector institutions, leaders in all areas of life, churches, youth groups, business and political sector. Together we want to help overcome barriers for girls’ schooling, to better implement related policies, strategies, and programs. Through all these means, we are aiming to see girls receive an education, achieve equality, and help their nations develop.

YWAM

Youth With A Mission (YWAM) is an international and interdenominational Christian movement with operating locations in more than 150 nations. Launched in 1960 as a means for young people to get involved in short-term missionary service, it now has over 16,000 staff working in 1,180 centers and trains over 25,000 people each year to be involved in the organization’s primary goal: to know God and make Him known.

YWAM is hugely varied in its approach, operating such ministries as drop-in centers for street children in South America; hospice care for AIDs victims in Africa; literacy and job creation programs throughout Asia; and is well known for its quick response and long-term commitment to global disasters, such as the 2006 Tsunami.

YWAM is a grass-roots organization and contributes through her activities to most of the Millennium Development Goals. The MDGs are 8 international development goals that 192 United Nations member states and at least 23 international organizations have agreed to achieve by the year 2015.

Goals include the eradication of extreme poverty, universal access to primary education (age 7-14 years) and the promotion of gender equality. All three of these involve the education of girls. Girl Alert is closely connected to six primary schools facilitated by YWAM. These schools are located in India, Tanzania, Mali and Zambia.