Haiti Adolescent Girls Network
The Haiti Adolescent Girls Network empowers the most vulnerable of Haitian girls, ages 10-19, in the wake of the devastating earthquake, through a program of social, health, and economic asset building in protective girl-only spaces locally named “Espas Pa Mwen” (“My Space”). Launched in July 2010, the initiative is helping to break the cycle of poverty and violence for 1, 200 girls and 80 peer mentors, and serve as a vehicle for building the capacity of local and international NGOs to implement girl-centered programming. The Haiti Adolescent Girls Network launched a nationwide program of Girls’ Groups in areas affected by the earthquake as well as communities that are the destinations of out-migration. The groups serve as social platform through which to connect girls to age-appropriate skills training and services such as primary and reproductive health care, financial literacy, and psycho-social support. For the girls who are not in school, the EPM groups offer the only structure in their days which are otherwise passed doing chores or being idle, and have been spaces of positive growth and empowerment since their launch.