The Girl-Intentional Approach
A UNICEF strategy with and for Adolescent Girls in West and Central Africa
Highlights
UNICEF has long prioritized adolescent girls, with increased attention within the first, and all subsequent, Gender Action Plans since 2014. In 2022, UNICEF in West and Central Africa (WCA) renewed its commitment with and for adolescent girls, in line with regional and global mandates.
Despite multiple challenges, girls in WCA are actively engaged in creating positive change in their communities. This Girl-intentional Approach (GIA) aligns with UNICEF’s Global Adolescent Girls Programme Strategy 2022-2025, the UNICEF Strategic Plan and aims to complement regional and country strategies in WCA, ensuring transformational actions that generate systemic changes at various levels. The GIA represents UNICEF in WCA’s contribution to the corporate priority on adolescent girls. Finally, the GIA emphasizes the agency and leadership of adolescent girls and has been co-created and co-designed with girls, partners and UNICEF staff in WCA.
Published in 2024 with data updated in 2025.
