7 Ways to Empower Girls and Women: Learning from World Vision
- Feb 12
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 17
Grade Level: 7-12
Duration of video: 7 minutes, 19 seconds
Themes:
Gender equality
Child marriage
Education and empowerment
Economic opportunity
Laws and protection
Social change
Empower Girls and Women
World history, women's rights
Photo: “A young girl pictured with her friends, Nigeria (38758526845)” by Ekpo Clemens, licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons. Link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
Description:
Students watch a brief World Vision video exploring girls’ lives in diverse global communities and seven ways to empower them and end child marriage. Students take guided notes, reflect on the freedoms girls have in Western democracies, and then discuss with peers and the class. The lesson concludes with a choice activity in art, writing, or analysis to show their understanding.
Video: 7 Ways to Empower Women and Girls, World Vision (7:19)
Lesson Plan:
🎯 OBJECTIVES (SWBAT)
Identify the seven ways World Vision works to empower girls
Explain how empowerment and education help prevent child marriage
Discuss the role of communities, governments, and individuals
Reflect on girls’ rights locally and globally
🧰 MATERIALS:
Smart Board or projector
Student Worksheet 1: Seven Ways to Empower Girls (Copied for each student)
Paper or notebooks, pens or pencils for each student
7 Poster papers and a variety of markers for the whole class
📋 LESSON FLOW
Teacher Introduction
Teacher says:
Today, we’re going to watch a short video about girls around the world and the challenges some of them face, including child marriage. Child marriage happens when a girl is forced to marry before age 18. It can limit her education, affect her health, and reduce her choices for the future.
In this lesson, think about this question:
What needs to change so girls everywhere can grow up safe, educated, and empowered?
Before the Video
Distribute and go over Student Worksheet 1: Seven Ways to Empower Girls
Say:
While you watch the video, take notes on your Student Worksheet 1: Seven Ways to Empower Girls about the seven ways World Vision helps empower girls. Write key ideas or examples for each category - short notes or bullet points are fine.
Show the Video
Video: 7 Ways to Empower Women and Girls, World Vision
Remind students to take notes on each of the seven categories on Student Worksheet 1: Seven Ways to Empower Girls
Pause briefly if needed for understanding
You may need to explain what ‘monetize the girls’ means. This means that poor families sometimes sell their daughters to a man who marries her. Families do this to make an income. World Vision is helping families have alternative income sources to prevent this.
After the Video: Seat Partner Activity
Ask students to turn to a nearby seat partner:
To share and compare notes.
Work together to answer all the questions on Student Worksheet 1: Seven Ways to Empower Girls
Whole Class Discussion (Teacher-Led)
Suggested Discussion Questions:
What are the freedoms girls have in Western democracies, like the United States and Europe, that girls in other countries do not necessarily have?
Which of the seven ways described in the video do you think is most important? Why?
Why is education so powerful in preventing child marriage?
Why isn’t changing laws alone enough?
How do these seven ways connect to one another?
What responsibilities do governments and communities have?
Choice of Activities
Option 1: Poster Project
Divide students into 7 groups
Assign each group one of the seven ways of empowering girls from the video
Each group creates a poster with:
A title
A drawing describing this specific empowerment that World Vision is working to give to girls.
At least two facts from the video
Groups present their posters to the class and then discuss:
Do girls born into Western democracies, like the U.S. or Europe, already have this empowerment? Explain.
Hang up students’ posters on a designated wall in the classroom.
Option 2: Analytical Writing Assignment
Prompt:
Compare the rights and opportunities of girls in Western democratic countries, like the United States and Europe, with those of the girls shown in the video. Why is education such an essential step in empowering girls and ending child marriage?
Requirements:
1–2 pages (or teacher-assigned length)
References to at least three of the seven ways to empower girls
Have students share their findings with the entire class.
Option 3: Creative Writing Assignment
Prompt:
Write a short story from the first-person perspective of a girl whose life has been positively changed by World Vision’s work to end child marriage. Describe what her life was like before, how she was helped, and what her life looks like now.
Requirements:
1–2 pages (or teacher-assigned length)
Written in first person
Includes at least three of the seven ways to empower girls
Follow up:
Students can read their creative writing assignments aloud in class.
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