The Chinese Embassy in Sierra Leone has joined the Hands of Our Girls campaign with a donation of Le 1.3 million, supporting the initiative which keeps young girls at the forefront of progress in the country.
The donation was formally delivered at the embassy of China in Freetown, with the acting ambassador expressing his views on the power of investing in girl child health, safety, and education, which he said are a necessary basis for the growth of any country that wants to develop with vision. China, he said, is still on course with programs aimed at making the daily lives of vulnerable children, including girl children, better.
The donation was accepted with heartfelt appreciation by representatives from the Office of the First Lady, who expressed that the campaign relies largely on collaboration that reaches beyond Sierra Leone’s borders. They emphasized that with such collaboration, it is possible to reach the girls in areas that lack accessibility to education, health, and protection.
The Hands of Our Girls campaign, led by the wife of the president, First Lady Fatima Maada Bio, is an initiative that has been introduced because of the need to address challenges that girls go through even before they grow into women. The aim is to empower girls enough to make decisions that define their lives, and it has been evolved from a single initiative to a national campaign that addresses challenges on multiple fronts.
For families who have experienced the return to education, support, and/or healthcare information for daughters, the campaign is more about implementation than rhetoric. Efforts such as the Embassy’s donation are what keep such initiatives alive and growing.
Other than the financial implications, the gesture signifies a relationship that exists between Sierra Leone and China, which still comprises social development. In this situation, the emphasis is on the young girls who might have their lives changed in a subtle way by opportunities that, prior to that, they had not been exposed to.
Read Also: QMoney Launches Instant Cross-Border Transfers Between Sierra Leone and The Gambia
With the Hands of Our Girls campaign, such international support indicates a common belief that when girls are supported, entire communities can benefit.
