She Leads Liberia SUMMARY
In Liberia, girls and young women (GYW), particularly GYW from socially excluded and exploited groups, are denied the opportunity to voice their interests and to participate in decision-making. She Leads is a joint programme of Plan International Netherlands, Defence for Children - ECPAT the Netherlands (DCI-ECPAT), African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET), and Terre des Hommes the Netherlands (TdH). Equal Measures 2030 is a technical partner. In Liberia, Plan International Liberia, Defence for Children Liberia and  Community Healthcare Initiative(local member of FEMNET) will implement the programme. They will bring together child rights organisations, feminist/women’s rights organisations, and GYW-led groups with the aim to increase sustained influence of girls and young women (GYW) on decision-making and the transformation of gender norms in institutions. The programme will be implemented at national level and in Montserrado, Bomi, Lofa and Cape Mount Girls and young women’s (GYW’s) rights to engage in public decision-making are enshrined in international agreements and national laws. In reality, however, GYW voices are excluded from the socio-political domain,  particularly those of GYW who experience intersecting forms of discrimination. 
GYW’s meaningful participation is obstructed by three interrelated factors. Firstly, discriminatory gender- and age-related social norms limit GYW’s rights to move freely, voice opinions and engage in public life. Secondly, GYW groups in civil society are under resourced and lack strong ties with more established CSOs. The latter are not always responsive to the specific needs and perspectives of GYW-led groups. Furthermore, the global phenomenon of shrinking civic space is affecting GYW-led organizations, making it even harder for them to express their opinions, assemble and associate. Groups that challenge the ruling gender ideology are increasingly being intimidated, threatened and exposed to violence. In conflict and humanitarian contexts, GYW actors risk additional security threats as easy targets of militarized and extremist forces. 
Thirdly, political institutions at local and national level are dominated by elites consisting of mainly male, elder leaders, with no interest in institutional reforms that would make decision-making processes more inclusive, transparent and accountable. Existing consultation mechanisms (such as youth parliaments and advisory bodies) are usually poorly resourced, dependent on donor support and functioning irregularly. She Leads envisions change in 3 domains of society: the social-cultural, civil society and institutional domain. In the social-cultural domain, partners engage traditional and religious leaders, forging coalitions of progressive actors who, due to their status and authority, will galvanize their constituencies to adopt more positive gender and age norms. Awareness raising and diffusion of new ideas through media and peer networks (including boys and young men) will challenge existing norms and expectations. Young female activists play an important role in this process, by inspiring other girls and breaking down negative stereotypes. 
In the civil society domain, the creation (consolidation) of safe spaces in which  GYW can meet, exchange, build their confidence, political consciousness and skills, is a major step towards increased self-organization. Another key condition is the increased capacity of (adult-led) CSOs to effectively support GYW collective action. Stronger collaboration between GYW groups, child and women’s rights networks will lead to a more enabling environment for GYW-led groups. A well connected and better resourced social movement for girls’ rights is able to promote a strong feminist counternarrative to the dominant patriarchal and ageist ideology. 
In the institutional domain, policy makers will develop greater  awareness and knowledge about GYW inclusion in decision-making. Stronger connections between progressive policy makers and political leaders working at different levels will result in a coalition of reform-minded champions. In addition, pressure exercised by regional and international  bodies will force national governments to take action and safeguard GYW’s rights to association and freedom of expression. Currently we are witnessing a rise in girls and young women’s activism and protest. The She Leads programme will partner with existing GYW-led groups and feminist organizations. Importantly, special efforts are made to support existing informal groups of girls and young women, for example girls clubs, associations, student groups and unregistered organizations, which have started to organize and mobilize but are often excluded from many funding mechanisms.

In Liberia, the programme builds directly on the experiences of the previous Girls Advocacy Alliance (2016-2020). 

FEMNET and DCI-ECPAT are network organisations, and will be working in all countries through selected members of their respective networks. Plan International and Terre des Hommes will work through their country offices and with local contracted organisations to implement projects under the overall She Leads programme. 

There is no Dutch Embassy in Liberia but contact will be established with the Embassy in Ghana where needed. Finally, She Leads will seek alignment and collaboration with other consortiums funded under the Strengthening Civil Society framework of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation. In particular, She Leads will seek alignment with the four other consortiums funded under the Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (WRGE) theme of the Power of Voices funding mechanism. In line with the Revised National Youth Policy of Liberia (2012-2017), which defines youth as people
between the age 15-35,13 the Liberia She Leads programme will engage YW aged 25-35 as it’s
secondary target group. This target group has often been left behind. They will be engaged as mentors and
role models for the primary target group under the social cultural domain and be supported to engage in
communal and traditional leadership structures to amplify the voices of GYW at community level. Although
also a target in the first domain the secondary age-group will be mostly active in the institutional domain. 

The programme aims to strengthen the influence and participation of GYW who suffer most from (intersectional) discrimination and exclusion. These include:
•	GYW living in poor, remote rural areas and urban slums
•	GYW experiencing gender based violence (particularly girls who have married early)
•	GYW with disabilities
•	GYW who are out of school
•	Refugee and internally displaced GYW
•	GYW from sexual minority groups To facilitate the change process towards the She Leads’ strategic objective, consortium members and partners have opted to implement the following mix of strategies and actions: 

She Leads Liberia will support awareness raising of GYW in community and through print and electronic media,  on the
negative impact of harmful social norms and practices. At the same time, through consultative meetings with key traditional  and religious leaders, She Leads organizations and their implementing partners will influence these leaders to commit to promoting positive gender norms. Through media advocacy,  (such as Radio, social media, television) Traditional Leaders, boys and young men, parents and caregivers and community at large will be targeted with awareness messages. They will then be supported mobilized as agents of  change  and supported to positively influence social and traditional norms by  openly speak out against discriminatory norms. 

She Leads will fund research for evidence based advocacy. Girls and young women, partners and like-minded organizations will be trained on how to conduct evidence based advocacy.  She Leads will provide funding to and build capacity of GYW-led organizations to become independent, knowledgeable and support them to conduct their own media advocacy. Girls-led organizations will be trained on how to write proposals to attract funding to keep their organization functional. Girls and young women including Youth-led organization will be trained to review national, regional and international policies, understand and provide their own shadow reports and hold government accountable after the Programme ends. 

She Leads will also facilitate international learning between different She leads components and l catalyse the growth and strength of social movements and collective action to tackle gender inequality, exclusion and injustice towards GYW in all their diversity. She Leads will support and strengthen networks of GYW-led organization and Child Rights Network coordination meetings at local and National levels to ensure effective collaboration and coordination and inclusion of GYW.  

GYW including Girls-led/Youth-led organizations will be trained on how to take up their space, deals with risks and identifying allies/networks to join. GYW will be supported to access regional and international spaces to share experiences on lobby and advocacy and to build consortia at international and regional levels. GYW will be supported through mentorship and with like skills training. 

She leads will also support  capacity strengthening of like-minded CSO’s to enable them to  accommodate and network with G/YW during and after the Programme. She Leads will use research based advocacy to point out on government performance and integrate GYW voices into national policy/spaces and will push government to implement regional and international documents/ instruments she has committed herself to. She Leads contributes to a lasting transformative effect on engagement of GYW in decision-making. The following strategies will be implemented: 

1.	Strengthening and resourcing GYW-led organizations: investing in the resource base of GYW-led organizations will help them access other funding in the future. 
2.	Support social movements: social movements can accelerate lasting change in societies’ structures and norms. She Leads will bring together child-rights and feminist organisations and GYW-led groups to push collectively for transformative change in gender norms, and for institutional reform. 
3.	Engaging boys & men, parents, and traditional and religious leaders: these actors are crucial allies to ensure structural change and permanent effects when it comes to norms change. Because of their status and their role in socialisation processes, these actors promote structural change in societies. 
4.	Engaging media: She Leads will use media as a tool to amplify GYWs voices, and will target media as a powerful agent of change. Opening space for GYW’s voices and leadership in the media will ultimately influence broader communities, and has lasting effects beyond the programme.
5.	Organisational capacity strengthening of CSO’s: investments in advocacy capacity, building relationships with decision-makers, strengthening fundraising skills will have a lasting effect on their influencing work beyond She Leads. 
6.	Linking local, national, regional and global: She Leads is implemented at different levels that are strategically interconnected. Interventions and results in one domain trigger change in other domains, and changes at local, national, regional and international levels are connected and influence each other.