Girl Child Network (GCN)

Mission

Girl Child Network’s mission is to resocialise girls (0-18 years old) so that they articulate their individual and collective rights and strategically position themselves to take charge of their own empowerment.

Programs

GCN began as a club at a high school where girls met to share their concerns regarding forced marriage, virginity testing, rape, prostitution, HIV/AIDS and their limited economic opportunities. GCN now has over 300 clubs throughout Zimbabwe with more than 20,000 members, and three Empowerment Villages that shelter victims of sexual abuse. GCN also has numerous preventative projects including education, training, advocacy, and peer counseling for girls.

Funded Projects on GlobalGiving

Scholarships for Disadvantaged Girls in Zimbabwe	Girls' Empowerment Village in Hwange, Zimbabwe	Build a Girls' Empowerment Village in Zimbabwe	Send Rural Girls to School in Zimbabwe
Send Rural Girls to School in Zimbabwe

Personnel Overview

Anuradha Srikantan - IDEX Africa Program Director
Anuradha has extensive experience in the areas of international education, economic development, and rural development. As a volunteer social worker, she has been involved with many grassroots organizations. Anu has a Masters in International Education and Policy Analysis from Stanford. She is also an alumni of Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, India (M.B.A).

Betty Makoni - GCN Founder and Director
Betty Makoni has worked tirelessly to prevent violence, sexual abuse and discrimination against girls in Zimbabwe. She founded Girl Child Network in 1999 while working as a high school teacher in the suburbs of Harare. Born in 1971, she has a degree in Theatre Arts from the University of Zimbabwe and is married with three small children.

Personnel Statistics

Betty Makoni,
Founder and Director
Founded in 1998
Employees: 25
Volunteers: 300