Developing Capacity for Targeted, Evidence-based Programming and Asset Building for Adolescent Girls
The Council is helping to build the capacity of NGOs, UN country teams, and government agencies to develop effective health, social, and economic asset-building programs for adolescent girls.
Girls in North Sudan. Photo: Judith Bruce/
Population Council
Adolescent girls are marginalized and often entirely invisible in development policy, yet their role in communities and populations renders them a critical asset to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Of the world’s burgeoning youth population, an estimated 600 million girls between the ages of 10 and 24 live in developing countries. Around the world, adolescent girls are disadvantaged by age and gender, and many in this critical life phase are denied the skills and resources they need to protect and advance themselves.
International donors and development partners have begun to recognize the critical role that prioritizing girls’ needs can play in just and sustainable development and in reaching the MDGs. Yet, while investment in adolescent girls is increasing, the programs and channels on the ground do not yet exist to ensure that girls get the resources they need, leaving an enormous gap between what is legally promised and what is practically achieved.
The Population Council has therefore initiated an effort to help build the capacity of NGOs, UN country teams, and government agencies to develop effective health, social, and economic asset-building programs for adolescent girls.
An important aspect of this work is providing user-friendly tools that assist NGOs, UN country teams, governments, programmers, and advocates in developing targeted programs and policies to address the needs of the most neglected adolescents. These tools include: country-specific adolescent data guides, which are based on the most recent demographic data for each country; country presentation templates, which can be tailored for each setting to make the case for adolescent girls in that country; and information on conducting a coverage exercise, a low-cost, rapid assessment tool that can be used to identify the populations programs or services actually are reaching (see the resources tab for additional information).
As part of this work, the Council is also sponsoring a series of hands-on adolescent girls programming and capacity-building workshops with a competitively selected group of organizations and agencies in sub-Saharan Africa. The workshops are designed to build programming skills, facilitate proposal development, and inform strategic planning on how NGOs and governments can better structure programs to reach and benefit the girls left behind. The goal is to promote and support evidence-based programming and intensive asset-building for girls.
The first workshop was held in November 2008 in Nairobi, Kenya, and brought together 14 organizations from seven African countries. The second was held in Liberia in July 2009 with representatives from 15 organizations from three countries. In 2010, workshops were held in Lusaka, Zambia, and Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Workshop participants have attended from a variety of countries, including Benin, Burkina Faso, Congo-Brazzaville, Ghana, Liberia, Malawi, Niger, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. Additional workshops are scheduled for late 2010 in Latin America and early 2011 in sub-Saharan Africa.
See below for links to key workshop materials.
Adolescent Girls Programming and Capacity-building Workshop
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, 30 April–4 May 2012
Note: All workshop materials are in French
- Workshop presentations
- Key resources
- Conception d'un programme centré sur les filles : Boîte à outils pour l'elaboration, le renforcement et l'expansion de programmes destinés aux adolescentes (more)
- Étude approfondie sur les adolescents : Exploiter les données pour identifier et atteindre les jeunes les plus vulnérables—Burkina Faso 2003 (PDF)
- Un seul programme : Guides et activités pour une approche pédagogique unifiée de la sexualité, du genre, du VIH et des droits humains (more)
- De la recherche à la conception programmatique et à la mise en oeuvre : Programmation à l’intention des filles des milieux ruraux d’Éthiopie—Boîte à outils du praticien (PDF)
- Population : le nouveau défi (PDF)
- Promouvoir des transitions vers l’âge adulte saines, securisées et productives
- Présentation générale (PDF)
- Répondre aux besoins des jeunes filles à risque de mariage précoce et des adolescentes mariées au Burkina Faso (PDF)
- Les programmes de lutte contre le mariage des enfants : cerner le problème (PDF)
- Retarder le mariage précoce chez les filles défavorisées en milieu rural dans la région Amhara, en Éthiopie, grâce au soutien social, à l’éducation et à la sensibilisation des communautés (PDF)
- Biruh Tesfa procure aux employées domestiques, aux orphelines et aux immigrantes des zones urbaines éthiopiennes une assistance sociale, une formation sur le VIH ainsi qu’un programme de développement des compétences (PDF)
- Éducation sexuelle et VIH : il est temps de changer de méthodologie (PDF)
- Les filles sont oubliées : rediriger les interventions en matière de VIH vers les plus vulnérables (PDF)
- Le contexte de l’initiation sexuelle en évolution dans la région subsaharienne de l’Afrique (PDF)
- Élargir l’accès des adolescentes aux espaces sécurisés, à l’éducation financière et aux produits d’épargne au Kenya (PDF)
- Les coûts du mariage — les transactions matrimoniales dans le monde en développement (PDF)
- Pilotage d’un programme visant à sécuriser l’espace et à renforcer les ressources des adolescentes vivant dans les zones urbaines du Ghana (PDF)
Adolescent Girls Programming and Capacity-building Workshop
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, June 2010
Note: All workshop materials are in French
- Workshop agenda (PDF)
- Workshop report (PDF)
- Workshop presentations
- Key resources
- Six questions clés sur le plan de travail pour les adolescentes vulnerable (PDF)
- Etude de cas rural: Outil no 1 (PDF)
- Fiche d'évaluation de la sécurité à compléter par les jeunes filles (PDF)
- Comment mener un exercice de couverture: Outil d’évaluation rapide de programmes et services (PDF)
- Questions clés élaborées à partir des questionnaires en direction des jeunes: Mesurable chez la jeune fille (PDF)
- Modèle de plan-programme (PDF)
- Actifs des jeunes filles (PDF)
- Étude approfondie sur les adolescents: Bénin 2006 (PDF), Burkina Faso 2003 (PDF), Niger 2006 (PDF)
Adolescent Girls Programming and Capacity-building Workshop
Lusaka, Zambia, March 2010
- Workshop agenda (PDF)
- Workshop participants (PDF)
- Workshop presentations
- Key resources
Economic Empowerment of Adolescent Girls Project: Institutional Strengthening Workshop
Monrovia, Liberia, 13–15 July 2009
- Workshop agenda (PDF)
- Workshop presentations
- Workshop report (PDF)
Adolescent Girls Programming and Capacity-building Workshop
Nairobi, Kenya, November 2008
- Workshop agenda (PDF)
- Original call for letters of interest (PDF)
- Workshop participants (PDF)
- Workshop presentations (more)
- Workshop report (PDF)
- Six key program design questions (PDF)
- Key resources
- Country adolescent data guides (more)
- Country presentation templates (more)
- Key resources on adolescent girls (PDF)
- Programming examples (PDFs: Rural Case Study #1; Rural Case Study #2)
- Additional publications/resources
Biruh Tesfa procure aux employées domestiques, aux orphelines et aux immigrantes des zones urbaines éthiopiennes une assistance sociale, une formation sur le VIH ainsi qu'un programme de développement des compétences (PDF)
Erulkar,Annabel S.; Semunegus,Belaynesh; Mekonnen,Gebeyehu
Promouvoir la santé, la sécurité et la productivité transitions vers l'âge adulte document (no. 21)
Publication date: 2011
Biruh Tesfa provides domestic workers, orphans, and migrants in urban Ethiopia with social support, HIV education, and skills (PDF)
Erulkar,Annabel S.; Semunegus,Belaynesh; Mekonnen,Gebeyehu
Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief (no. 21)
Publication date: 2011
Siyakha Nentsha: Building economic, health, and social capabilities among highly vulnerable adolescents in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (PDF)
Hallman,Kelly; Roca,Eva
Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief (no. 4)
Publication date: 2011
Addressing sexual violence and HIV risk among married adolescent girls in rural Nyanza, Kenya (PDF)
Undie,Chi-Chi
Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief (no. 19)
Publication date: 2011
Addressing the needs of girls at risk of early marriage and married adolescent girls in Burkina Faso (PDF)
Engebretsen,Sarah; Kabore,Gisele
Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief (no. 9)
Publication date: 2011
Assessing equity of access in programs for young people (PDF)
Weiner,Adam
Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief (no. 28)
Publication date: 2011
Delaying early marriage among disadvantaged rural girls in Amhara, Ethiopia, through social support, education, and community awareness (PDF)
Muthengi,Eunice; Erulkar,Annabel S.
Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief (no. 20)
Publication date: 2011
Education during humanitarian emergencies: The situation of displaced children and youth in Darfur, Sudan (PDF)
El-Kogali,Safaa
Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief (no. 32)
Publication date: 2011
Élargir l'accès des adolescentes aux espaces sécurisés, à l'éducation financière et aux produits d'épargne au Kenya (PDF)
Austrian,Karen
Promouvoir des transitions vers l'âge adulte saines, sécurisées et productives resumen (no. 29 (Mise à jour janvier 2011))
Publication date: 2011
Empowering adolescent girls in rural Bangladesh: Kishori Abhijan (PDF)
Amin,Sajeda
Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief (no. 13)
Publication date: 2011
Enhancing the benefits of girls' livelihood initiatives (PDF)
Amin,Sajeda
Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief (no. 17)
Publication date: 2011
Equipping Mayan girls to improve their lives (PDF)
Catino,Jennifer; Colom,Alejandra; Ruiz,Marta Julia
Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief (no. 5)
Publication date: 2011
Expanding safe spaces, financial education, and savings for adolescent girls in Kenya (PDF)
Austrian,Karen
Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief (no. 29)
Publication date: 2011
Girls' schooling in developing countries: Highlights from Population Council research (PDF)
Lloyd,Cynthia B.
Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief (no. 24)
Publication date: 2011
Introducing adolescent livelihoods training in the slums of Allahabad, India (PDF)
Grant,Monica J.; Mensch,Barbara S.; Sebastian,Mary Philip
Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief (no. 2)
Publication date: 2011
La educación de las niñas en países en desarrollo: aspectos destacados de la investigación del Population Council (PDF)
Lloyd,Cynthia B.
Promoción de transiciones a la vida adulta sanas, seguras y productivas resumen (no. 24)
Publication date: 2011
Leveling the playing field: Building girls' sports programs and creating new opportunities (PDF)
Brady,Martha
Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief (no. 1)
Publication date: 2011
Preparación de las niñas mayas para mejorar su calidad de vida (PDF)
Catino,Jennifer; Colom,Alejandra; Ruiz,Marta Julia
Promoción de transiciones a la vida adulta sanas, seguras y productivas Resumen (no. 5)
Publication date: 2011
Programs to address child marriage: Framing the problem (PDF)
Amin,Sajeda
Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief (no. 14)
Publication date: 2011
Protecting young people from sex without consent (PDF)
Jejeebhoy,Shireen J.
Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief (no. 7)
Publication date: 2011
Répondre aux besoins des jeunes filles à risque de mariage précoce et des adolescentes mariées au Burkina Faso (PDF)
Engebretsen,Sarah; Kabore,Gisele
Promouvoir des transitions vers l'âge adulte saines, sécurisées et productives resumen (no. 9 (Mise à jour mai 2011))
Publication date: 2011
Retarder le mariage précoce chez les filles défavorisées en milieu rural dans la région Amhara, en Éthiopie, grâce au soutien social, à l'éducation et à la sensibilisation des communautés (PDF)
Muthengi,Eunice; Erulkar,Annabel S.
Promouvoir la santé, la sécurité et la productivité transitions vers l'âge adulte Bulletin (N 20)
Publication date: 2011
Scaling up asset-building programs for marginalized adolescent girls in socially conservative settings: The Ishraq program in rural Upper Egypt (PDF)
Zibani,Nadia; Brady,Martha
Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief (no. 12)
Publication date: 2011
Supporting married girls: Calling attention to a neglected group (PDF)
Santhya,K.G.; Erulkar,Annabel S.
Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief (no. 3)
Publication date: 2011
Using data to identify and reach the most vulnerable young people (PDF)
Weiner,Adam
Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief (no. 10)
Publication date: 2011
Adolescent experience in-depth: Using data to identify and reach the most vulnerable young people (HTML)
Series of 51 data guides by country
Publication date: 2009
Adolescent girls programming and capacity-building workshop, Nairobi, Kenya, November 10-14, 2008: Workshop report (PDF)
Publication date: 2009
Identifying sources of adolescent exclusion due to violence: Participatory mapping in South Africa (PDF)
Kenworthy,Nora; Hallman,Kelly; Diers,Judith A.
Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief (no. 30)
Publication date: 2008
Reaching the girls left behind (abstract)
Bruce,Judith; Hallman,Kelly
Gender and Development 16(2): 227-245
Publication date: 2008
Reforming marriage practices in Bangladesh (PDF)
Amin,Sajeda
Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief (no. 31)
Publication date: 2008
Assessing the multiple disadvantages of Mayan girls: The effects of gender, ethnicity, poverty, and residence on education in Guatemala (PDF)
Hallman,Kelly; Peracca,Sara; Catino,Jennifer; Ruiz,Marta Julia
Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief (no. 16)
Publication date: 2007
Child marriage in the context of the HIV epidemic (PDF)
Bruce,Judith
Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief (no. 11)
Publication date: 2007
Empowering young mothers in India: Results of the First-time Parents Project (PDF)
Santhya,K.G.; Haberland,Nicole
Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief (no. 8)
Publication date: 2007
Girls left behind: Redirecting HIV interventions toward the most vulnerable (PDF)
Bruce,Judith
Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief (no. 23)
Publication date: 2007
Influencing girls' lives: Acceptability and effectiveness of a livelihoods skill building intervention in Gujarat (PDF)
Kalyanwala,Shveta
Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief (no. 18)
Publication date: 2007
Obtaining more accurate and reliable information from adolescents regarding STI/HIV risk behaviors (PDF)
Mensch,Barbara S.; Hewett,Paul C.
Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief (no. 25)
Publication date: 2007
Reaching the girls left behind: Targeting adolescent programming for equity, social inclusion, health, and poverty alleviation (PDF)
Prepared for Financing Gender Equality: A Commonwealth Perspective, Commonwealth Women's Affairs Ministers' Meeting, Uganda, June
Bruce,Judith
Publication date: 2007
Reducing the social exclusion of girls (PDF)
Hallman,Kelly; Roca,Eva
Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief (no. 27)
Publication date: 2007
Sexuality and HIV education: Time for a paradigm shift (PDF)
Haberland,Nicole; Rogow,Deborah
Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief (no. 22)
Publication date: 2007
The changing context of sexual initiation in sub-Saharan Africa (PDF)
Mensch,Barbara S.
Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief (no. 26)
Publication date: 2007
Comment mener un exercice de couverture : Outil d'évaluation rapide de programmes et services [How to conduct a coverage exercise: A rapid assessment tool for programs and services] (PDF)
Meyers,Carey; Lardoux,Solene
Publication date: 2006
Como conduzir um exercício de cobertura: Uma ferramenta para a avaliação rápida de programas e serviços [How to conduct a coverage exercise: A rapid assessment tool for programs and services] (PDF)
Meyers,Carey; Lardoux,Solene
Publication date: 2006
Cómo realizar un ejercicio de cobertura: una herramienta de evaluación rápida para programas y servicios [How to conduct a coverage exercise: A rapid assessment tool for programs and services] (PDF)
Meyers,Carey; Lardoux,Solene
Publication date: 2006
How to conduct a coverage exercise: A rapid assessment tool for programs and services (PDF)
Publication date: 2006
Invertir cuando hacerlo cuenta: Generando la evidencia base para politicas y programas para adolescentes muy jóvenes---Guía y juego de herramientas [Investing when it counts: Generating the evidence base for policies and programmes for very young adolescents--Guide and tool kit] (PDF)
Chong,Erica; Hallman,Kelly; Brady,Martha
Publication date: 2006
Investing when it counts: Generating the evidence base for policies and programmes for very young adolescents--Guide and tool kit (PDF)
Chong,Erica; Hallman,Kelly; Brady,Martha
Publication date: 2006
Tap and Reposition Youth (TRY): Providing social support, savings, and microcredit opportunities for young women in areas with high HIV prevalence (PDF)
Erulkar,Annabel S.; Bruce,Judith; Chong,Erica; Dondo,Aleke; Sebstad,Jennefer; Matheka,James K.; Khan,Arjmand Banu; Gathuku,Anne
Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief (no. 15)
Publication date: 2006
Building assets for safe, productive lives: A report on a workshop on adolescent girls' livelihoods, 7-8 April 2004 (PDF)
Publication date: 2005
A summary of selected DHS data on very young adolescents (PDF) (HTML)
Annex to 'Facts about adolescents from the Demographic and Health Survey-Statistical tables for program planning'
Publication date: 2003
Selected DHS data on 10-14-year-olds (HTML)
Annexes by country to Facts about Adolescents from the Demographic and Health Survey: Statistical Tables for Program Planning
Publication date: 2003
Facts about adolescents from the Demographic and Health Survey: Statistical tables for program planning (HTML)
Series of DHS data tables by country
Publication date: 2001
Project Stats
Location: Liberia, Kenya, Global
Program(s):
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Topic(s):
Financial literacy/livelihoods
Scaling up interventions
Schooling
Social isolation/support
Duration: 1/2008 - ongoing
Population Council researchers:
Karen Austrian
Martha Brady
Judith Bruce
Sarah Engebretsen
Dennitah Ghati
Non-Council collaborators:
Adolescent Girls Working Group, Liberia
Binti Pamoja Center, Kenya
Catherine Maternowska (International Centre for Reproductive Health, Kenya)
Equality Now
Equilibres et Populations
Francesca Reinhardt
Ghislaine Ouedraogo
Jennefer Sebstad
Ministry of Gender and Development, Liberia
Ministry of Youth and Sports, Liberia
Rachel Hermes
Richard Mabala (Tamasha, Tanzania)
TAAAC Coalition
The World Bank
Donors:
Anonymous
Ministry of Gender and Development, Liberia
Nike Foundation
Patridge Foundation
United Nations Population Fund
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