Meet ADEPE, or Actions pour les Droits des Enfants et de la Protection de l’Environnements (Actions for the Rights of Children and Protection of the Environment)—a Guinean organization of former child activists working to build young peoples’ power and protect their rights while advocating for a healthy environment. We’re thrilled to now be supporting their ambitious, innovative work in Guinea.
ADEPE was founded in 2018 by a group of young women and men who had previously been part of child-led activist groups. As they got older and aged out of these spaces, they decided to use their years of advocacy experience to address the root causes of Guinea’s underdevelopment.
The Fund first supported ADEPE through a COVID-19 emergency response grant in 2020. With that funding, ADEPE was able to educate youth in Conakry about the pandemic and distributed sanitary kits to help stop the spread.
This year, the Fund’s model of flexible funding will help enable ADEPE to take on even bigger challenges. The young activists are challenging long-standing social norms and traditional practices that have allowed gender-based violence and discrimination to proliferate in Guinea.
ADEPE is taking on discrimination at the community level. With the Fund’s support, the activists hope to engage community and religious leaders to deconstruct harmful stereotypes about women and girls, and to train young leaders who can help girls discuss, identify, and even report cases of sexual violence or abuse.
“Ensuring that youth-led organizations are funded and supported is critical to addressing children’s rights issues,” says Souleymane Sagna, who leads the Fund’s Children’s and Youth Rights program in Guinea. “ADEPE is a dynamic group of young leaders who understand what children need.”
Please join us in welcoming ADEPE to the Fund’s family of grantee partners!
The Fund offers community-based and youth-led groups the support they need to build young peoples’ power and change the world. Learn more about our work supporting children’s and youth rights.
