Girls Learning and Leading Program

  • P Project/Program

I Inactive

Key Information

Greater access to education is one proven way to ensure that young women can lift themselves and their families out of poverty and better contribute to the development of their communities and their country. Cambodia is the program’s inaugural location—a rapidly changing nation, where education is a key component of its development goals. Building on the Foundation’s two decades of on-the-ground experience in Cambodia, the program’s pilot phase runs from May to December 2019, and provides scholarships to female students, giving them access to secondary education, mentorship, and career pathways. While Cambodia has made strides in offering equal access to education for boys and girls, a substantial gender disparity remains. The literacy rate is 70.9% for adult females and 85.1% for adult males in Cambodia. Females make up more than half the population but represent a minority of university graduates. Proactive measures in combatting poverty, cultural norms, and access to schools in rural Cambodia are necessary to keep girls in secondary school. The pilot phase of the GLL Program kicks off in Cambodia in 2019 and is designed to improve retention and completion of girls’ secondary education, a critical time when young women are most likely to drop out of school to find paying jobs. Guided by Shiseido’s global corporate mission of Beauty Innovations for a Better World, the company continues to take concrete actions to drive social change in areas such as women’s empowerment—a crucial philosophy underlying the business and management of Shiseido. This year, Shiseido and The Asia Foundation will provide scholarships to 102 female students from the ages of 16 to 19 studying in grades 10 – 12 at Norodom Secondary School in rural Prey Veng province, a 2.5-hour drive from the capital, through this program. Designed as a comprehensive support system for the young female scholars, the program focuses on four key pillars: material support, soft-skills development, academic support, and mentorship.


Lead Implementing Organization(s)

Location(s)

East Asia & Pacific

Cambodia

Government Affiliation

Non-governmental program

Years

2019 - 2019

Partner(s)

Shiseido Asia Pacific

Ministry Affiliation

Unknown

Funder(s)

Not applicable or unknown

COVID-19 Response

Unknown

Geographic Scope

National

Meets gender-transformative education criteria from the TES  

Unknown

Areas of Work Back to Top

Education areas

Other skills

  • Social and emotional learning

Skills

  • Literacy
  • Numeracy
  • STEM

Cross-cutting areas

  • Economic/livelihoods (including savings/financial inclusion, etc.)
  • Empowerment
  • Mentorship

Program participants

Target Audience(s)

Girls in school, Youth

Age

16 - 19

School Enrolment Status

All in school

School Level

  • Upper secondary

Other populations reached

Not applicable or unknown

Participants include

Not applicable or unknown

Program Approaches Back to Top

Food/nutrition

  • Other nutritional supplementation

Life skills education

  • Social and emotional learning (SEL) skills building

Mentoring/psychosocial support

  • Adult (non-teacher) mentors

Reducing economic barriers

  • Addressing cost of school supplies
  • Scholarships/stipends for school fees

Tutoring/strengthening academic skills

  • Literacy - in the classroom
  • Numeracy - in the classroom
  • STEM - in the classroom

Program Goals Back to Top

Education goals

  • Improved academic skills (literacy and numeracy)
  • Improved social and emotional learning/skills and mindsets
  • Increased secondary school completion
  • Increased secondary school enrolment

Cross-cutting goals

  • Increased agency and empowerment
  • Increased employment/job-related skills
  • Reduced poverty/increase household well-being