In celebration of the 2018 International Day of the Girl Child (IDGC), some learners from COL’s GIRLS Inspire project in Pakistan wrote letters to their local parliamentarians, addressing their experiences and hopes surrounding topics and issues that align with the IDGC theme “With Her: A Skilled GirlForce”.

GIRLS Inspire’s partner Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC) arranged a meeting with Pakistan’s Minister of Women’s Development Department, Ms Shehla Raza for some of the girls to present their letters directly to the Minister in October 2018. Ms Raza praised their efforts and committed to discuss with SPARC the proposed idea of developing linkages of girls with government institutes for job acquirement and other income generating opportunities like public and private entrepreneurship.

In 2016, COL launched GIRLS Inspire, a three-year project for girls’ education, with funding from the governments of Australia and Canada. Through this project, COL is partnering with community organisations and institutions to support schooling and skills development for some of the world’s most vulnerable and hard-to-reach women and girls using open, distance and technology-enabled learning.