Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Elsa & Peter Soderberg Charitable Foundation
Overview
2017–2023
We take a panoramic approach to partnering with adolescent girls in laying the health, education, economic, and social foundations that they need to thrive during the transition to adulthood. This upstream approach provides girls with support during one of the most crucial life stages, reaching them before or during some of the most common disruptors of their future well-being (such as forced marriage, pregnancy, or school dropout). First launched in 2017 in Ethiopia, in 2021 the project expanded into Jordan.
Project Activities
Worked across multiple sectors and at individual, community, and systems levels to support adolescent girls.
Delivered 6-10 months of weekly empowerment clubs that cover a wide range of topics including puberty and menstruation, health, nutrition, education, communication, safety, gender, and economic empowerment themes.
Catalyzed positive shifts in gender and social norms through gender-synchronized and transformative activities with boys, parents/caregivers, and communities.
Strengthened key systems and the quality of services to be equitable and adolescent-responsive—including within health, education, livelihoods, and child protection.
Co-implemented with key partners (CARE in Ethiopia and The Institute for Family Health in Jordan).
Contributed to global evidence generation and learning through external evaluation in Ethiopia by the Gender & Adolescence: Global Evidence (GAGE) research consortium, funded by the UK government.
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