All in a Day’s Work: Nigeria’s Center for Girls' Education in Photos

Photos by Etinosa Yvonne

The cover story of Sierra’s November/December issue, "Educating Girls May Be Nigeria's Best Defense Against Climate Change," reports on the Center for Girls' Education, a female-led organization in northern Nigeria that works to educate girls from poor families by setting up safe spaces where they receive mentoring on literacy, numeracy, and life skills. Founded as a joint program of the School of Public Health at UC Berkeley and the Population and Reproductive Health Initiative at Ahmadu Bello University and now operating as an independent nonprofit, the center manages seven different projects, including most recently a Montessori preschool. Staff members don’t tend to think of their work in the context of climate change, but a large body of research suggests that their efforts to educate girls increase their resilience in the face of its impacts, as well as that of their families and communities.