What We Do
Girl Now, Woman Later is making it possible for girls in Burkina Faso to NOT skip on life, but live to their fullest potential!
Menstrual Health Education Workshops
We hope to reach more school girls in the future and we thought that you should understand our urgency:
Did you know that in Burkina Faso an estimated 21% of girls are absent from school when they have their period, and 83% participate less in class because of shame? Period poverty is an existing issue.
Did you know that 90% of girls do not know what happened to them when they first menstruated?
It’s not too late! Let’s help girls navigate school and to learn to manage their periods!
Our Approach
Fight Child Marriage
- Promote higher school retention and graduation rates for girls in Burkina Faso
- Educate the community on the importance and benefits of educating girls
- Educate the school community by including boys and men in the conversation about Periods
Tackle Period Shame
- Raise awareness that period shame is an existing issue and address menstruation taboos
- Advocate for more menstrual education workshops in public schools
- Advocate for a No tax on period products.
End Period Poverty
- Recognize the effects of period poverty.
- Recognize and amend the lack of access to period products
- End period poverty and instill period dignity
Gender Equality In Education
- Raise awareness of gender bias
- Educate the community and school community that boys and girls should get equal freedom to study or do chores
- Advocate for more education about the importance of gender equality
Where Do We Work?
Time for the Period Talk!
Fast Fact – did you know that 90% of girls in Burkina Faso, West Africa do not know what happened to them when they first menstruated?
Why Girls?
Period shaming and a lack of menstrual health education correlates strongly with gender inequality. For young girls in Burkina Faso, menstrual resources are hard to come by, and some don’t even know what’s happened to them when their first menstrual cycle arrives. Older girls are absent from school when they’re menstruating due to limited feminine product availability and the social stigma associated with feminine health. Declining literacy rates among middle and high school girls are undoubtedly linked to the mismanagement of feminine healthcare.
Our organization opposes these troubling issues and works to build a path to better outcomes for girls by performing several key actions in Burkina Faso’s communities. To address gender disparity in education, we offer a tuition assistance program for qualified students and organization members. We mentor young girls on how to pursue their educational dreams. We also provide access to feminine hygiene products and period education workshops.
She Speaks Campaign
A platform where high school girls can discuss, and share their experiences and inspirations.
Our Inspiring Quote
“The education of the girl is marked by the will to kill any attempt of resistance. She must be more obedient, less rebellious. What is of quality and a sign of virility in one, is a defect in the other. The little girl is, moreover, very early responsible for the numerous domestic tasks, which will prevent her from having time to play or to study. She will be less prepared than her brothers to face the outside world.”
Monique Ilboudo
Our History
Mission Statement
Girl Now, Woman Later, Inc., founded in 2020, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to helping girls in Burkina Faso, (a country in West Africa) learn to manage their menstrual cycles, stay in school and flourish into well-educated women. The majority of girls in Burkina Faso lack menstrual healthcare and this negatively impacts their schooling, often resulting in the involuntary termination of studies.
Vision Statement
Our vision is a world in which a girl’s education is not abandoned or taken away because of her gender; a world where she can freely pursue her education, still be a girl, and grow into an educated, skilled woman
Our Values
Inclusion: We are committed to including the school community and school boys in the conversation on gender equality.
Integrity: We adhere to holding ourselves accountable and transparent in managing the organization in order to maintain public trust.
Respect: We are committed to treating everyone with dignity and civility.
Equal Opportunity and Sustainability: A sustainable community does not exclude one gender in favor of the other. GNWL pledges to make female employment part of our mission by providing life skills, which will help to make her economically independent upon her graduation.