Designing programmes for girls

Designing programmes for girls

3. inTroDUCTion

4. WHiCH girls To TargeT anD WHY9. VenUe anD DeliVerY

15. ConTenT21. reCrUiTing girls

28. leaDersHip anD menToring34. moniToring anD eValUaTion

ConTenTs

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inTroDUCTion3

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To unlock their potential and unleash the girl effect, programmes targeting adolescent girls need to place them at the centre of each and every programme decision.

This guide will help you to find the right content and tools to enhance your programme and deliver more for girls.

The Population Council has published a range of toolkits with guidance on how to kick-start programmes and use data to keep girls at the centre of decisions about programme recruitment strategies, venues and delivery. This guide helps you identify the right toolkits for your work and gives you case studies of real-life examples that have put girl-centred programming into practice.

Today there are 250 million adolescent girls living in poverty in the developing world. They are the most powerful force for positive change in their own lives, as well as in their families, communities and the world at large.

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All girls are not the same. Understanding the differences between girls and their situations will change the way you design your programme and deliver content. When you start with data, the picture emerges of how different girls are from one another. Understanding what data tells you about them will inform what they need and the appropriate strategies you can implement to meet those needs.

Some key indicators or information about girls – such as school, marital status, employment and parental status, who they live with and their social support – are foundational pieces of information. When put together, they will inform the choices you make about your programme design and delivery.

Here are some specific indicators to consider. Cross-referencing the information from the table below can highlight groups of girls or their situations that deserve programme attention. For example, a population in which a significant percentage of girls have never been to school, or one in which only low levels of school attainment are reached, gives you clues about what girls might need, and what strategies you need to effectively engage with them.

When designing an evidence-based programme, start by gathering data, conducting analysis of different kinds of data to understand the situation, and then apply your findings to build an effective programme.

1.WHiCH girls To TargeT anD WHY

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KeY aspeCTs KeY inDiCaTors

Citizenship and

registration

⊲ Percentage with registered birth

⊲ Percentage with an identity card

(of any type)

Families and living

arrangements

⊲ Percentage living with both parents, one parent or no parents

⊲ Percentage who are orphaned

⊲ Percentage living in other arrangements (eg with husbands, in-laws,

employers etc)

Schooling ⊲ Percentage who are in school

⊲ Percentage who started school on time (age 7)

⊲ Mean years of educational attainment

⊲ Percentage who completed a schooling cycle (primary or secondary)

Social networks,

participation and

time use

⊲ Percentage with friends/no friends

⊲ Percentage who socialised in the past week/month

⊲ Percentage who belong to a club or group

⊲ Percentage who visited a peer educator, youth centre, health facility or

religious institution in the past month

⊲ Mean hours spent in school, paid work, unpaid work, socialising/

recreation, rest

TAble: Key AspecTs of girls’ lives And relATed indicATors Used in progrAmme developmenTTAble soUrced from:

“From Research, To Programme Design, To

Implementation: Programming For Rural Girls in Ethiopia,

A Toolkit For Practitioners” popcouncil.org/pdfs/2011PGY_

EthiopiaGirlsProgramToolkit.pdf

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KeY aspeCTs KeY inDiCaTors

Work, paid and unpaid ⊲ Percentage who have ever worked for pay

⊲ Type of paid work, hours and wages

⊲ Mean hours spent in unpaid domestic or farm work

Sexual activity*

*Note: this can be a very

sensitive topic area and expert

support should be sought when

considering collecting new

information on these indicators.

⊲ Percentage who are sexually experienced

⊲ Percentage who have had non-consensual sex

⊲ Percentage who use condoms and/or other family planning

Partnership, marriage ⊲ Percentage who have ever been married

⊲ Mean age at marriage and percentage who married by age

15 and 18

⊲ Percentage who had arranged marriages

⊲ Age difference with husband

TAble: Key AspecTs of girls’ lives And relATed indicATors Used in progrAmme developmenT(conTinUed)

TAble soUrced from:

“From Research, To Programme Design, To

Implementation: Programming For Rural Girls in Ethiopia,

A Toolkit For Practitioners” popcouncil.org/pdfs/2011PGY_

EthiopiaGirlsProgramToolkit.pdf

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cAse sTUdy: idenTifying mArried AdolescenT girls As A focUs for progrAmmes

Managers from the Population Council and the Ministry of Youth and

Sports used these surveys to explore who may have been among the most vulnerable groups of youths in these areas. They surmised that if a younger adolescent in the 10-14 age group was out of school, this would probably reflect a young person in a very vulnerable situation. In both rural and urban areas, girls were more likely to be out of school than boys (reference A in footnotes)

When examining who was most likely to be out of school, they

identified two groups. In rural areas, married adolescents were the most likely, while, in urban areas, it was rural-urban migrants, many of whom were domestic workers. Further analysis revealed that both of these groups were extremely socially isolated, with a large proportion reporting having no friends. As a result, the Population Council and the Ministry of Youth and Sports started to develop programmes for married adolescent girls and rural-urban migrants/child domestic workers.

in 2002, the population council started to develop programmes for adolescents in ethiopia. managers knew at the outset that they were interested in developing programmes for the most disadvantaged young people. As a result, they selected disadvantaged communities in urban and rural areas to conduct formative research on adolescents. in 2003, surveys were undertaken among adolescent girls and boys in the slum area of merkato, in Addis Ababa, and poor rural areas of Amhara region, the second-largest region in ethiopia.

cAse sTUdy soUrced from:

“From Research, To Programme Design, To Implementation: Programming For Rural Girls In Ethiopia, A Toolkit For Practitioners” popcouncil.org/pdfs/2011PGY_EthiopiaGirlsProgramToolkit.pdf

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essenTiAl ToolKiTsfor more tools and information to help you define ‘which girls and why’ for your programme and use data to allocate funds effectively, download the following population council toolkits:

From Research, To Programme Design, To Implementation: Programming For Rural Girls In Ethiopia, A Toolkit For Practitioners popcouncil.org/pdfs/2011PGY_EthiopiaGirlsProgramToolkit.pdf

Using Data To See And Select The Most Vulnerable Girls popcouncil.org/pdfs/2012PGY_GirlsFirst_Data.pdf

Ethical Approaches To Gathering Information From Children And Adolescents in International Settings popcouncil.org/pdfs/horizons/childrenethics.pdf

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gathering and using data and information about the girls you want to reach will aid you in selecting a venue and designing delivery strategies that have the best chance of working for them.

2. VenUe anD DeliVerY (anD WHY DaTa maTTers)

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venUegirls need a place to meet. To help you select a place, gather existing information and data about where the girls whom you want to attend your programme currently spend their time, and which routes they travel on. you can use existing data, or engage girls directly, to help you understand where they are and are not spending their time, as well as which places and routes are safe and unsafe.

Programmes often meet at places that girls already visit, such as school. But for girls who are more isolated – eg girls who are not in school, are married or are domestic workers – adapting a local venue for your programme is a more effective strategy. If your programme is a media programme, think about how and where girls might come together around that media (on their own or with your support) and what you can do to make that experience positive, safe and productive for them.

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Has no friends

Never married Ever married

Best friend is a relative

Best friend is a non-relative

Lives with no parents

deliverygiving girls what they need can be done through different modalities, such as media, institutions or community structures, and then by different individuals, such as a peer, mentor, teacher or another kind of service-delivery professional.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Look at what data tells you about the girls – particularly their friendships, social-group membership and who they live with – to inform how you might deliver activities and content.

For example, social network data is available. The chart to the right shows data from rural girls on friendship networks and co-residence with parents.

Chart: Using social network data to suggest programmatic strategies for rural Ethiopian girls, age 12-19

7

58

35

1017

54

29

29

soUrce:

Ethiopia Young Adult Survey (2009); weighed data

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researCH finDing CHaraCTerisTiC refleCTeD or sUggesTeD progammaTiC impliCaTion eXample of

programme sTraTegY

FRIENDS

1 About 1 in 10 rural girls has no friends; 1 in 5 married girls

Social networks for rural girls are focused on family members

Peer education may be ineffective among rural girls who have few friends/peers outside the home

Build girls’ peer networks outside the home: create girls’ clubs where girls can meet other girls outside of their family2 Among girls with friends,

most are within the family

PARENTS

3 Most married girls live away from parents

Married girls may lack a caring adult in their lives

Parent-child approaches will not reach married girls and, regardless of marital status, girls need a caring adult

Build relationship with a caring adult who can advocate on their behalf: use mentors rather than peers

By applying this data to how you make decisions, you can follow a deductive process, like the one below, to select how you might deliver content in the programme.

SOURCE: “From Research, To Programme Design, To Implementation: Programming For Rural Girls In Ethiopia, A Toolkit For Practitioners” popcouncil.org/pdfs/2011PGY_EthiopiaGirlsProgramToolkit.pdf

delivery (conTinUed)

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cAse sTUdy: Using The sTATUre of menTors To breAK doWn resisTAnceMeserete Hiwot (Amharic for ‘Basis for Life’) is a mentor-led programme for married or divorced teen girls in the rural Amhara Region of Ethiopia, implemented by the Amhara Regional Bureau of Women, Children and Youth (formerly the Amhara Regional Bureau of Youth and Sports). The mentors are women recruited from the local community and are frequently local leaders, well known in the location. Married teen girls are often strictly controlled by their husbands or in-laws, with some family members limiting her relationships with friends or affiliations to other social groups. Meserete Hiwot managers anticipated that using high-status mentors, rather than peer educators, would be an effective strategy in convincing resistant families to allow girls to attend meetings.

Monitoring studies from Meserete Hiwot reflect the added value of mentors in breaking down barriers to participation:“[At first] my husband didn’t allow me to attend the meeting. Our mentor dealt with my husband and convinced him in private...” (Married girl, North Gondar zone, 21, no education, one child)


“From Research, To Programme Design, To Implementation: Programming For Rural Girls in Ethiopia, A Toolkit For Practitioners” popcouncil.org/pdfs/2011PGY_EthiopiaGirlsProgramToolkit.pdf

mY moTHer Was noT HappY. sHe WanTeD me To sell liqUor raTHer THan aTTenD THe meeTings. i broUgHT THe menTor To ConVinCe mY moTHer anD also UseD To Tell Her aboUT THe informaTion We CoVereD DUring THe meeTings.” (Divorced girl, West Gojjam zone, 18, three years’ education,

no children)

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essenTiAl ToolKiTsfor more tools and information to help you to use data about adolescent girls to inform decisions about the programme structure, download the following population council toolkits:

Girl-centred Programme Design: A Toolkit To Develop, Strengthen & Expand Adolescent Girls Programmes popcouncil.org/pdfs/2010PGY_AdolGirlToolkitComplete.pdf

From Research, To Programme Design, To Implementation: Programming For Rural Girls In Ethiopia, A Toolkit For Practitioners popcouncil.org/pdfs/2011PGY_EthiopiaGirlsProgramToolkit.pdf

Priorities For Adolescent Girls’ Education – educational policies, approaches and programmes to support adolescent girls in school popcouncil.org/pdfs/2012PGY_GirlsFirst_Education.pdf

Ethical Approaches To Gathering Information From Children And Adolescents In International Settings popcouncil.org/pdfs/horizons/childrenethics.pdf

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The content girls receive should respond to what they need, rather than the problems they face. focusing on what girls need will lead you to thinking about a transformative programme design, rather than a reactive, problem-oriented programme. girls are the experts on their own lives and situations, and listening to them can offer you useful insights. That, combined with effective practices, will increase the chances of your programme delivering impact.

3. ConTenT

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lisTen To WhAT girls hAve To sAyAdolescent girls have unique insights into their own lives. They are best positioned to speak about their aspirations and the barriers they face, and can offer inspiring solutions.

Girl-centred design includes listening to what girls ask for directly and gaining insights from their stories to inform programme decisions. This requires giving girls the space to make direct requests and also to share stories so you can identify areas of support that they may need, but won’t ask for directly. For example, a girl may not ask directly for services to respond to violence in her life, but her stories may be filled with instances of violence that highlight a need. Using participatory methods and building girls’ leadership skills through your learning process can be a win-win approach.

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besT And promising prAcTicesprofessional opinion and specialist knowledge are critical in guiding programme content selection. young people may not always know what is best for them, emotionally or developmentally.

For example, girls who have not been socialised to address adult men may not know they require skills to do so; girls who lack birth certificates may not be aware of them in the first place.

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soCial asseTs HUman asseTs

⊲ Social networks

⊲ Group membership

⊲ Relationship of trust

⊲ Access to wider institutions

of society

⊲ Skills and knowledge

⊲ Good health

⊲ Ability to work

⊲ Financial education

⊲ Self-esteem

⊲ Bargaining power

⊲ Autonomy

⊲ Control over decisions

pHYsiCal asseTs finanCial asseTs

⊲ Personal assets (clothing, jewellery,

household items)

⊲ Land

⊲ Housing

⊲ Transport

⊲ Tools equipment and other

productive assets

⊲ Cash

⊲ Savings

⊲ Entitlements

delivering AsseTsAssets reduce vulnerability and expand opportunities. research has shown that the more assets young people have, the more likely they are to thrive. Assets can include:

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programme aCTiViTies THaT bUilD: soCial asseTs

programme aCTiViTies THaT bUilD: HUman asseTs

⊲ Group formation

⊲ Social support

⊲ Development of social networks

⊲ Mentoring

⊲ Life-skills training

⊲ Health education

⊲ Literacy programmes

⊲ Financial education

⊲ Rights education

⊲ Employability training

⊲ Vocational/skills training

⊲ Business development training

⊲ Business internships/attachments

programme aCTiViTies THaT bUilD: pHYsiCal asseTs

programme aCTiViTies THaT bUilD: finanCial asseTs

⊲ Access to tools or equipment for

businesses

⊲ Safe physical space to meet

⊲ Safe place to work

⊲ Savings

⊲ Credit

⊲ Remittance services

⊲ Other financial services

here is an example of programme activities that can be used to build girls’ assets:

delivering AsseTs

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essenTiAl ToolKiTsfor more tools and information to help spread the word about your programme and get girls on board, download the following population council toolkits:



The Health Of Vulnerable Adolescent Girls: A Strategic Investment For Double Return – ideas and innovations to help guide the field to better respond to, and maximise, the potential of the poorest girls in the poorest communities popcouncil.org/pdfs/2012PGY_GirlsFirst_Health.pdf

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When girls begin puberty, their world starts to shrink and they are increasingly isolated. Many don’t have access to school, media or social networks that allow them to connect with others and learn about themselves and the world. Recruitment strategies need to be tailored to the girls you want to reach, because different strategies will attract different girls. No single method will attract all girls.

4. reCrUiTing girls

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reCrUiTmenT meTHoDs1. THroUgH THe CommUniTY

hoW

Mobilise community leaders – such as chiefs or elders, local government leaders, staff from community

organisations, religious leaders and teachers – to recruit girls to participate in the programme. For example, you can work with community leaders to organise a meeting at which you can explain the programme, ask them to identify appropriate girls in the community to participate and encourage parents to enrol their daughters.

pros

Gains buy-in and support from community leaders at the start of the programme

Can be cost-effective

cons

Community leaders may not agree with you about who is the ‘right girl’ for the programme

May fail to reach marginalised girls who are not already connected to existing infrastructure in their communities – eg out-of-school girls or girls who are not known by community leaders

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reCrUiTmenT meTHoDs2. meDia

hoW

Advertise and introduce key information about the programme through effective media in the

community, such as flyers or radio. Flyers can be posted in strategic places such as schools, markets, churches/mosques etc. Radio stations can feature advertisements about the programme or interview staff and participants from your programme.

pros

Can reach vulnerable and isolated girls who may not be reached by other recruitment strategies

Radio can reach a large number of people

cons

Flyers and radio don’t target specific profiles of girls

Flyers don’t reach girls who can’t read

Radio can be costly

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reCrUiTmenT meTHoDs3. Door To Door

hoW

Have programme staff and/or volunteers go to every household in the target area of the programme to

identify adolescent girls who fit the profile of your target beneficiaries. If there are adolescent girls in the household, staff and volunteers should talk to parents and girls to explain the programme, its benefits and why the girl should attend.

pros

Reaches vulnerable, isolated girls who are not likely to be reached by other recruitment strategies

Directly engages girls – and their parents – who may not automatically think a programme is for them

cons

Time consuming

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reCrUiTmenT meTHoDs4. WorD of moUTH

hoW

This strategy relies on girls who already participate in your programme and staff members spreading the

word within their communities.

The girls are encouraged to bring other girls with them to participate.

pros

Achieves a linked group of girls

Is low- or no-cost

Doesn’t draw on programme personnel

Uses local resources and connections

cons

May be hard to expand membership beyond existing networks

Relies on others to do the recruiting

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cAse sTUdy: sAfe And smArT sAvings prodUcTs for vUlnerAble AdolescenT girls in KenyA And UgAndA

Faulu-Kenya, a partner microfinance institution that offers the Princess Account for girls aged 10-19, aimed to mobilise 500 girls to open accounts and join savings groups during the pilot period. Faulu used a mix of recruitment strategies: holding meetings with community leaders to announce the product and asking them to send girls who were interested; gaining approval of religious leaders and then advertising the programme after the religious service; meeting with current clients who were parents of adolescent girls;

going to youth-serving organisations, churches/mosques and schools in the area; and going door to door to talk to girls and their guardians about joining savings groups. Even when the formal recruitment stopped, existing Princess Account holders would bring their friends to the group meetings to open accounts themselves.

The population council, in partnership with microsave consulting ltd, manages a programme that is developing and rolling out savings accounts for girls.


“Girl-centred Programme Design: A Toolkit To Develop, Strengthen & Expand Adolescent Girls Programmes” popcouncil.org/pdfs/2010PGY_AdolGirlToolkitComplete.pdf

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essenTiAl ToolKiTsfor more tools and information to help spread the word about your programme and get girls on board, download the following population council toolkits:



The Health Of Vulnerable Adolescent Girls: A Strategic Investment For Double Return – ideas and innovations to help guide the field to better respond to, and maximise, the potential of the poorest girls in the poorest communities popcouncil.org/pdfs/2012PGY_GirlsFirst_Health.pdf

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A girl needs leadership skills – the kind that enable her to make healthy decisions, work toward life goals, take action for what is important to her and positively influence her world.

Girl-centred programmes use simple, purposeful strategies to regularly exercise girls’ leadership skills: for example, asking girls to set and monitor their own ground rules for behaviours during programme sessions. Activities need to be delivered in ways that give girls the chance to practise analysis, planning, influencing and working together; sometimes within a safe space and, if appropriate, sometimes outside of a safe space. It’s about creating opportunities for girls to find their voice, gain confidence and practise making choices, as individuals and with others.

Gaining access to a female mentor or a group leader (who is a little older, but not so old she can’t identify with them) who is from and lives in the same community is a game-changer for girls. They need a caring adult who is their champion and can help raise their status, particularly if they live in a more traditional community where their status is typically very low. Girl-centred programmes articulate the desired profile of a mentor – including the characteristics and skills they would bring – and offer structured training, supervision, support and, ideally, compensation for the hours mentors are involved.

A powerful way to combine building girls’ leadership skills and providing access to a mentor is the cascading leadership model. This is a promising model that has been used in diverse settings across the world.

5. leaDersHip anD menToring

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iT looKs liKe THis

naTional / regional sUpporTnaTional / regional sUpporT CommUniTY-leVel inTerVenTion

menTors (programme graDUaTes)

girl leaDers anD inTerns

girls (ages 13-17)

girls (ages 8-12)

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Older adolescent girls and young women from the community can be recruited and trained as mentors

Adolescent girls participating in the programme can take on increasingly senior leadership roles over the lifecycle of the programme, and can eventually transition from participants to mentors

cAscAding leAdershipin the cascading leadership model, older adolescent girls and young women (aged 18-30) are trained to mentor younger girls in the programme. This can be done in two ways:

In most cases you can assume it will be necessary to recruit older adolescent girls and young women from the community to be mentors at the start of a programme.

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cAse sTUdy: The binTi pAmojA cenTre

In 2006, the first group of graduates went through a training programme that strengthened their skills in facilitation, group development, communication and conflict resolution. The responsibility of the mentor-alumnus was to recruit girls into the group; locate a place in the community to meet, plan and facilitate the weekly meetings; provide support and guidance to the girls in their group; and spend the monthly group budget appropriately. Alumni are provided with a small salary and meet on a monthly basis for supervision meetings with the Binti Pamoja staff.

Within a year, the Safe Spaces programme at Binti Pamoja had grown to 20 alumni and 10 groups. Two alumni were hired as part-time field officers to monitor and support the alumni and Safe Spaces groups.

With each year, the Safe Spaces programme has continued to grow. Girls finish Binti’s core programme, become alumni and start their own girls’ groups in the community. Village co-ordinators have been recruited, each responsible for a specific geographical area in Kibera in which they oversee four to six groups. They help the alumni in their area with recruitment, identifying spaces to meet, monitoring group content and planning events and training.

Through a cascading leadership model, Binti Pamoja has been able to grow from a programme of 40 girls meeting in one location in Kibera to a programme of more than 1,000 girls, 30 groups (15-25 girls per group), 75 alumni in some leadership capacity and a reach into every village within Kibera.

binti pamoja (swahili for ‘daughters United’) is a programme for adolescent girls aged 10-19 in the Kibera slum of nairobi, Kenya. The programme started with a core group of 15 girls and then grew to two groups. As these girls grew up within the programme, they were ready to ‘graduate’ and take on leadership roles, and the programme could be expanded into the community.


“Girl-centred Programme Design: A Toolkit To Develop, Strengthen & Expand Adolescent Girls Programmes” popcouncil.org/pdfs/2010PGY_AdolGirlToolkitComplete.pdf

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THe sTrUCTUrebinTi pamoJa sTaff

programme offiCer anD assisTanT programme offiCer

fielD offiCer (2)

soCial WorKer (2)

Core programme (60 girls)

Village CoorDinaTor

Village CoorDinaTor

Village CoorDinaTor

Village CoorDinaTor

Village CoorDinaTor

alUmini (60)

30 safe spaCes groUps (600 girls)

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essenTiAl ToolKiTsfor more tools and information on how to engage mentors and develop the leadership skills of girls, download the following toolkits:


The Power To Lead: A Leadership Model For Adolescent Girls – focusing on girls aged 10 to 14 years and developing their leadership skills care.org/campaigns/2009/downloads/sigprog_pw_leadership.pdf

Girls’ Leadership And Mentoring – how to provide role models for young girls, empower and strengthen older girls and challenge outmoded community norms popcouncil.org/pdfs/2012PGY_GirlsFirst_Leadership.pdf

It’s Her Business: A Handbook For Preparing Young At-Risk Women To Become Entrepreneurs itsherbusiness.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/ItsHerBusiness.pdf

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To maximise learning and achieve effective evolution of your programme, it should be monitored from a range of perspectives, using a variety of data to reflect those insights.

6. moniToring anD eValUaTion

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lisTen – leArn – AcT

plan to learn – and evolve your programme as you learn more about girls, their situations and how they interact with the programme. frequent monitoring of programmes at the field or community level gives valuable insight into which girls you are reaching, through which activities. you will never truly understand how it is functioning from second-hand reports.

Field-level visits, through which you connect with girls and staff, are critical. Capturing qualitative and quantitative information will be important to gain a more complete picture of what is happening as a result of the programme.

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QUAliTATive

When connecting with girls, you’ll need to find creative ways of discovering what works for them and what doesn’t, and to gain insight into the kinds of changes they are experiencing because of the programme.

Because girls will often hesitate to criticise or say something negative about the programme, or to openly identify something that is of concern to them, you’ll want to develop some participatory tools and creative ways of asking

questions to understand what’s happening. To ensure the important details that provide insight aren’t lost during monitoring visits, try to capture responses to questions in their entirety. The detail will be important for reflection and for retaining the crucial facts that can offer insight into what is really happening.

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QUAnTiTATive

monitoring information will help you to discover if you are reaching the girls you intended to reach, and to understand patterns of participation. it’s important to track the number of participants, their demographic profile and the patterns of their participation or what programmatic inputs they received.

A participant register is a simple and effective way of doing this. You should include only the information you might need to know about the girls you want to reach. You can record individual participants and their details, rather than just estimating the total number of participants, for each activity. Individual records are extremely important because they allow managers to analyse characteristics of participants and patterns of participation among different groups of members – and to evolve the programme accordingly.

Your programme can help girls be counted officially – or obtain identification – either through:

Assisting with obtaining formal documents such as birth certificates or national IDs

Providing programme IDs that are recognised locally, which can help girls access formal institutions of society and perhaps, at a later stage, be used to obtain official ID

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cAse sTUdy: Using QUAliTATive moniToring To sUggesT improvemenTs To The progrAmme

QUESTION: What is your experience with disabled girls in the programme?Mentors’ responses to this question were all very similar and showed the challenges faced by disabled girls. Below is the actual response from one of the Biruh Tesfa mentors: ANSWER: Once I registered a girl with polio. Her parents were very poor and she didn’t have a wheelchair or crutches... After coming to the programme for a few days, she stopped coming and her parents said she couldn’t come on her own. (Addis Ababa mentor)

As a result, Biruh Tesfa managers understood they needed to devote more attention to improving the access for, and increasing the participation of, girls with disabilities. Ramps were constructed at the meeting places, making them more accessible for girls with disabilities. Funding was set aside to provide taxis or companions for girls with disabilities. A new partnership was formed with a local disabilities organisation to include disabled mentors and to intensify recruitment and support of girls with disabilities.

biruh Tesfa (meaning ‘bright future’ in Amharic) is a girls’ programme in ethiopia that mobilises extremely poor, out-of-school girls into groups, led by an adult female mentor. every six months, programme managers use a tool similar to Tool 3.1 (see appendix) to monitor girls’ perceptions and mentors’ experiences of the programme. between 10 and 20 girls are interviewed, as well as five to 10 mentors. biruh Tesfa managers use the occasion to explore new areas for expansion or programme modification, and adapt the questions each time to elicit different types of information. in one round of monitoring interviews, managers added the following question to the questionnaire for mentors:


“Girl-centred Programme Design: A Toolkit To Develop, Strengthen & Expand Adolescent Girls Programmes” popcouncil.org/pdfs/2010PGYAdolGirlToolkitComplete.pdf

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essenTiAl ToolKiTsfor more tools and information to help monitor the success of your programme and to identify areas for improvement, download the following toolkits:


From Research, To Programme Design, To Implementation: Programming for Rural Girls in Ethiopia, A Toolkit For Practitioners popcouncil.org/pdfs/2011PGY_EthiopiaGirlsProgramToolkit.pdf

Ethical Approaches To Gathering Information From Children And Adolescents In International Settings

popcouncil.org/pdfs/horizons/childrenethics.pdf

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qUanTiTiVe Tool THis Tool Can be UseD To ColleCT formaTiVe researCH on girls

qUesTion nUmber

qUesTion

1. ⊲ Are you younger than 18? ☐ Yes (go to Q2) ☐ No (go to Q5)

2. ⊲ Do you live with a parent or legal guardian? ☐ Yes (go to Q3) ☐ No (go to Q5)

3. ⊲ May we request that your parent or guardian give you permission to participate in this study?

☐ Yes (go to Q4) ☐ No (go to Q6)

4. ⊲ If yes, your parents or guardian will not be informed of your study results, and they will remain confidential, and your parent or legal guardian has to read (or be read) and sign the following declaration.

I, the signed, am the parent or legal guardian of the person being invited to participate in the study. I have read the informed consent or have had the informed consent read to me, was given an opportunity to clarify and ask any questions I have regarding the study, and I give permission for my child or legal ward to participate in the study

Signature ............................................................

Date ...................................

The following tools can be used to collect feedback on the programme from the girls, as well as registration and activity forms that you can print out and use.

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qUanTiTiVe Tool THis Tool Can be UseD To ColleCT formaTiVe researCH on girls (ConTinUeD)

qUesTion nUmber

qUesTion

5. ⊲ If no, do you feel it is necessary to not inform your parents or legal guardian for your own protection?

☐ Yes (go to Q6) ☐ No (END)

6. ⊲ Do you have any questions? (Note the questions) ☐ Yes ☐ No

7. ⊲ Are you willing to participate in this study? ☐ Yes ☐ No

⊲ If you have any doubts or questions in the future, you may contact the study investigator at (TELEPHONE NUMBER)

I, the signed interviewer, have explained to the respondent in a language she understands, and she understands the procedures to be followed in the study and the risks and benefits involved.

Signature ............................................................

Date ...................................

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qUesTion nUmber qUesTion response or response CoDes

seCTion one: baCKgroUnD informaTion

101 ⊲ How old are you? Age of respondent:

102 ⊲ With whom do you live: mother and father, mother only, father only, or neither parent?

1 Live with mother and father 2 Live with mother only 3 Live with father only 4 Live with neither mother nor father(SPECIFY WITH WHOM)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

103 ⊲ I want to talk about your (biological) parents. Are both of your parents alive, is only your mother alive, is only your father alive, or are both parents no longer living?

1 Both mother and father are alive2 Mother only alive3 Father only alive 4 Neither mother nor father alive

qUaliTaTiVe Tool THis Tool Can be UseD To ColleCT feeDbaCK on programmes from girlsnoTe To DaTa ColleCTor: please inserT informeD ConsenT.

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seCTion one: baCKgroUnD informaTion

104 ⊲Have you ever been to school? 0 No (Go to Q106)1 Yes

105 ⊲ How many years of education have you completed? Years of education completed:

106 ⊲ In what month and year did you join

the programme?

Month:Year:

107 ⊲ Which part of the programme are you participating in?

(read the list and circle all that apply)

(Tailor this section to your organisation’s programme)

1 Mentoring sessions2 Community conversations3 Self-help groups4 Tutorial support5 Other (specify)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

qUaliTaTiVe Tool THis Tool Can be UseD To ColleCT feeDbaCK on programmes from girls (ConTinUeD)

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seCTion TWo: programme eXperienCe

201 ⊲ How did you first learn about the [NAME OF

PROGRAMME]. (Possible probes: What did you think

about it? How did people talk about it?)

202 ⊲ Tell me about your participation in the programme. What

activities do you take part in? (Possible probes: How

often do you participate? What have you learned in the

programme? How do you feel about the programme?)

203 ⊲ Tell me about the [MENTOR/PEER EDUCATOR/GROUP

LEADER/OTHER PROJECT PERSONNEL]. (Possible

probes: What do they do in the programme? How do

you feel about them? How have they helped you?)


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seCTion TWo: baCKgroUnD informaTion

204 ⊲ I want to talk about the timing and location of the

programme. Are these aspects convenient for you or is

there anything you would change? What do you think

of the meeting space? Tell me about what you would

change if you could. (Possible probes: Is there anything

you would like to change? How would you change it?)

205 ⊲ How do your parents/guardians feel about the

programme? What do they say about it? What do people

in your community say about the programme? (Possible

probes: Has there been a time they did not want you to

go to the programme? What happened at that time?)


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seCTion THree: perCepTions & sUggesTions for improVemenT

301 ⊲ I would like you to think about all the different aspects of the

[NAME OF PROGRAMME], including what you learn, what

activities you do, the [MENTOR/PEER EDUCATOR/GROUP

LEADER/OTHER PROJECT PERSONNEL] and your interaction

with other girls. What do you like most about the programme?

(Possible probes: Why do you like this aspect the most? Can

you give me an example? Tell me about the time you enjoyed

yourself the most at a session. What happened at that time?)

302 ⊲ Again, thinking about all the different aspects of the

programme, what do you like least about it? What areas would

you like to improve? (Possible probes: Why do you like this

aspect the least? Can you give me an example? Tell me about

a time you were not as happy or would have liked to change

something in the programme. What happened at that time?)


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303 ⊲ On which topics or areas would you like more information?

What kind of information would you like? (Possible probes: Why

do you feel you need more information? Can you give me an

example? What about skills? Are there any additional skills you

feel you need? Tell me why the skills are important to you.)

304 ⊲ Please give me ideas for how we could improve the

programme. What changes or improvements would you like to

see? (Possible probes: What additional information would you

like? What activities would you like? How would you change the

way your [MENTOR/PEER EDUCATOR/GROUP LEADER/OTHER

PROJECT PERSONNEL] acts?)


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305 ⊲ I want you to think about the other girls in your community.

Are there girls in your community who want to come to the

programme but do not? What are the reasons they don’t

join the programme? (Possible probes: Can you give me an

example of a girl who wants to come but cannot. Tell me about

her situation and why she doesn’t come.)

306 ⊲ Tell me about anything else you think I should know about the

programme in order to improve it for you and other girls in the

area. Feel free to tell me anything you would like me to know.


THanK YoU VerY mUCH for parTiCipaTing in THis sUrVeY

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regisTraTion form for girls’ programme

REGION : ZONE :

WOREDA : KEBELE :

MENTOR NAME : MONTH : YEAR :

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

To be filleD oUT bY menTors WHen girls Join THe programme. CompleTe in DUpliCaTe anD giVe Copies To THe sUperVisor aT monTHlY meeTings.

seria

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oTT

ag

ename sCHoolsTaTUs

mariTal sTaTUs

migraTe To area

DisableD oCCUpaTion WHo Do YoU liVe WiTH

Years of eDUCaTion CompleTeD

(oPTioNAl)

04 14 Rox Genet Demele 16 2 4 2 1 0 Housewife / farmer 3 (husband)

1 = iN SCHool 1 = NEVEr MArriED

1 = BoTH PArENTS0 = No

0 = No (DESCriBE)

2 = NoT iN SCHool 2 = MArriED

2 = oNE PArENT1 = YES

1 = YES

3 = ForMErlY MArriED

3 = No PArENT (SPECiFY)

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regisTraTion form for girls’ programme(ConTinUeD)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

seria

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Keb

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oTT

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ename sCHoolsTaTUs

mariTal sTaTUs

migraTe To area

DisableD oCCUpaTion WHo Do YoU liVe WiTH

Years of eDUCaTion CompleTeD

(oPTioNAl)1 = iN SCHool 1 = NEVEr

MArriED1 = BoTH PArENTS0 = No

0 = No (DESCriBE)

2 = NoT iN SCHool 2 = MArriED

2 = oNE PArENT1 = YES

1 = YES

3 = ForMErlY MArriED

3 = No PArENT (SPECiFY)

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REGION : ZONE :

WOREDA : KEBELE :

MENTOR NAME : MONTH : YEAR :

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

To be filleD oUT bY menTors WHen girls Join THe programme. CompleTe in DUpliCaTe anD giVe Copies To THe sUperVisor aT monTHlY meeTings.

monTH Yearserial no of girl

name age TopiCs CoVereD aCTiViTies Done referreD for oTHer serViCe

04 March 16

(oPTioNAl) (USE UP To 3 CoDES) (USE UP To 3 CoDES)0 = No

1 = YES (SPECiFY)

Genet DemeleFGM

16 2 4 8 1 3 1 (VCT)

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CODES FOR TOPICS : CODES FOR ACTIVITIES :

1 = HIV / AIDS2 = FAMILY PLANNING 3 = HEALTH & HYGIENE4 = PREGNANCY & MOTHERHOOD

5 = GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE6 = DISABILITIES 7 = COMMUNICATION

8 = OTHER (SPECIFY)

1 = GROUP LECTURE2 = GROUP DISCUSSION 3 = DRAMA / ROLE PLAY4 = SPORTS

5 = DANCE6 = ARTS & CRAFTS7 = GUEST LECTURE8 = OTHER (SPECIFY)


THese Tools are all soUrCeD from “from researCH, To programme Design, To implemenTaTion: programming for rUral girls in eTHiopia, a ToolKiT for praCTiTioners”

popCoUnCil.org/pDfs/2011pgY_eTHiopiagirlsprogramToolKiT.pDf

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aDolesCenT girls HaVe THe poWer To enD WorlD poVerTY.We Call iT THe girl effeCT.geT inspiraTion anD Tools To UnleasH THe girl effeCT aT girleffeCT.org

Health & Medicine

Designing programmes for girls