“Girls and Rhinos Have The Same Enemy”
Today, on World Environment Day, we hope you’ll listen to what some girls in East Africa have to say about the link between girl’s rights and conservation.
| In May 2019, twelve girls from Kenya and Tanzania came together as part of UNEARTH Kenya, a joint project between GlobalGirl Media, BRAVE, and Samburu Girl’s Foundation. UNEARTH began with a week-long media and leadership training for girls living on the perimeters of some of East Africa’s most remote and wildest places, teaching them to become digital storytellers, girls’ rights advocates and champions of conservation. In the second week, the girls hit the road, traveling to wildlife reserves and staying in lodges that usually only foreign tourists frequent. On this road trip, the first of its kind in Kenya, the girls got behind the camera, writing, directing, filming and editing two short video reports. Female genital mutilation (FGM) and child marriage are still practiced in the communities the girls are from, with only 19% of girls receiving a secondary school education. But these girls are part of a growing movement to change these harmful cultural practices. In an area where a wild rhino’s rights and protection might seem more important than a girl’s, they asked some tough questions and got some answers. |
The short video, Girls’ Rights or Conservation?, (link below) aims to change the narrative for girls living alongside wildlife, and provide opportunities for those working in the field of conservation to embrace these young women as leaders and change makers.
Thank you to these amazing budding journalists and conservation advocates!
GIRLS RIGHTS OR CONSERVATION?*
*This video is part of a collaborative project with South Africa’s BRAVE, Kenya’s Samburu Girl’s Foundation and GlobalGirl Media, in Kenya.
