What do they want? Adolescent girls’ voices in crisis and delivering on the promise of education

• In Event: Delivering on commitments to girls’ education in crisis – where do we go from here?

Proposal

While the importance of gender equality in education in emergencies programming is gaining traction, particularly in light of the important G7 commitments by the Canadian government and other development partners, the voices of women and girls are still largely missing in humanitarian planning and action (Plan International, 2018; UNFPA, 2017). Plan International recently conducted research centered on the perspectives of girls in South Sudan, the Lake Chad Basin, and the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh. This presentation will share the results of this research as a way to frame the discussion around delivering education programming in emergency contexts, illustrating the application of key takeaways with examples from Plan International programming.

The adolescent girls in crisis research sought to understand how adolescent girls comprehend and navigate insecurity, what their needs are, and what opportunities exist to support their needs. The mixed methods research methodology, which emphasized qualitative research, allowed for an intersectional, rights-based, and feminist approach. While results of the research varied by crisis and cultural context, one of the five overall findings that was identified was the strong desire of girls to access education.

Education was repeatedly identified as a key priority, but often, girls’ high prioritization of education did not align with the priorities of adults. In the Lake Chad Basin, girls urged researchers to “Tell our parents that school is important,” while in Rohingya refugee camps, girls articulated education as their main focus while community leaders and NGO representatives identified a lack of security and a greater need for counselling services as more important issues.

Analyzed along with complementary findings related to the fear of gender-based violence, significant movement restrictions, and poor physical and mental health, this research offers several key recommendations for the development of integrated, multisectoral programming. To ensure that programs genuinely put girls at their center and are designed to meet their needs and build their agency, girls must be included and meaningfully consulted in all assessments, as well as program design and implementation. In highly insecure contexts where girls live in fear and experience widespread gender-based violence, families and communities must be brought on board to support their education and become allies in supporting the realization of their rights. The practical application of this recommendation in a long-running Plan International education program for CAR refugees in Cameroon will be explored, drawing on the results of a newly completed program evaluation. Finally, girls’ needs and desires are intersecting and complex, emphasizing the need for holistic and integrated approaches to education in emergencies programming. Examples from integrated approaches for girls’ education in Uganda and South Sudan will be used to illustrate this final recommendation.

Author

• Pete Simms, Plan International Canada