These experiences of poverty, vulnerability, life-cycle changes and crisis are consistently gendered experiences, with women and girls over-represented among those living in poverty globally, and difference in poverty largest when care and domestic responsibilities usually assigned to women are at their peak. For example, women in the 24-34 age group 25% more likely to be in poverty, and female headed households are staggeringly almost 50% more likely to be in extreme poverty than male headed households. COVID-19 has compounded this disadvantage, with feminized employed sectors likely to be the hardest hit during recessions, whilst critical services that respond to gendered needs, experiences and disproportionate care burdens all severely constrained – from GBV response services, to SRHR, to childcare. However, increasingly, we are seeing that social protection can contribute to a range of gender equality outcomes, as well as delivering different gendered results depending on design, implementation choices and context.
But what does the evidence say? What do we know about the impacts of social protection on gendered outcomes relating to education outcomes such as access to schools and learning? What about SRHR outcomes and maternal health – or nutrition? Do we see evidence for impacts on violence against children, gender-based violence, abuse and neglect – and do these differ for girls, boys, women and men? What do we know about the potential impacts of social protection on women’s economic empowerment?
This report provides a concise summary of the findings of a rapid evidence assessment, capturing the recent evidence on whether and how social protection programmes in low and middle-income countries can contribute to gender equality. Critically, the paper summarises evidence with a lifecycle perspective, from infancy through to adulthood. You will find the full report in the drop-down menu, which focuses on evidence relating to social protection and gender organised into four key pillars: (1) Education and Learning; (2) Health & Nutrition; (3) Child Protection & GBV and (4) Economic Empowerment. Readers also have the option to download ‘mini’ papers extracting the findings for each pillar.
]]>In considering the broader evidence on what works in supporting marginalised girls’ education, this report focuses on those that could be facilitated, through use of education technology, to support continuation of girls’ learning in a context of school closures and to support their return to school once they reopen.
Given that the most marginalised girls have very little access to education technology, and that this access will be further limited by school closures, this report includes strategies that require some face-to-face contact (for example, home visits, girls’ club meetings), that can be facilitated or monitored using technology.
Evidence on how education technology solutions can support learning among marginalised groups (including children with disabilities, special educational needs, and populations affected by conflict and crisis) during the Covid-19 pandemic is covered in other papers in this series (see #3 and #4). This paper therefore focuses in particular at addressing the gendered barriers to learning experienced by girls.
]]>DFID commissioned an independent global review of the GEC programme of which WWW was a part. This used a particularly rigorous evaluation methodology including a randomised controlled
trial comparison of the performance of the girls that we supported, with a control group of girls outside the programme. The DFID independent evaluation identified WWW as one of the most effective GEC projects in the world. Not only did many girls re-engage in education but the academic achievements of the girls in school were particularly impressive.
The overall objective of this assignment is a focus on component one and ensuring that SAGE redesign and implementation plans are based on a thorough understanding of the evidence base on adolescent girls’ empowerment and the Sierra Leonean context.
The methodology used combined a desk review of documentation and extensive stakeholder consultations to collect information about adolescent girls’ programmes. Eliciting the views of the adolescent girls themselves was a priority.
Together with information gathered at national level, five programmes (delivered by BRAC, Concern Worldwide, Matei Empowerment Programme for Sustainable Development, IRC and Save the Children) in various areas of Sierra Leone were used as case studies, explored extensively through two field missions. Insights into smaller relevant programmes are provided through findings from a round table conversation with civil society members of the Salone Adolescent Girls Network and the results of a short follow-up questionnaire.
Some key findings of the report are:
Overall, rather than seeking to create a totally new programme, our recommendation is that SAGE build on and broaden existing programmes and structures, introducing additional or new approaches and interventions where there are gaps either in geographical coverage or approach.
Annexes, which include additional data analysis from the short questionnaire and consultations with stakeholders, can be accessed here.
Suggested citation:
Roseveare, C. M. and Lavaly, S. (2018). Support to Sierra Leone Adolescent Girls’ Empowerment (SAGE) Programme: Scoping and Design Report. London, UK: High-Quality Technical Assistance for Results (HEART).
For young girls in developing countries, not knowing how to manage their periods can hinder access to education. Research from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, demonstrates that in rural Uganda, providing free sanitary products and lessons about puberty to girls may increase their attendance at school.
Period poverty
In many poor communities, menstruation is still often seen as an embarrassing, shameful, and dirty process. Such taboos around the topic mean many adolescent girls are often unprepared for their periods and how to manage them. Less than half of girls in lower- and middle-income countries have access to basics such as sanitary towels or tampons, soap and water, or facilities to change, clean, or dispose of hygiene products.In Uganda, only 22 per cent of girls are enrolled in secondary schools, compared with 91 per cent in primary schools, with those living in rural areas being the least likely group to go to school. Researchers believe that the cost of hygiene products and the difficulties in managing periods play a key role in keeping girls out of school.
Free sanitary products and puberty lessons can improve attendance
Over 24 months, a trial was conducted in partnership with Plan International Uganda across eight schools, involving 1,008 girls, in Uganda’s Kamuli District, an area that had been observed as having low learning levels, as well as gender disparity in health and education.The research tested whether school attendance improved when girls were given (a) reusable sanitary pads, (b) adolescent reproductive health education, (c) neither, or (d) a combination of both. Girls were provided with AFRIpads, a washable, reusable cloth pad produced in Uganda, and locally-trained community health nurses held sessions that covered changes which occur during puberty, menstruation, and early pregnancy, and on the prevention of HIV.Researchers found that better sanitary care and reproductive health education for poor schoolgirls, delivered over two years, did appear to improve attendance. On average, girls increased their attendance by 17 per cent, which equates to 3.4 days out of every 20 days.
The research project has significantly strengthened awareness that sanitary pad provision and puberty education are both vital in improving attendance. Even in the absence of resources to provide sanitary pads, the research recommends that inclusion of adequate and gender-sensitive puberty education in the school curriculum can improve attendance.
Organisations such as UNICEF and CARE have used the evidence to identify solutions to barriers to girls’ schooling associated with puberty. The project collaborated with Save the Children, UNESCO, WaterAid, and AFRIpads to lobby for menstrual hygiene management to be included as an indicator in post-2015 sustainability goals.
Further collaborations building on the evidence have included working with Save the Children on how to link the distribution of sanitary care to their West African programmes, and with UNESCO on effective programming in puberty education and menstrual hygiene management.
Ghana’s Deputy Minister of Education referenced the research when defending the decision to allocate part of the country’s 2014 World Bank loan to providing sanitary pads for female students in need. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa stated that when adolescent girls are unable to take proper care of themselves during the menstruation period, it affects their confidence, which eventually keeps them out of school.
Female hygiene on the global agenda
The research team continues to use the results as part of a push to promote female hygiene onto the global development agenda. The findings featured in preparatory documents for the WHO/ UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme indicators for menstrual hygiene management, and have been cited in the UNESCO Puberty Education & Menstrual Hygiene Management report, which aims to promote sexuality education as part of skills-based health education for young people.
The impact of the research has the potential for addressing psychosocial wellbeing, dignity, comfort, and ability to manage menstruation without shame, which are all essential for girls responding to the challenges presented by menstruation in low-income contexts.
The project, ‘Menstruation and the Cycle of Poverty: Does the provision of sanitary pads improve the attendance and educational outcomes of girls in school?’ was funded by ESRC-DFID’s Joint Fund for Poverty Alleviation Research. It was led by Catherine Dolan, SOAS, University of London; Paul Montgomery, University of Birmingham; and Linda Scott, Chatham House. The research was carried out in partnership with Plan International Uganda, with the assistance of Julie Hennegan, Johns Hopkins University; Maryalice Wu, University of Illinois; and Laurel Steinfield, Bentley University.
References:
This blog was originally posted on UKFIET on 4 April 2018. Reposted with permission.
]]>The brief highlights that globally, only one in four refugee adolescents are in secondary school, with large numbers of young refugees, a majority of them girls, out of school. In many refugee operations, secondary education services are meeting a fraction of the demand. In Dadaab camps in Kenya for example, there are 33 primary schools, but only seven secondary schools, running at double their capacity to accommodate just 13 per cent of the adolescent population. In 2015, UNHCR aimed to spend just 13 per cent of its total education budget on secondary education, about one-third of spending allocated for primary education. Where resources are constrained, the common practice in operations has been to give priority to supporting primary education, resulting in chronic neglect of secondary education services for refugees.
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