Change Maker Hadiqa

About Change Maker Hadiqa

Girls United for Human Rights (GUHR) is an all-girl group working to promote activism among adolescent girls to create a world where all humans are treated equally, with no bias for sexual orientation, gender, race, caste or beliefs.
They promote gender equality and build the capacity of adolescent girls to achieve the goals of feminism and ensure equal status and opportunities for women and girls of our province in Pakistan.
They have a range of programmes to achieve their aims. They run engagement sessions where we go door-to-door visiting families, and organize community awareness sessions to make aware people about their fundamental legal rights and the negative impacts of child marriage on girls.
They use theater as it is the best medium to educate and mobilize communities to realize the rights of adolescent girls in relation to health, education, elimination of all forms of violence against girls, and ensuring adolescent girls’ participation at all levels.
They hold advocacy sessions and engage local government, especially female legislators, on these important issues, and push for developing girl-friendly cities to protect marginalized girls.
They have also developed an education resource which is a guide for young girls to learn about their rights, and a comic book based on real life events and challenges faced by a girl. These are distributed in schools.
They also engage the media and run campaigns such as the Send Girls Back to School campaign to ensure girls stay in school.
They are the first all young girls group below the age of 18 in the tribal regions of Pakistan which is challenging patriarchy, old tradition and cultural norms and struggling for the protection of girls rights. Their work with religious minorities, transgender community and girls with disabilities keep them motivated to do more, as does seeing the lives of women and girls improve. They are very proud that their efforts have protected the rights of girls in tribal areas, including:
• They have visited 1600 houses to make parents aware about negative impacts of child marriages on girls.
• 800 community members have increased awareness about the issues through 16 community theater events.
• Conducted 85 community awareness sessions sensitizing 2500 community members.
• Worked with 50 Prayer Leaders and 5 Islamic scholars to speak in Friday sermons on women and girls rights.
• Strengthened network by building capacity of 100 civil society members.
• Through interventions, protected 6 girls from child marriages, and 2 from SWARA - a cultural practice where girls are married to resolve feuds- with help of the police.
• Provided legal assistance to 4 girl survivors of rape.
• Supported 25 girls by referring them for legal assistance to service providers.
• Enrolled 150 girls in schools to get an education.
• Lobbied local government in the ‘Safe City for Girls’ campaign: 14 street lights installed and 4 streets paved for safe movement of girls and women.