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Using findings from a gender-sensitive RERA to inform program design and implementation in the Southern regions of Senegal

Wed, April 17, 3:15 to 4:45pm, Hyatt Regency, Floor: Bay (Level 1), Bayview B

Proposal

The USAID-funded Equitable Access to Education in Southern Senegal (EAESS) project aims to improve basic life skills for 9-16 year-olds in the Casamance and Kedougou regions of Senegal by improving access to complementary basic education services, increasing the quality of non-formal and formal schooling and engaging with communities and parents. Within three months of start-up, the project launched a combined data collection for the RERA and Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) analysis, and integrated elements of the USAID Education in Crisis and Conflict Network (ECCN) Safer Learning Environment (SLE) qualitative toolkit as well as CDA’s Do No Harm (DNH) research framework to understand the two-way relationship between education and conflict, as well as gender norms and dynamics in the target communities. Given the combined data collection for RERA, GESI, DNH and SLE Assessment, we refer to this exercise as the RERA+. The findings of the RERA+ serve to inform curriculum and materials development and teacher trainings related to improving school climate, safer learning environments and life skills, as well as to inform the Activity Monitoring and Evaluation Plan (AMEP) in terms of selection of sentinel indicators for rolling assessments and scenario planning.

In this presentation, we will describe our experience implementing the RERA+, from data collection instrument development, field logistics to participatory analysis and validation of findings with key stakeholders. Given the rapid implementation of the RERA+, the presenter will share lessons learned from working in a start-up environment, including how adjustments to interviewer training and field data collection were made based on this environment. We will also share the participatory process taken to conduct preliminary analysis of the data to develop early recommendations for the project and explain how these findings serve to improve project activities.

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