In a powerful collective statement, over one hundred girls from West and Central Africa convened in Dakar, Senegal, for the inaugural West and Central Africa Girls’ Summit on October 11, 2025. The event, timed to mark the International Day of the Girl, served as a critical platform for adolescents to directly challenge presidents, policymakers, and international partners to accelerate action on their long-delayed rights.
The Sierra Leonean delegation was led by the Minister of Gender and Children’s Affairs, Dr. Isata Mahoi, included two adolescent girls and a boy, supported by UNICEF. Their central message was unequivocal: thirty years after the landmark Beijing Declaration on Women’s Rights, progress has been unacceptably slow, and promises have been broken.
“This was not just a gathering; it was a safe space for us to collectively share the challenges we face in society which are similar in any way,” said Elizabeth, a participant from Sierra Leone.
Emerging from extensive national consultations held across 24 countries, the girls decisively outlined an urgent agenda for change. Their demands include making schools just and inclusive for all, ensuring every girl has the right to learn with qualified teachers and relevant life skills. They called for universal access to quality, confidential, and accessible health services. Recognizing the existential threat of climate change, they insisted that protecting the planet is essential to protecting their future, as it directly puts girls’ lives at risk.
Furthermore, the declaration demanded an end to the pervasive harms of child marriage and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), stressing that keeping girls in school is key to prevention. They called for a definitive end to gender-based violence through strong laws, meaningful punishments, and accessible justice. Crucially, they emphasized that every plan, programme, and decision must fully include girls with disabilities.
Over the two-day summit, the participants collaborated to draft a formal declaration calling on governments, regional bodies, and international partners to take concrete steps. These include putting girls’ voices at the centre of decision-making, creating safe spaces for free expression, training professionals to respond to girls’ realities, and rigorously monitoring laws to ensure rights move from paper to practice.
“We hope this declaration goes beyond words and becomes a true reflection in our lives!” Elizabeth affirmed.
The girls directly addressed regional leaders, demanding an end to the marginalization of their voices. They emphasized their right to be present in all discussions affecting their lives, stating they are best placed to speak about their own realities.
Echoing their calls, Dr. Isata Mahoi, Sierra Leone’s Minister of Gender and Children’s Affairs, highlighted the need for an integrated approach. “No single institution can address the issues of adolescent girls; therefore, it is important we integrate services,” she said. “We can link safe spaces with schools, clinics, and digital platforms through stakeholder and community mobilization by engaging parents, traditional leaders, and male allies to shift norms.”
Rudolf Schwenk, UNICEF Representative in Sierra Leone, who attended the Summit, praised the participants’ leadership. “Across Sierra Leone and the region, girls are showing incredible strength, creativity, and leadership. When we listen to girls and invest in their ideas, we unlock solutions that benefit entire communities. Together, we must make sure every girl’s right to learn, to be safe, and to thrive becomes a reality.”
The West and Central Africa Girls Summit is being hailed as a turning point, the first time adolescent girls from across the region have collectively set their own agenda for change.
Sherilyn, an 18-year-old from Sierra Leone and a member of the West and Central Africa Girls Advisory Board, issued a final, resolute statement: “What we declared in Dakar must live in our communities and therefore, we will not let the conversations end at the summit; we will turn them into actions. Together, we rise, not as echoes, but as a force that cannot be ignored.”
