WorldBeing Receives NoVo Foundation Grant to Expand Girls First Resilience Training
Economically and socially disadvantaged girls in India will benefit from a new partnership designed to teach resilience in the face of adversity
Economically and socially disadvantaged girls in India will benefit from a new partnership designed to teach resilience in the face of adversity. WorldBeing, developers of an evidence-based resilience training model that measurably improves outcomes of women and youth empowerment programs, announced today a grant from the NoVo Foundation to expand WorldBeing’s Girls First Program in special government-run Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya | KGBV schools for at-risk girls in Bihar, India.
NoVo, dedicated to catalyzing a transformation in a global society from a culture of domination to one of equality and partnership, will help fund expansion of the program to reach 250 teachers and 15,000 girls in grades 6-8 over two years. Girls First- KGBV has previously been conducted in 103 of Bihar’s KGBV’s serving approximately 11,000 girls, improving their emotional and physical well-being and empowering them to delay early marriage and pursue their education.
In 2004, the Government of India established the national network of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya | KGBV residential schools to help address gender and caste disparities in education.
KGBV schools serve at-risk girls from ‘low’ castes, minorities, tribal communities, and/or from families below the poverty line. In these communities, girls typically are required by their parents to stay at home and help their families with household chores until age 13-14 years, at which point they are married. As such, many of the girls who attend KGBVs have either dropped out of school during the primary grades or have never gone to school.
WorldBeing’s Girls First-KGBV program empowers adolescent girls attending KGBV residential schools to unleash their potential and thrive. The resilience-based program aims to measurably impact three interdependent factors in girls’ wellbeing: emotional health, physical health, and education.
"New discussion among G7 and G20 governments focuses on mental health and wellness as key to meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and foundational to economic and societal development"
“Good health and particularly sound mental health have risen to the forefront of the global dialog on economic and societal development. New discussion among G7 and G20 governments focuses on mental health and wellness as key to meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and foundational to economic and societal development,” said Steve Leventhal, Executive Director, WorldBeing. “Strong mental well being and resilience in the face of significant societal challenges—such as pressure on young women and girls to marry early or drop out of school—can change the trajectory of human development and support overall wellbeing, not just of individuals but of entire societies.”
“WorldBeings Girls First-KGBV program helps to unleash the inherent power of girls and equips them with tools they need to stand up for their own rights and dignity,” said Ramatu Bangura, program officer at NoVo Foundation. “Importantly, this program specifically helps the most marginalized girls throughout India, and we are deeply proud to support this work.”
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