The Women Turning Girls’ Education Policy into Reality in Liberia: An excerpt from GPE Impact Stories
In Liberia, women are turning policy into action—mobilizing communities, supporting girls, and breaking barriers to education. From local meetings to life-changing second chances, discover how grassroots leadership is helping ensure every girl can stay in school and shape her future.
Across Liberia, activists working through the Educate HER Coalition are helping ensure that national commitments—notably the National Policy on Girls’ Education (NPGE)—move beyond paper and take root in communities.
GPE supports civil society initiatives like Educate HER to engage in education policy dialogue, advocate for implementation of the national policy and strengthen stakeholder accountability.
In a small meeting room in Bong County, a group of women gathers to review school attendance lists and plan their next outreach. Their goal is simple but urgent: to ensure that every girl in their community knows her right to education—and is supported to stay in school.
“Change begins in rooms like this, where women commit to making every girl count.”
These gatherings reflect a shift in how girls’ education policy is understood—not as a distant government framework, but as a shared community responsibility.
Traditional leaders from Bong County is making a remark at one of the community dialogues.
Building women’s leadership through Educate HER
Hawa C. Wilson, Program Coordinator at the Paramount Young Women Initiative, a member of the Educate HER Consortium, explains that women’s groups joined the initiative in 2024 through a deliberate strategy to strengthen community engagement and leadership.
Designed by Educate HER, the approach supports women-led community-based organizations to overcome bureaucratic barriers that often limit their access to funding and decision-making spaces.
The consortium includes around 30 civil society organizations, including women’s rights groups, media institutions, and both male and female allies committed to advancing gender-responsive education.
Early stakeholder consultations revealed a clear pattern: women—especially mothers, caregivers and young women leaders—play a central role in shaping girls’ education outcomes, yet are often excluded from decision making.
To address this, the coalition works with women’s groups across 15 counties, positioning them as local partners in implementing education policies and supporting girls’ attendance and retention.
“Policy advocacy is not about speaking for girls. It is about amplifying girls’ rights and ensuring their voices are not silenced.”
Men and boys are also intentionally involved, in recognition of their potential role in challenging societal norms.
“We encourage fathers, community leaders and teachers to support girls’ access to safe, quality education,” explained Alfreda Foboi Nmah, Project Lead at Educate HER.
Group photo of the participants after the wrap up of the Bong County Dialogue in June 2025.
Women’s groups as strategic community partners
Women’s groups are engaged through structured community mapping and the identification of women’s associations, women led organizations and mother groups as key actors in keeping girls safe and in school.
They receive training on project goals, advocacy, group organizing and reporting, and work together to identify barriers to girls’ education and co create solutions.
“We’ve seen how women’s groups strengthen the Educate HER initiative by driving community mobilization, advocating for girls’ rights, identifying at risk girls early and creating safe spaces that support confidence and learning.”
Between April and June 2025, these groups recorded significant progress across Liberia’s 15 counties.
Through direct engagement with schools and local stakeholders, they helped strengthen accountability and secure the endorsement of school safety and WASH policies by parent teacher associations and school boards.
“Girls’ attendance and retention have improved, protection mechanisms have been strengthened, and communication between parents and schools has improved. Communities are taking greater ownership and accountability for supporting girls’ education,” said Wilson.
Member of the Bong Women's Group sharing her views with the group.
From community support to individual transformation
For young women like Lydia, this support is life changing. A student at Lekakpaye Public School, Lydia dropped out after becoming pregnant.
With encouragement from her local women’s group, she returned to school after giving birth. She now hopes to become an accountant and says the support she received has helped her rethink what is possible for her future.
At a county level dialogue in Bong County, participants identified next steps: sustained community awareness, stronger involvement of teachers and parents, establishing girls’ clubs, improving stakeholder collaboration and using data more to inform decisions.
Students are also taking action—launching school based initiatives to help girls stay in school and challenge discrimination.
“From our counties to our classrooms, we are building a movement that ensures every girl’s dream has a seat at the table. Together, we are shaping a future where every girl learns, leads and lifts her community.”
- Liberia’s National Policy on Girls’ Education (2021–2026) aims to expand access to affordable, quality education and promote gender equity across the system. It sets out roles and responsibilities for government and partners to address social and cultural barriers, improve access, attendance, retention and completion, and strengthen girls’ rights and protection.
- As the country prepares for the next phase of the policy, stakeholders emphasize that renewal alone is not enough. Bridging national commitments with community realities requires a coordinated, multi-layered approach. One example is the “parallel schooling” model, where traditional leaders align bush school calendars with formal schooling. This approach helps removes the either/or burden placed on girls and their families, respects cultural identity and practices, and protects continuity in girls’ education.
- Looking ahead, priorities include: sustained funding linked to clear outcomes; stronger collaboration with communities and traditional leaders; investment in school safety and WASH infrastructure; and a comprehensive monitoring system that tracks not just enrollment but also retention, learning, and completion.
- Since becoming a GPE partner in 2007, Liberia has received over US$97 million in grant support to address gender disparities, over age enrollment, school related gender based violence and weak learning environments.
- Through Education Out Loud, GPE also supports civil society initiatives like Educate HER to engage in education policy dialogue, advocate for implementation of the National Policy on Girls’ Education and strengthen stakeholder accountability.
Together, community leadership, civil society advocacy and system level reform are helping ensure that commitments to girls’ education in Liberia translate into real change and become a lived reality for girls, families and communities.
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Eureka Learners Foundation (ELF) works to advance equitable and inclusive education by supporting initiatives that bridge the gap between education policy and real-life outcomes. In line with its mission to educate, empower, and elevate, ELF champions efforts that ensure girls’ education is not only prioritized in policy but effectively realized in communities across Africa and beyond.
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