My name is Yvette Cole Smith. I have worked for over twenty years without a degree. I am a beneficiary of the ‘’Hands Off Our Girls’’ Scholarship, support through WIMSAL, for two academic year. As a final year student I want people to understand what this initiative truly means for women and girls like us.
This is not about politics. It is about real women who are struggling to pay university fees, especially women like us9Single Mothers) having children to take of with a very low income.
1. Promotes Access to Education for Girls and Women
The ‘’Hands Off Our Girls’’ initiative is a broader campaign led by Her Excellency Dr. Fatima Maada Bio to address harmful practices such as early marriage, teenage pregnancy, gender-based violence, and other barriers that often prevent girls from staying in school. One of the initiative’s key goals is to support girls so they can continue and complete their education, from primary and secondary levels to higher education.
Education helps girls to stay in school longer, gain knowledge and skills for the future, delay early marriage and pregnancy, and build confidence and self-esteem.
Supporting girls’ education improves their life opportunities and strengthens families and communities.
2. Scholarships Help Overcome Financial Barriers
Under the broader ‘’Hands Off Our Girls’’ agenda, the First Lady has awarded university scholarships to female students, ensuring that talented young women who lack financial support can continue their education at the tertiary level. These scholarships significantly reduce the financial burden on families and open doors to advanced learning that would otherwise be out of reach.
By investing in scholarships, the initiative enables girls and young women to pursue university degrees, supports their progression into professional careers, and helps build a more educated workforce for national development.
3. Empowers Women and Builds Leadership
Providing educational scholarships is about more than finances. It empowers women and girls to become leaders, innovators, and role models in Sierra Leone. Education expands opportunities in fields such as science, law, medicine, education, and public service. This shifts societal expectations and promotes greater gender balance in leadership and decision-making roles.
4. Helps Break Down Social and Cultural Barriers
The campaign addresses cultural and social norms that have traditionally limited girls’ education, such as early marriage and the expectation that girls should leave school early to take on household responsibilities. By linking education with empowerment and protection, ‘’Hands Off Our Girls’’ reinforces the message that education is a right, not a privilege, for girls and women.
5. Highlights the Struggles of Women with Children in Accessing Education
In Africa, and especially in Sierra Leone, many women with children face enormous challenges in acquiring education. These women must balance school with childcare, household responsibilities, work, and financial pressures. Tuition fees, transportation costs, childcare expenses, and societal expectations often make higher education seem impossible.
Many women are forced to abandon their educational dreams to provide for their families. Initiatives like Hands Off Our Girls give hope to women who have worked for many years without formal qualifications and who are determined to improve their lives—not only for themselves, but also for their children. When a mother is educated, the benefits extend to her family and future generations.
6. Strengthens National Development
Investing in girls’ and women’s education, including scholarships, directly supports Sierra Leone’s development goals. Educated women are more likely to participate actively in the economy, contribute to community health and wellbeing, reduce poverty, and break inter-generational cycles of disadvantage.
When women and girls complete higher education, the nation benefits from their skills, creativity, and leadership.
Finally, The Hands Off Our Girls initiative and its educational scholarships are important because they remove barriers to education (economic, social, and cultural), provide financial support that enables girls and women to attend university and succeed, empower women and girls to reach their full potential, help break harmful cycles such as early marriage and gender-based violence, and strengthen Sierra Leone’s social and economic development.
Together, these efforts help create a future where women and girls especially mothers have equal opportunities to learn, lead, and contribute meaningfully to society.
