Africa, Asia, East Africa, Latin America, South Asia, West Africa
She's the First
Hot Off the Presses: The Girl Gazette!

Check out the newest issue of The Girl Gazette: Volume 5, Issue 1 for Winter 2024! The Girl Gazette amplifies the voices of girls globally and empowers them through art, poetry, and more. We highlight girls around the globe who are a part of our Partner Coalition organizations.

Hot Off the Presses: The Girl Gazette!
Africa, East Africa
She's the First
A Youth Ambassador’s Reflections on the Girls ...

Youth Ambassador Gladys Njeri shares her experience participating in the Girls First Summit, She’s the First’s annual event that brings together organizations for knowledge-sharing and targeted training, with local and global insights on best practices for supporting girls’ rights.

A Youth Ambassador’s Reflections on the Girls First Summit
Africa, East Africa
She's the First
Equal Access for ALL Girls to Period Products

While menstrual stigma has long been a political topic, one Hon. Gloria Orwoba made a very public plea for women’s and girls’ rights this year in a new and different way. A first-time senator, Hon. Orwoba made her way to the Kenya Parliamentary session on 14th February 2023 in clothing that had menstrual blood. She was asked to leave halfway through the session after her fellow parliamentarians requested the speaker to eject her for supposedly violating the house’s “dress code.” Hon. Orwoba’s actions made a strong statement to advocate for free pads for school girls and female prisoners. As a young woman at the forefront of addressing Period Poverty, this was such a relief for me.

Equal Access for ALL Girls to Period Products
Latin America
She's the First
Seré quien soy / I will be who I am
Asia
She's the First
The War Crime During War Time: Remembering the ...

The month of April memorializes sexual violence awareness month. For generations, women have heavily yet wholeheartedly shared the stories of their battles and redemption—empowering other girls to be unafraid to do the same. In the Philippines, a haunting history still lingers: the sexual enslavement of women during the occupation of the Japanese Imperial Army in World War II. 

The War Crime During War Time: Remembering the Stories of Filipina “Comfort Women”

Graduating Made Me Feel Invincible: Yoselinda's Story

High up in the remote villages of the Andes in Peru, public schools are incredibly sparse. Children must walk several hours to the nearest elementary school and high schools are often only located in larger towns, too far from home for students to commute daily. Most high schools are located in city centers; for families experiencing poverty, the expense of sending their daughters to boarding school is out of reach.

But 18-year-old Yoselinda just graduated—she’s the first in her family to earn a high school diploma! She was supported by Sacred Valley Project, a dormitory, education center, and mentorship program, one of the 15 organizations in She’s the First's Partner Coalition. 

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Hot Off the Presses: The Girl Gazette!

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Hot Off the Presses: The Girl Gazette!

Check out the newest issue of The Girl Gazette: Volume 5, Issue 1 for Winter 2024! The Girl Gazette amplifies the voices of girls globally and empowers them through art, poetry, and more. We highlight girls around the globe who are a part of our Partner Coalition organizations.

A Woman Rises

By Punya, 18, India

In shadows cast by doubt and fear,
A woman rises, strong and clear.

Her spirit, fierce, a beacon bright,
Empowered soul, a guiding light.
With every stride, she breaks the chains,
Defies the echoes of old refrains.

In unity, her strength unfolds,
A tapestry of stories told.

No longer bound by biased views,
She paints the world in vibrant hues.
Her voice, a melody of might,
Resounds through every day and night.

In resilience, she finds her grace,
A symphony of strength, embrace.
Empowerment, a flame untamed,

A legacy by her name proclaimed.
Through trials faced and battles won,
A woman's journey's never done.

United, let our voices ring,
In empowerment, together sing.

Punya is an 18-year-old teen who is driven by a fierce passion through various forms of creative writing, including poetry. Through her dedication to reading, writing, and learning, Punya has cultivated a deep curiosity about the world around her and a desire take a meaningful impact on the society. She was previously published by She’s the First as part of the Power of Poetry campaign.

Artwork provided by British Library/Unsplash

Those Scars and Fallen Stars

By Mishika Kapoor, 19, India

Those Scars

The scars prominent

Fevering the skin into dominance

The splashes still alive

Burning my heart from inside


Bruised face I hide behind the veil

Cause no one will stand for my pain

My eyes rain heavily

But emotions go silent


If I speak out people will talk

Such are the words I hear on loop

Will I hide all life

Covering my face can I survive


The revenge was baseless

Denial was my decision

But it wasn't respected,

I was abused, and lashes were painted on my face


A small ego destroyed my existence

For them it was a joke

But my whole life will rot

They are laughing while I cry in pain


I won’t sit behind bars

It wasn't even my fault

The guilt will cry

Many more like me will come out with pride


I will voice against the wrong

Acid attacks are not cool at all

The bruises burns the heart

Ripping the soul deeply apart

Fallen Stars

Sitting under the open sky

Gazing, as the stars fly

In the embrace of winters

Feeling frozen even around cinders

I think about the world

And my mind all swirled

A muse with the stars

The future bars.

My fallen stars

Jingling at my door while playing guitar

For I never wanted the story to end

YOU were a blessing to me, Oh Friend!

A magical spell so pale

Just like the fairy-tale

Of Prince, Princess and the Magic Hat

People said, ‘life isn’t like that’.

‘There are no wonderlands, no magic’.

But still I had dreams, such dramatic

My magic spell got shattered and frozen

Leaving just a soul completely broken

Which was mine, such a plight

Was the world right………?

Mishika Kapoor

Mishika Kapoor is a 19-year-old student studying Medicine who has had two volumes ov her poems published. “Being from India, I have seen women go through a lot since my childhood. Women choose to keep quiet due to societal pressure, and this is what I want to stand up for. I think women are no less than men, and men have no right to violate women or their rights.” Mishika wants to motivate women to speak out and change this patriarchal society. She has been writing since she was four, and her poems have been published in various national and international journals.

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The Mental Health Toll of Climate Change: Women and Eco-Anxiety

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The Mental Health Toll of Climate Change: Women and Eco-Anxiety

Climate Change and its related effects such as natural disasters, rising sea levels, and extreme weather conditions are known to cause significant socioeconomic stresses. As climate change intensifies, it exacerbates existing gender inequalities, deepening poverty and undermining sustainable development goals.

I Used to

By Desiree Okonkwo, 15, United States

I used to agree and accede,

As they laughed because the teacher turned off the lights,

Giggle and sniffle while tears formed in my eyes,

Embarrassment forever fortified in my mind,

I used to mumble and mutter,

Watching them rip my culture to shreds,

Mocking my family’s accents as they shook their heads,

Inescapable humiliation bound around me like thread,

I used to whisper and whither,

My hands reaching for a straightener at an awful attempt,

At the role of “white girl” that I only achieved when I dreamt,

Depravedly desperate for any skin whitening bleach,

My immense ignominy a life-sized leech,

I used to resent and recoil from my reflection,

Contempt created by my colored complexion,

Nails digging in as I hurriedly scrubbed at my skin,

As if I could scrape away the black to unlock the white within

Playing a game supplied by shame I could never win

I used to detest, but now I accept,

Bewitched by my brown color with a bit of remorse and regret

That I ever allowed myself to be so miserable misled,

That I ever viewed my home and heritage with horrid hatred,

That I ever believed racist rhetoric that was said and spread,

But worst of all, that I ever assumed that my blackness could make me less than.

Channeling Equality Through Our Paychecks

Channeling Equality Through Our Paychecks

You may be pondering why a mere high schooler is writing about paychecks when the relevance of a salary to a child's life is minimal; the truth is, I'm terrified of growing up in a world where my work is valued significantly less than my male counterpart. Undervalued to the extent that women statistically earn only 83% of what a man makes. This everyday experience of women across the globe is known as the Gender Pay Gap.

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Going Beyond the Book: Behind-the-Scenes of “Safiya Speaks Up”

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Going Beyond the Book: Behind-the-Scenes of “Safiya Speaks Up”

We’re proud to launch of Safiya Speaks Up, a children’s book and mentor’s guide written by girls between the ages of 15 and 21 from the She’s the First’s Girl Activist Fellowship. This “tell-all” is a memoir of the stories behind the book, as well as the memories we shared throughout its creation.

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A Youth Ambassador’s Reflections on the Girls First Summit

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A Youth Ambassador’s Reflections on the Girls First Summit

Youth Ambassador Gladys Njeri shares her experience participating in the Girls First Summit, She’s the First’s annual event that brings together organizations for knowledge-sharing and targeted training, with local and global insights on best practices for supporting girls’ rights.