Club puts young girls at forefront
ST PATRICK’S College students are making a big difference for young girls in developing countries by starting Townsville’s first United Nations Girl Up club.
College captain Anna Chapman started the club at school after meeting with the Girl Up national leader at a UN Youth Conference in Sydney, and is already attracting a lot of attention since the launch of the club on International Women’s Day.
“It’s built on the initiative of ‘ for girls by girls’. They get girls in developed nations such as us through teaching, fundraising and advocacy to support and help girls in developing nations,” she said.
“My dream job would be working with the United Nations, so I thought this would be a great opportunity to grab with two hands and bring it back to our school ….”
Community service prefect Alana Krause said students of all grades were already brainstorming ideas.
“It’s really getting girls interested and raising awareness to get involved,” she said.
Ms Chapman said the Girl Up initiative could really take off in Townsville.
“Any school can implement it, it doesn’t have to be an all- girls school, it can be co- ed or all boys, it really doesn’t matter,” she said.
There are 1800 Girl Up clubs worldwide supporting girls in Uganda, Malawi, Liberia, India, Ethiopia and Guatemala.