Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Can Adolescent Girls' Safe Space Clubs Effectively Run Solar-Powered Mobile Phone Charging Stations In Rural Sierra Leone?, Nadia Assad, Sarah Blake

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Access to electricity in rural Sierra Leone is scarce. Estimates on the proportion of households having regular access to electricity range from 1 to 5 percent. Along with mobile phones, which are now common even in settings where phone lines never reached, new energy technologies are beginning to fill in where traditional infrastructure is absent. Solar technologies hold promise for expanding access to electricity while offering sustainable alternatives to expensive, nonrenewable sources for powering lights, phones, tools, and appliances. Recognizing that there is important learning to be done in connecting adolescent girls’ clubs and solar technologies, the Population Council conducted …

Do You Know? A Resilience Challenge Game For Native American Girls, Kelly Hallman, Kassel Franco Garibay, Stephanie Martinez, Lisa Polen

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The Indigenous Adolescent Girls’ Empowerment Network (IMAGEN) is an initiative within Indian Country seeking to strengthen the protection, safety, and resilience of girls in Native communities by reclaiming neighborhood spaces in which to rekindle matrilineal traditions. Housed within the Girl Innovation, Research, and Learning (GIRL) Center, IMAGEN’s evidence-based approach consists of a set of adaptable planning tools honed over 20 years in global settings that enables the establishment of neighborhood safe spaces for girls. IMAGEN's resilience Cards are an asset-building resource designed for program leaders who are planning to work with adolescent indigenous girls.

Girl-Centered Participatory Assessment Tools, Kelly Hallman

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The Indigenous Adolescent Girls' Empowerment Network (IMAGEN) is an initiative within Indian Country seeking to strengthen the protection, safety, and resilience of girls in Native communities by reclaiming neighborhood spaces in which to rekindle matrilineal traditions. Housed within the Girl Innovation, Research, and Learning (GIRL) Center, IMAGEN's evidence-based approach consists of a set of adaptable planning tools honed over 20 years in global settings that enables the establishment of neighborhood safe spaces for girls. This toolkit is designed to help programs precisely identify the nature and degree of girls' "shrinking worlds" at puberty, and to aid them in devising strategies …

Valoriser Le Potentiel Des Mentores : Recrutement, Formation Et Soutien Des Mentores Pour Des Programmes Dédiés Aux Adolescentes, Miriam Temin, Eva Roca

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Les mentores sont une partie importante de nombreux programmes efficaces pour les filles, mais on dispose de peu d’informations sur les aspects pratiques du développement et du soutien d’un cadre de mentore efficace. Cette boîte à outils rassemble des leçons, des conseils et des idées qui peuvent être adaptés et utilisés pour trouver, former, surveiller, soutenir et évaluer les mentores. Les informations sont basées sur des documents provenant de programmes pour les adolescentes mis en œuvre par le Population Council. Les ressources sont applicables aux planificateurs de programmes, aux superviseurs de mentores et aux mentores. Toutes les ressources peuvent être …

More Than A Backdrop: Understanding The Role Of Communities In Programming For Adolescent Girls—Action Guide, Sarah Blake, Miriam Temin

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The structural and social features of a girl’s community play a critical role in determining what effects programs for adolescent girls can achieve. Girls’ communities include both the physical spaces girls must navigate and adults and peers who shape their beliefs about marriage, work, and education. This action guide focuses on key questions to ask when designing programs: How many girls live in a given community? Is the community urban, peri-urban, or rural? Is it formal or informal? How stable or cohesive is a community? Who is considered a “community member”? What resources exist for girls in the community, and …

Making The Most Of Mentors: Recruitment, Training, And Support Of Mentors For Adolescent Girl Programming—Toolkit, Miriam Temin, Eva Roca

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Mentors are an important part of many effective programs for girls, yet little information is available about the practical aspects of developing and supporting a successful mentor cadre. This toolkit pulls together lessons, tips, and insights that can be adapted and used to find, train, monitor, support, and evaluate mentors. The information is based on materials from programs for adolescent girls implemented by the Population Council. The resources are applicable to program planners, mentor supervisors, and mentors. All resources may be adapted to local contexts.

Program Modalidades Flexibles: Integrated Curriculum Guide—Segundo Semestre, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

El Population Council se suma a los esfuerzos de la Dirección General de Educación Extraescolar del Ministerio de Educación de Guatemala para acercar el Nivel de Educación Media a las comunidades más vulnerables. Esto se ha logrado al incorporar el programa Modalidades Flexibles para Ciclo Básico como componente clave en la atención a la población joven y más excluida del sistema escolar. Mediante el diseño y elaboración de esta guía de aprendizaje se ofrece un recurso para estudiantes y docentes que están participando en el segundo semestre de la etapa II del Ciclo Básico del programa Modalidades Flexibles. El abordaje …

Girlsread! Zambia: Dreams Innovation Challenge, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

GirlsRead! is an education and empowerment program in Zambia. It includes three interventions: 1) safe space groups for girls, 2) e-readers designed for rural Africa, and 3) community engagement to bolster learning outcomes and reduce the likelihood that girls will leave school early. This brief describes the program, evaluation results, and implications.

Abriendo Oportunidades A La Incidencia Política En Mi Comunidad: Guía Curricular, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

La propuesta de Abriendo Oportunidades® a la Incidencia Política en Mi Comunidad enfatiza en la condición ciudadana de las niñas y adolescentes, impulsando su interés por comprometerse con mejoras en su comunidad a través de su participación en el diseño y ejecución de acciones de incidencia política a nivel familiar, escolar, comunitario y municipal. Esta guía es un instrumento para las mentoras comunitarias que apoyan a las niñas y adolescentes participantes en el fortalecimiento de sus habilidades para la vida y en el desarrollo de competencias para realizar incidencia política a nivel comunitario. Siguiendo el modelo educativo de Abriendo Oportunidades, …

Trabajando En Incidencia Política Hacia Una Mejor Vida Para Las Niñas, Jóvenes Y Mujeres En Mi Comunidad, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Las guías de trabajo para la incidencia política comunitaria se hacen con el objetivo de enfatizar la condición ciudadana de las niñas y adolescentes e impulsar su interés por comprometerse a mejoras en su comunidad a través de su participación política. El Population Council ha desarrollado estas herramientas para apoyar el trabajo de jóvenes lideresas en el diseño y ejecución de acciones de incidencia a nivel familiar, escolar, comunitario y municipal. El contenido abordado en este material se enfoca especialmente en temas relativos a la prevención de la violencia y garantía de derechos a mujeres, niñez y juventud, y pueblos …

Program Modalidades Flexibles: Integrated Curriculum Guide—Primer Semestre, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Guatemala ha enfrentado grandes desafíos para garantizar a sus habitantes el acceso a la educación secundaria, especialmente a las mujeres jóvenes que enfrentan mayores retos para continuar su vida escolar. Ante esta realidad, el Population Council se suma a los esfuerzos de la Dirección General de Educación Extraescolar del Ministerio de Educación de Guatemala para acercar el Nivel de Educación Media a las comunidades más vulnerables. Esto se ha logrado al incorporar el programa Modalidades Flexibles para Ciclo Básico como componente clave en la atención a la población joven y más excluida del sistema escolar. Mediante el diseño y elaboración …

Guía De Participación Política Adolescente Para La Movilización E Incidencia Política A Nivel Municipal, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

El programa Abriendo Oportunidades motiva a las jóvenes a tener iniciativas y desarrollar sus capacidades personales, así como a explorar las posibilidades de liderazgo a nivel comunitario y municipal. Para que sean lideresas capaces de incidir a nivel municipal, es necesario trabajar temas y habilidades enfocados en política, administración estatal, legislación nacional y derechos humanos. Esta guía se ofrece para apoyar el trabajo con jóvenes mujeres que buscan tener incidencia, especialmente en temas relativos a la prevención de la violencia y garantía de derechos a mujeres, niñez y juventud, y pueblos indígenas. Cada sesión está diseñada usando metodología participativa y …

Adolescent Girls Empowerment Programme: Endline Technical Report, Karen Austrian, Erica Soler-Hampejsek, Paul C. Hewett, Natalie Jackson Hachonda, Jere R. Behrman

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The theory of change behind the Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (AGEP) posited that adolescent girls are empowered by building social, health, and economic assets that they can then draw on to reduce vulnerabilities and expand opportunities. In the long term, they will then increase their likelihood of completing school, delaying sexual debut, and reducing risks of early marriages, unintended pregnancies, acquisition of HIV, and other possibly detrimental outcomes. This endline report indicates that, while there were some changes for the program participants in the medium and long term, they did not translate into longer-term effects on reproductive and demographic outcomes …

Abriendo Oportunidades: Material Didáctico Para Sesiones De Trabajo, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Este documento es parte de los materiales de enseñanza para mentores en el programa Abriendo Oportunidades. La hoja informativa presenta los derechos de las niñas, adolescentes y mujeres indígenas. Incluye un mapa de los 22 departamentos administrativos de Guatemala.

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This document is part of the teaching materials for mentors in the Abriendo Oportunidades program. The fact sheet outlines the rights of indigenous girls, adolescents, and women. It includes a map of Guatemala's 22 administrative departments.

Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (Agep): Sexual And Gender-Based Violence, Karen Austrian, Erica Soler-Hampejsek, Natalie Jackson Hachonda, Paul C. Hewett

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Acceptability and experience of sexual and gender-based violence is alarmingly high among adolescent girls in Zambia. Even more striking is the very young age from which notions of violence are ingrained and experience with violence begins. This brief summarizes the Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (AGEP) evaluation which demonstrated that in the Zambian context, a program focused on changing norms among girls themselves is not enough to impact attitudes toward and experience of violence. Social and cultural norms are shaped by households, schools, communities, and all of the adults that girls interact with in these places—even the mentors of their own …

Herramientas Para La Formación Y El Acompañamiento A Mentoras Del Programa Abriendo Oportunidades®, Cecilia Garcés, Alejandra Munguia

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Este compendio reúne herramientas de utilidad práctica para la implementación del programa Abriendo Oportunidades® del Population Council. Está dirigido a quienes facilitan el proceso de formación docente para mentoras comunitarias, así como a las mentoras monitoras. El mismo contiene dos tipos de herramientas: herramientas para la formación de mentoras comunitarias y herramientas para la implementación de sesiones. El Population Council pone este compendio de herramientas a disposición de quienes están implementando el programa Abriendo Oportunidades® en Guatemala y otros similares en la región, que se enfocan en las necesidades de las niñas y adolescentes.

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This compendium collects practical tools …

Guía Curricular De Abriendo Oportunidades: Para Niños De 8 A 12 Años, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

El programa Abriendo Oportunidades® en Guatemala tiene diez años de experiencia en el proceso de educación no formal enfocado en niñas y jóvenes indígenas en el área rural del país, especialmente en comunidades que viven en condiciones de exclusión económica y social. La guía curricular se ha enriquecido con las observaciones e insumos obtenidos durante este proceso, para incluir temas relevantes, objetivos centrales, ejercicios y actividades, así como materiales de referencia y apoyo. Por su estructura, es posible adaptar esta guía a diferentes entornos y contextos, manteniendo siempre como esencial el desarrollo de habilidades de liderazgo comunitario, relacionamiento social, de …

Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (Agep): Adapting The Safe Spaces Model In Rural Settings, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (AGEP) was implemented with over 10,000 vulnerable adolescent girls aged 10–19 between 2013 and 2016 in five rural and five urban sites in Zambia. Safe Spaces was the core program element in AGEP, and was adapted based on prior programs implemented mainly in urban and peri-urban areas in East and Southern Africa. Given the key differences in the living environments and demographic data for adolescent girls in urban as compared to rural areas in Zambia, one key programmatic learning question for AGEP was if the Safe Spaces model could be adapted and successfully implemented in …

Abriendo Oportunidades: Sesión—Mi Plan De Vida, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

El programa Abriendo Oportunidades nació en 2004 como un proyecto de programación centrada en niñas adolescentes, con el propósito de fortalecer una transición segura hacia la adolescencia e incrementar su promoción y retención escolar. Con base en evidencia, el Population Council diseñó guías curriculares que contienen herramientas y ejercicios para las sesiones con niñas y mentoras basados en tres ejes transversales: derechos humanos, perspectiva de género, e interculturalidad y pertinencia. Este documento es la guía de los mentores para la sesión sobre el Fortalecimiento de capacidades para mujeres adolescentes, orientado al desarrollo de Plan de Vida y Habilidades para la …

Abriendo Oportunidades: Guía Curricular Plan De Vida 2016—Cuadernillo Q’Eqchi, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

El programa Abriendo Oportunidades nació en 2004 como un proyecto de programación centrada en niñas adolescentes, con el propósito de fortalecer una transición segura hacia la adolescencia e incrementar su promoción y retención escolar. Con base en evidencia, el Population Council diseñó guías curriculares que contienen herramientas y ejercicios para las sesiones con niñas y mentoras basados en tres ejes transversales: derechos humanos, perspectiva de género, e interculturalidad y pertinencia. Este documento contiene la hoja de trabajo del Plan de Vida para los participantes en el taller. Más de una década de trabajo demuestra que las niñas adolescentes participantes de …

Abriendo Oportunidades: Guía Curricular Plan De Vida 2016—Cuadernillo Español, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

El programa Abriendo Oportunidades nació en 2004 como un proyecto de programación centrada en niñas adolescentes, con el propósito de fortalecer una transición segura hacia la adolescencia e incrementar su promoción y retención escolar. Con base en evidencia, el Population Council diseñó guías curriculares que contienen herramientas y ejercicios para las sesiones con niñas y mentoras basados en tres ejes transversales: derechos humanos, perspectiva de género, e interculturalidad y pertinencia. Este documento contiene la hoja de trabajo del Plan de Vida para los participantes en el taller. Más de una década de trabajo demuestra que las niñas adolescentes participantes de …

Abriendo Oportunidades Program: Integrated Curriculum Guide (8 To 17 Years Old)—Two-Year Cycle, Cecilia Garcés, Paola Broll

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The Abriendo Oportunidades program aims to support indigenous girls in Guatemala to reach their maximum potential and overcome the cycle of poverty. The program created safe spaces for girls at the community level, reaching adolescent girls with an asset-based curriculum implemented by community mentors. This is the third version of the curriculum. It was designed to foster reflection and dialogue, sisterhood, and critical thinking among adolescent girls. The first two versions focused on reproductive health, nutrition, hygiene, communication skills, and financial education. Several of the initial topics, as well as some activities from these previous versions, are included in the …

Abriendo Oportunidades: Guía Curricular Integrada 2015, Cecilia Garcés, Paola Broll

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

El programa Abriendo Oportunidades tiene como objetivo apoyar a las niñas indígenas en Guatemala para alcanzar su máximo potencial y superar el ciclo de la pobreza. Esta es la tercera versión de la guía curricular basada en activos, diseñada para ser implementado por mentores de la comunidad. Su objetivo es fomentar la reflexión y el diálogo, la hermandad y el pensamiento crítico entre las adolescentes. La guía curricular se basa en el enfoque de respetar y promover los derechos humanos y la equidad de género. Esta guía es una herramienta valiosa para los programas que buscan integrar la educación integral …

Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (Agep): Program Overview, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

For Zambian girls, social isolation, economic vulnerability, and lack of appropriate health information and services are critical problems that prevent a healthy transition from girlhood to womanhood. The challenges that girls are confronted with—high rates of gender-based violence, unsafe sex that puts girls at risk for unwanted pregnancy and HIV infection, school dropout, lack of economic resources and income-generating options, lack of agency and participation—are linked together through their root causes. Therefore, the solutions must be interconnected as well. Through the Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (AGEP), the Population Council and partners are implementing a social, health, and economic asset-building program …

Curriculum On Adolescent-Friendly Health Services And Health Voucher Mechanisms: Facilitator's Training Manual, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (AGEP) in rural and urban Zambia aims to build social, health, and economic assets of adolescent girls. A safe spaces component is at the core of AGEP. Girls groups, under the guidance of a female mentor from the same community, provide a safe and supportive learning environment. The meetings are critical in building social assets for vulnerable girls—including friendships, self-esteem, trusting relationships with adults, and social support. The training content over the course of the year varies from sexual and reproductive health and life skills to financial education and nutrition training. Girls in AGEP receive …

Adolescent Girls Empowerment Programme: Research And Evaluation Baseline Technical Report, Paul C. Hewett, Karen Austrian, Erica Soler-Hampejsek, Jere R. Behrman, Christine A. Kelly, Dela Kusi-Appouh, Fiammetta Bozzani, Barbara Mensch, Minyoi Maimbolwa

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The theory of change behind the Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (AGEP) posits that adolescent girls are empowered by acquiring social, health, and economic assets. Girls can draw on these assets to reduce vulnerabilities and expand opportunities, thereby increasing their likelihood of completing school, delaying sexual debut, and reducing the risk of early marriage, unintended pregnancy, acquisition of HIV, and so on. AGEP serves vulnerable adolescent girls in Zambia aged 10–19 in two age cohorts: 10–14-year-olds and 15–19-year-olds. AGEP operates in ten “master sites,” five urban and five rural, in four provinces of Zambia. The three core components of AGEP in …

Evaluation Of Health And Education Impacts Of A Girls’ Safe Spaces Program In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Annabel Erulkar, Girmay Medhin

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Approximately one in eight of the world’s population is a girl or young woman aged 10–24 and attention is increasingly focusing on the central role of adolescent girls in achieving global health and development goals. Areas of focus by the development field include girls’ education, health, child marriage, and the experience of violence. This study analyzes the educational and health impacts of a program for slum-dwelling girls, including child domestic workers and rural-urban migrants. Established in 2006, Biruh Tesfa (Bright Future) aimed to increase social networks and support for the most marginalized girls in the poorest urban areas of Ethiopia. …

Safe And Smart Savings Products For Vulnerable Adolescent Girls In Kenya And Uganda: Evaluation Report, Karen Austrian, Eunice N. Muthengi

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The decision to engage in the development of girl-friendly savings accounts was made as part of the Population Council’s work with adolescent girls in Kenya. In June 2008 the Council and MicroSave Consulting started the Safe and Smart Savings Products for Vulnerable Adolescent Girls. Based on the market research and prior experience with developing programs for adolescent girls, a product concept for a group-based savings account was developed, in which the group model was used to address the legal constraints of minors not being able to hold individual accounts. In Kenya and Uganda, two financial institutions were identified, and the …

Conception, Mise En Oeuvre Et Évaluation D'Une Intervention Factuelle Ciblée Au Profit D'Un Sous-Groupe De Filles Vulnérables : Étude De Cas Du Programme Pilote Filles Éveillées Pour Adolescentes Migrantes Employées De Maison Au Burkina Faso Urbain, Sarah Engebretsen

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Il est crucial d’investir dans les adolescentes du monde en développement, où une proportion déjà importante et grandissante de la population tombe dans la catégorie des moins de 24 ans. La recherche a démontré que les défis posés aux filles sont particulièrement lourds aux alentours de la puberté, qu’il s’agisse de l’exclusion des espaces publics (et du manque de sécurité dans ceux accessibles), de la perte du réseau de pairs, de la déscolarisation, de la pression du mariage ou de liaisons comme stratégies de subsistance, ou encore de l’intériorisation de normes de genre préjudiciables. Les investissements consentis doivent l’être aux …

Designing, Implementing, And Evaluating A Targeted, Evidence-Based Intervention For A Vulnerable Subgroup Of Girls: A Case Study Of The Filles Éveillées ("Girls Awakened") Pilot Program For Migrant Adolescent Girls In Domestic Service In Urban Burkina Faso, Sarah Engebretsen

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Investing in adolescent girls is crucial in the developing world where a large and growing proportion of the population is under the age of 24. Research has demonstrated that adolescent girls face serious challenges around the time of puberty including withdrawal from (and lack of safety in) public spaces, loss of peers, leaving school, pressure for marriage or liaisons as livelihood strategies, and internalization of harmful gender norms. Investments need to be made at critical moments in early adolescence. While policymakers and development professionals have acknowledged the need to make investments in the poorest girls in the poorest communities early …