In a quiet village on Nepal’s southern plains in Lumbini Province, Pooja Yadav begins her day in a borrowed room, not a classroom or an office. With only a few mats on the floor, this modest space becomes a powerful place for change. Here, each week, adolescent girls gather – many for the first time – to talk about their lives, their bodies, and their dreams.

Most of these girls speak Awadhi or Hindi, not Nepali. They are not used to being asked what they think. They are not used to being heard.

But that’s changing – because of Pooja.

Trained as a youth facilitator by UNFPA, Pooja has been running weekly life-skills sessions for six months at a local Madrasa. Topics range from gender roles and menstruation to early marriage and education. But for Pooja, the real work is building trust.
“At first, the girls were so quiet. Some wouldn’t speak at all. But after a few sessions, once they saw I wasn’t going to judge them, they began to open up.”

A turning point came during an activity called My World, designed to help girls map their daily routines and hopes. “That day,” Pooja recalls, “they started calling me didi—sister. That changed everything.”

That bond has led to real change.

Three girls from her community who had dropped out after Grade 10 have reenrolled back into school after encouragement from Pooja. In a context where girls are often confined to household duties and discouraged from studying or working, these steps mark a quiet revolution.

“The girls in my community are capable of so much,” says Pooja. “Some are amazing at henna design, others at tailoring or makeup. But because of social norms, they’re not allowed to dream beyond the home. My role is to show them they can. If not today, then tomorrow.”

Her sessions also help girls name the inequalities they live with – like why their brothers attend private schools while they stay home, or why they're told what to wear or where they can go. Topics like sex, menstruation, and consent are still sensitive, but the girls are learning to speak about them and without shame.

Pooja’s work is shifting norms and building confidence – one girl, one family, one conversation at a time. She’s not an outsider parachuting in. She lives here. She speaks their language. She understands.

For Pooja, this journey has changed her too. “I never imagined I could lead a session or speak in front of people. I used to think I didn’t have a role. But now I see that I do. And I want other girls to see it too.”

What does she enjoy most? Pooja laughs. “The respect,” she says. “Not because it’s about me. But because it means they’re listening. It means something is changing.”

This International Youth Day, as we spotlight local youth actions for the SDGs and beyond, we honour young women like Pooja—who are not only raising awareness but raising a generation of girls who finally believe they matter.

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Pooja Yadav is one of UNFPA in Nepal’s peer facilitators trained under the Global Programme to End Child Marriage. Her work contributes directly to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 5.3, which aims to eliminate all harmful practices, including child marriage.