Coalition for Adolescent Girls
Quarterly Webinar
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Agenda
•
•
•
•
Welcome and Introductions
General CAG Updates
CAG Member Updates
Learning Session: Integrating Adolescent Girls
into Multi-Sectoral Programs
Presentation by Amy Spindler, Adolescent Girl and
Youth Advisor, and Allison Shean, Gender and
Resilience Research Officer, of Mercy Corps
• Presentation Q&A
• Conclusions
General CAG Updates
Technical Consultation on Adolescent
Girl Engagement
• Held an external stakeholder Technical
Consultation on Adolescent Girl Engagement on
March 6, 2015 in NYC
• Co-sponsored by the Permanent Missions of
Canada, Peru, and Zambia, USAID, and the
Working Group on Girls
Technical Consultation on Adolescent
Girl Engagement
• Fifty-two participants, eighteen of whom were
adolescent girls and young women, attended
the daylong consultation
• Participants discussed and generated
promising practices, indicators, and tools
regarding girl engagement
• Next step is to use the learning from the
consultations and e-forums to create an
Adolescent Girl Engagement Tool
New Working Groups
• CAG Working Groups (WGs) are now taskfocused and time-bound
• Each WG will have a manager and work off of
a clear mandate and timeline
• Four new working groups will focus on,
– Adolescent Girl Engagement Tool
– CAG Adolescent Girl Engagement Strategy
– CAG Framework and Topical Briefs
– USG Adolescent Girls Strategy
New Working Groups, cont…
• Adolescent Girl Engagement Tool
– Will complete the girl engagement tool and plan
its launch
– Non-CAG members will also be asked to
participate
– Set to begin mid-April and end in late October
• CAG Adolescent Girl Engagement Strategy
– Will formulate a strategy for how the CAG can
engage adolescent girls in future activities and
operations
– Set to begin mid-April and end in mid-June
New Working Groups cont…
• CAG Framework and Topical Briefs
– Will complete the CAG framework and
accompanying one-page topical briefs on health,
safety, empowerment, and human rights
– Set to begin in late April and end in late August
• USG Adolescent Girls Strategy
– Will plan and execute the CAG’s participation in
the formation and launch of the USG’s adolescent
girl strategy
– Timeframe is currently unknown
New Working Groups, cont…
If you are interested in leading or participating
in one of the working groups, please contact
Sacha at coordinatorcag@gmail.com as soon as
possible.
CAG Member Updates
Member Updates
At this point we would love to hear from
members about their current projects, recent
publications, upcoming events, or any other
news they wish to share.
Learning Session
Integrating Girls into
Multi-Sectoral Programs
Amy Spindler, Adolescent Girl and Youth Advisor
Allison Shean, Gender and Resilience Research Officer
Saving and improving lives in the world’s toughest places.
Case Study: Sawki in Niger
Goal: To reduce
insecurity and malnutrition
among vulnerable rural
populations in Niger.
How many of you support
programming that:
 Specifically targets only adolescent girls.
 Integrates girls into a larger program.





Food security and/or agriculture
Economic development and/or livelihoods
Conflict management and/or emergency response
Health
WASH
Starting with data to identify the most vulnerable
Niger tops the charts in child marriage by age 15
School enrollment in Niger
When to intervene?
EARLY enough to keep girls in school and build their health,
social, and economic assets
Percent of Guatemalan girls ages 10–19, by outcome
In school
Married
as a child
Has child
Source: Hallman, K., S. Peracca, J. Catino, M.J. Ruiz. 2005. “Causes of low school achievement and early transition to adulthood
in Guatemala.” New York: Population Council.
% of girls 10-14 not in school and not living
with either parent in Niger
Highest rates reaching
16.5% in the Zinder
region
Estimated number of
girls at the national
level is 140,867
What are the take-aways?
Adolescent
girls’ bodies
not ready
for
childbirth
First birth is
a high risk
birth
Very low
rates of
school
attendance
for girls
Poor health
outcomes for
children born
from
adolescent
moms
First sex
largely
occurs
within
marriage
School
enrollment
for rural
girls drops
off at age
12/13
Very high
rates of
child
marriage
Adolescent girls emerge as a must-have target group in order to
make the greatest impact on their future children’s nutrition and
survival
Translating the data into program design
SO1: Reduce
chronic malnutrition
among pregnant and
lactating women and
children under five
with an emphasis on
children under 2
Pre-set
IR1.1: Pregnant women, mothers
and caretakers adopt appropriate
nutrition practices during their
children’s first 1,000 days
IR1.2: Health centers and other
community staff promote and
respond efficiently and
appropriately to community
demand for counseling and care
IR1.3: Adolescents adopt
appropriate nutrition practices and
healthy timing of first pregnancy
MC
created
IR1.3: Adolescent girls adopt appropriate nutrition practices and healthy
timing of first pregnancy
Target
Segment
Activities
Gatekeepers
Purpose
Girls ages 1014, unmarried,
out of school
girls
Safe spaces for
girls
Parents, Community
and religious leaders
Build their social capital, nutritional
practices, inform girls of the risks of
child marriage/early birth
Girls ages 1519, married
out of school
girls
Safe spaces for
girls
Husbands, Mother-inlaws
Build their social capital, discuss
contraceptives, negotiation, healthy birth
spacing and healthy infant feeding
practices, VSLA and functional literacy.
Married young
couples
Leader mothers
model behavior
and support
contraception
messages
Spouse, leader
mothers
Delaying first birth; information on
healthy child spacing.
MoH
Ensure the GoN
provides constant
contraceptive
supply
Ensure health centers are able to keep
up with potential new demand for
contraceptives based on education and
couples counseling.
Gatekeepers:
How did we OPEN the door?
Village
Chiefs
Community
Meetings
Individual
follow-up
with skeptics
Meeting
with girls
Meet
mentors
Organize
girls into
safe spaces
What is the reality on
the ground?
• 2,859 girls participate
weekly in safe spaces.
• 115 safe spaces in 56
communities.
• 170 mentors in place.
• “Husband Schools” in
partnership with the safe
spaces.
• Girls adopting healthy practices
(e.g., exclusive breastfeeding).
• Communities changing mindset
about early marriage.
• Better understanding of the
consequences of early marriage.
• Girls see the value of education
and alternative pathways for their
life.
• Girls have savings through VSLAs.
• Mentors have gained status
in society; girls have
advocates.
• Girls have forged friendships
and new support networks.
• Girls have improved
decision-making in the
home.
The challenges
• Finding appropriate time and space.
• Husbands originally prohibited girls
participation.
• Field agents are primarily male.
• Families want to see tangible benefits.
• Dependence on Gender Advisor as “owner”
of safe spaces.
• Mentors need structure and support.
• Objectives in the proposal do not always
translate into actual programming, nor does
it mean the team has knowledge on how to
implement.
RISING Research
Building the evidence
base for best practices in
girl-centered programs to
ensure that they
effectively and efficiently
improve the lives of girls
around the world.
How many of you:
 Are involved with research the examines the impact
of programming on adolescent girls?
 Are interested in tools that help determine program
impact on adolescent girls?
Key research questions
• Does content covered in
Sawki’s safe spaces lead
to improved health,
nutrition and food
security outcomes for
girls?
• Do we see any
additional
improvements to
outcomes when safe
space programming is
coupled with livelihood
support?
Outcomes of interest
• Health and nutrition
knowledge and behavior
– Reproductive health
• Confidence and
aspirations
• Social capital and access
to safety nets
• Income generation and
earning ability
• Status and decisionmaking ability
Research design
• Mixed-methods approach
• Quantitative study conducted in 18 Sawki
communities
– Girl Survey
– Household Survey
• Qualitative research with girls, mentors, and
gatekeepers
• Opportunity for Randomized Control Trial
Early 2015 Survey
Comparison Group
Treatment Group I – Safe
Space Only
Treatment Group II – Safe
Space plus Livelihood
Training
No ongoing programming
Programming began June 2014
Programming began June 2013
500 girls
Heads of HH
6 Sawki Communities
250 girls
Heads of HH
6 Sawki Communities
250 girls
Heads of HH
6 Sawki Communties
RANDOM LOTTERY SELECTION WITH COMPARISON GROUP
April 2015
Control
Treatment
250 girls do
not receive
program
250 girls
receive
program
Mid-2016 Survey
250 girls
Heads of HH
250 girls
Heads of HH
Qualitative Research
•
•
•
250 girls
Heads of HH
FGDs with adolescent girls
FGDs with gatekeepers – husbands, parents, etc.
FGDs/KIIs with safe space mentors
250 girls
Heads of HH
Quantitative tools
Adolescent Girl Survey
10 modules
• HH Assets and Access
• Health and Nutrition
– Includes Dietary Diversity
•
•
•
•
•
Confidence and Aspirations
Time Use
Social Capital and Safety Nets
Coping Strategies
Income Sources and Economic
Well-Being
• Financial Literacy
• Reproductive Health
• Decision-making and
Influence
Head of HH Survey
6 modules
• Program Exposure
• Progress Out of Poverty
• Shocks and Recovery
• Food Consumption and
Insecurity
– Household Hunger Scale
– Coping Strategies Index
• Status of Girls
• HH Decision-making
Next steps
•
•
•
•
•
•
Data analysis – spring 2015
RCT begins – spring 2015
Report on initial findings – summer/fall 2015
Follow-up surveys – spring 2016
Qualitative data collection – spring 2016
Final report – summer/fall 2016
Thank you!
Questions?
Conclusions
Conclusions
• A big thank you to all our participants and our
wonderful presenters, Amy Spindler and Allison
Shean!
• If you would like more information about CAGrelated activities or the working groups, please
contact Sacha at coordinatorcag@gmail.com.
• If you would like more information about the
learning session, please contact Amy at
aspindler@mercycorps.org.