Young Strong Mothers Foundation (YSMF) is a grassroots, women-led organization based in Morogoro, Tanzania, dedicated to empowering vulnerable adolescent girls and teenage mothers. Since 2015, YSMF has worked to prevent child marriages, sexual exploitation, and school dropouts, enabling girls to build confidence and pursue brighter futures for themselves and their children. In 2024 alone, YSMF supported more than 15,000 adolescent girls and teenage mothers across multiple districts in Morogoro and Tabora.
Girls in rural Tanzania face a range of challenges: long and dangerous commutes to school, lack of menstrual hygiene supplies, and pressures to engage in risky behaviors. According to UNFPA, one in four girls, aged 15 to 19, has experienced pregnancy or given birth in Tanzania. As a result, many leave school at an early age, often without support or access to second chances. Without educational and reintegration opportunities, girls often find themselves in a cycle of poverty.
With support from the Girls Opportunity Alliance Fund, YSMF will expand its Girls’ Education Rescue Initiative (GERI) to reach 600 at-risk girls. The project will provide 200 bicycles, shared by 400 girls, enabling safe and reliable transportation to school. Girls will also receive holistic education kits containing school supplies, sanitary products, and life skills materials. Additionally, YSM will provide vocational training, psychosocial care, gender rights education, and athletic activies—offering healing, skill-building, and mentorship.
The project will directly impact 600 girls and ripple outward to families and communities as girls have the opportunity to learn in a safe environment and strive for their dreams and ambitions. YSMF aims to build a generation of young women who are not just survivors, but leaders, advocates, and agents of change.
To learn more about Young Strong Mothers Foundation, please visit the organization’s website and social media pages:
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