Give Girls A Chance Nigeria
Commonwealth Point of Light 214. Uloma Ogba
Commonwealth Point of Light 214. Hauwa Balami
Uloma Ogba and Hauwa Balami, representing Nigeria, aged 32 and 33, are the founders of ‘Give Girls A Chance’, an NGO that has improved access to quality education for over 200 girls through their school and mentorship programme.
The pair established the organisation in 2016 as a way of giving back to the community and ensuring other girls could benefit from some of the opportunities they had been able to take advantage of in forging successful careers. The organisation currently works with four secondary schools in Abuja, supporting girls aged between 10-19 from low-income families. ‘Give Girls A Chance’ covers the cost of tuition, books, and uniforms, partners each girl with a mentor to address psychosocial factors that can impede learning, and offers additional scholarships and vocational skills training. They have also run supplemental initiatives running workshops in literacy, science, technology, engineering, arts and maths, which have engaged with over 2,000 girls and young women.
Hauwa and Uloma said:
“We are deeply honoured to have been selected for The Commonwealth Points of Light Award. It is an even greater honour to be placed in such distinguished ranks as those of the past honourees. We are thrilled to receive recognition for our work in supporting girls and young women to access and maximise the benefits of a quality education through scholarships, capacity building of girls and schools and advocacy for girl child education.
“We stay committed to our mission to improve access to quality education for girls across Nigeria and are grateful to all our sponsors, volunteers, and supporters, without whom, none of these would have been possible.
“Thank you once again for this honour.”
Catriona Laing CB, British High Commissioner to Nigeria, said:
“Congratulations to Ms. Uloma Ogba and Dr. Hauwa Balami for receiving the prestigious Commonwealth #PointofLight award for the amazing work you have been doing through the #GiveGirlsAChance Organization, to improve access to quality education for over 2,000 girls through school and mentorship programmes.”