Population Council Research that makes a difference

Girl-Centered Program Design: A Toolkit to Develop, Strengthen & Expand Adolescent Girls Programs

As they make the transition from childhood to adulthood, adolescent girls face poorer health outcomes, are more likely to become infected with HIV, become more socially isolated, are less likely to attend secondary school or to complete it, and have fewer income-generating opportunities than boys. Typically, general programs for youth do not include adolescent girls. In order to reach them, programs must be designed with adolescent girls as the target audience.

This toolkit is meant for those interested in working with adolescent girls ages 10–24. It can be used by anyone who is designing or running a program, someone writing a proposal to work with girls, or staff working directly with girls who need fresh ideas on how to strengthen program activities. It can be used by people who are starting to work with girls in a targeted way for the first time, or those who already have a girls program but are trying to strengthen or expand it.

The toolkit has three main sections: the first focuses on structure, the second on content, and the third on monitoring and evaluation. Within each chapter is an introduction to the topic, examples from existing programs for girls, and practical, user-friendly tools.

We invite you to download the toolkit after you complete a very short survey. You may also proceed directly to the toolkit.

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