Founded by Grammy Award-winning, Benin native and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Angelique Kidjo, Batonga’s mission is to equip young women and girls in Benin with knowledge and skills they need to be agents of change in their communities and in their own lives.

Children & Youth , Civil Rights , Education , Philanthropy , Public Foundations , Secondary & High Schools , Women , Womens Rights , Youth Centers & Clubs

In 2017, the batonga foundation worked to identify the most vulnerable girls in benin and build their social, emotional and cognitive assets through a combination of life-skills, technical skills, mentorship and personalized support delivered through girls clubs. Batonga also convened and cultivated a learning network to facilitate coordination, information sharing, and advocacy for data-driven solutions that lead to more effective and impactful programs for off-track adolescent girls. As a result of the foundation's work, batonga won first place in the 2017 pan-african awards for entrepreneurship in education. The pan-african awards recognize the most innovative organizations using enterprise and entrepreneurship to expand the field of education. In 2017, the three primary activities for batonga included:1. Increasing educational and economic opportunity and social, emotional and mental well-being of vulnerable adolescent girls in underserved regions of benin through girls clubs. In 2017, batonga continued to reach vulnerable adolescent girls in underserved regions of benin through the operation of girls clubs. Batonga's girls clubs:- provided mentoring and training for some of the most vulnerable adolescent girls to build their social networks, communication skills, self-esteem, and goal-setting abilities. - served as safe spaces where participants developed life skills, learned financial literacy and technical skills, and received mentorship and career guidance. - provided opportunities for engagement in income generating activities, thus expanding participants' future options as well as their social capital. In 2017, batonga also introduced solar technology into girls clubs as a potential tool for income generation. The goal of incorporating this technology was to simultaneously increase the income-generating power of girls and young women while ensuring resource-poor communities access to renewable energy. To pilot this initiative, batonga held a training workshop in sierra leone with club mentors and supervisors, followed by peer-to-peer trainings in bohicon and savalou. Solar technologies were provided to 9 girls clubs and each clubs developed their own business model for solar-powered cell phone charging stations, using the technologies. 2. Convening an adolescent girls' learning circle:in 2017, batonga continued to convene and cultivate a regional thought leadership network called, rseau batonga d'apprentissage des filles adolescentes bnin, to document and share learnings and best practices. The network regularly shared maps, plans, budgets, and data to enhance understanding of local communities and to coordinate efforts in the field. The learning circle met on a bi-monthly basis and brought together a diverse group of organizations committed to targeted, evidence-based and scalable programs. Through this network, batonga:- contributed to the evidence base that drives ngo programming for youth and highlighted granular data on adolescent girls, better equipping local ngos to deliver girl-focused programming. - promoted evidence-based, data-driven approaches to programs focused on girls' education, civic participation, and health among ngos operating in benin and enhanced implementing agencies and local organizations' understanding of target populations in order to advance adolescent girls' rights over the long term. 3. Strategic development and evaluationin 2017, batonga worked with external consultants to develop a strategic plan for growth and to evaluate the current status of its programs through a process evaluation. This allowed batonga to assess what had worked well, what was surprising, and where new thinking and approaches are needed moving forward. As a result of the strategic development and process evaluation, batonga was able to pinpoint key areas for growth and develop clear goals and benchmarks for 2018 and beyond. In 2017, the batonga foundation maximized its resources and demonstrated its abi

Batonga equips young women and girls in Benin with knowledge and skills they need to be agents of change in their communities and in their own lives.

Benin