Celebrate Father’s Day with the girls Opportunity Alliance

This Father’s Day, meet dads around the world from the Girls Opportunity Alliance community who are supporting their daughters’ education and dreams.

Around the world, girls are less likely to be in school than boys—especially as they enter adolescence. The question of whether a girl can continue her studies often begins with her parents at home, and men and fathers have a crucial role to play.

That's why this Father's Day, we're proudly celebrating dads across our global community who are supporting their daughters' education and dreams. Read their stories, and then make a contribution to our Fund (Opens in a new tab) to help girls get the opportunities they so deeply deserve. This is especially important during the pandemic, when millions of girls are at risk of remaining out of school forever.

And to all the dads and caregivers working to create a brighter future for girls—thank you.

Eric Mlambo is the founder of The Footprints Foundation, an organization in the Girls Opportunity Alliance community that works to provide girls in South Africa with education around adolescent health. His daughter, Hlulani, is the inspiration behind his work. “From the first day we welcomed my daughter into the world, I could not stop smiling,” Eric says. “She motivates my efforts to create change for all of our daughters. I hope that some day she will join my work, and together we will help to create a future where all African girls are equal with boys.”

Cường lives with his daughter Thanh Mai in a small village on the outskirts of Da Nang in Vietnam. When Thanh Mai was in middle school, the family couldn’t afford extra classes or tutors to help her keep up with her studies, so each night, her father helped her with her homework and guided her through the subjects she didn’t understand. “He also inspired reading as my hobby,” Thanh Mai says. “He creates the best conditions for me to discover and learn. I remember the moments when he would stay up late at night to go online to learn more about colleges and careers to give me the best advice.” Cường says he hopes that all fathers will support their daughters’ love of learning. “The message I want to send to fathers with daughters worldwide is to let your children live up to their potential and help them achieve their dreams. Following your dreams is really hard, but it’s harder if you go it alone. That’s why as fathers, we can stand behind our daughters and cheer them on.”

Daniel lives in a rural community in Peru with his daughter Lidia. “Supporting my daughter is important to me because my mother did not have the opportunity to study, and I want Lidia to have more in her life than we have,“ he says. “I'd love for her to become a lawyer or a nurse.” Daniel signed Lidia up with the Sacred Valley Project, a grassroots organization that is part of the Girls Opportunity Alliance, to support her education. He also saved for a cell phone to ensure that she could access her remote classes during the pandemic. “It makes me really proud that Lidia is excited to study,” Daniel says. “It's so important to me for her to be able to have a good life.” 

Nixon and his daughter Dorine are from Muhuru Bay in Kenya. When Nixon was in school, he noticed that few families in his community supported girls’ education—so when he had his own daughters, he knew this was something that he wanted to help to change. “If we support our daughters, we can give an example to our community that they can do anything just like boys,” he says. One of Dorine’s sisters has already graduated from university, and another is enrolling in college this year. Dorine hopes to follow in their footsteps, which is why she is studying hard with WISER, a program supported by the Girls Opportunity Alliance. She says that when fathers support their daughters to study and learn, “they help to prepare us for a better life of tomorrow.” 

Contribute to the Girls Opportunity Alliance Fund (Opens in a new tab) today to empower adolescent girls around the world through education.