The International Day of Girls was celebrated On October 11, 2023, The Health Development and Anti-Malaria Association (HDAMA) celebrated the International Day of the Girls at Debre Berhan Industrial Park, themed “Invest in Girls’ Rights: Our Leadership, Our Well-being.” The event was held in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and brought together industrial park female workers, students from secondary schools, and key stakeholders.

The purpose of the event was to raise awareness of the importance of educating and empowering adolescent girls and to call on an action of all stakeholders to focus on adolescent girls’ education and their needs. During the event, a poetry contest, short drama, and questions and answers themed on “Invest in Girls’ Rights: Our Leadership, Our Well-being” was held. Books Prizes were awarded to those girls who participated in the poetry contest from secondary school and distributed sanitary pads to more than 500 female workers who were the targets of the project.

HDAMA is currently implementing a gender-based violence and reproductive health prevention and management project, in collaboration with UNFPA, and is holding peer-to-peer sessions focused on gender-based violence and sexual reproductive health.