Why Adolescent Girls Programming

1. Why Adolescent Girls Programming JULIE BAYIGA GIRL CENTERED PRACTICE & STRATEGY MANAGER GIRL HUB RWANDA

2. Why Girls? • Girls and planners need to know that: • A very HIGH proportion of girls will be sole supporters of themselves and dependent children at some point in their lives. • The likelihood of this is greatest for girls who come from poor families (bottom 40%) and who are married/bear children under the age of 20. The numbers are not small and the consequences are significant. Failing to invest in these girls is, in effect, planned poverty. *Analysis by Shelley Clark, commissioned by the Population Council and Nike, who projected using suitable life event data from Malawi, Kenya, and Zimbabwe the proportion of women whose marriages will be disrupted by divorce or widowhood. This analysis excluded those who were never married, whether or not they had children, did not capture those in polygamous union or women who were economically abandoned by their husbands—this data is probably the lower boundary of a proportion of women who carry this responsibility.

4. What are girls’ vulnerabilities: • Emergent Issues by Age 12 • Sexual maturation • Consolidation of gender norms, including regarding gender-based violence • Changes in the family (e.g., parents’ marital dissolution) • Disproportionate care and domestic work burden for girls • Withdraw and/or lack of safety from public space for girls • School leaving • School safety for girls • Loss of peers for girls • Migration for work (often informal and/or unsafe) • Subject to sexualizing and consumerist media • Rising need for independent and disposable income & assets • Pressure for marriage or liaisons as livelihoods strategies for girls

5. Social Isolation • On many indicators of social isolation, girls have thinners social support networks than boys: • Having many friends • Having a safe place in the community to meet friends • Having a mentor to turn to in an emergency • Having a place to stay or money to borrow in case of an emergency • Places in the community they can go without permission • More likely to live with neither parent • Social isolation is linked to higher risk of sexual coercion of having exchanged sex for money* * Hallman, K. 2005. “Gendered Socioeconomic Conditions and HIV Risk Behaviours Among Young People in South Africa.” Africa Journal of AIDS Research. 4(1): 37-50.

6. The girl adolescent cohort in greatly disadvantaged as it is often lumped into a “youth” bracket (16-35 years). One example:

7. If You Build It, They Will Not ComeYouth programs and safety nets exclude key vulnerable populations of girls that are younger, out-of-school, in exploitative labor, rural born, migrant, living with one or no parent, or married and/or with children Age and Gender Distribution of Participants in “Youth” Programs Demographic Characteristics. Prepared by Adam Weiner. See resource listings for full references and authors of each coverage exercise.

8. ASSETS Assets are so important as a base for adolescents to manage risk and take advantage of opportunities. Assets: human, social, financial, physical assets

9. Role of assets for adolescent girls ASSETS  REDUCE VULNERABILITY ASSETS  EXPAND OPPORTUNITIES

10. Human assets Examples of Assets Social assets Social networks Group membership Skills and knowledge Good health

11. A Safe Place to Meet • Friends • Mentor

12. A Safe Place to Meet • Identify a physical place in the community where girls can meet • Pick certain day/time in the week where girls can come and the place is available • Can be in a wide range of locations • Sometimes can negotiate to use space for free, sometimes you will have to rent it

13. Friends • Girls are more socially isolated than boys and have weaker social networks • Especially once puberty starts • Stronger social networks (i.e. having more friends) has been linked to less exposure to sexual harassment and violence • Having a place where girls can meet other girls in their community, regularly (not just once and it’s over) is critical in reducing their vulnerability

14. Mentor • Typically, an older female in the community • 18-30 years (on average) – old enough to provide guidance, but young enough so the girls still identify with them • Important for girls to build trusting relationships and have someone to go to in the community in case of a problem • These mentors do not need to be brought in from the outside (i.e. a group of university students)

15. What do we hope to achieve? By the end of adolescence, we would like girls to be prepared for: • Meeting day to day needs • Dealing with life cycle events (births, marriage, educating children) • Coping with emergencies, crises, and unexpected events (risk management) • Taking advantage of opportunities when they present themselves

16. Charting Success

17. Monitoring – Who are We Reaching and What are We Doing? • Keeps track of program activities & participants • Intake Register • Age, schooling status, living situation, marital status, parenthood, etc. • Program activities • Date, number of girls attended, topics covered • Ongoing process – including the analysis • For who?

20. Questions to Discuss MAKING A MONITORING REGISTER • What characteristics of girls in your program are the most important for you to capture? MAKING AN ACTIVITY REGISTER • What components/details of the activities that you hold are the most important to capture?

21. Activity In your organizations, discuss: 1)What is the big goal at the end of your program? 2) What are the assets (social, human, physical and financial) that you’d like to build in the Girl that you reach (this can be a way to frame what changes do you want to see in the girl)

22. MURAKOZE CYANE