Safeguarding achievements within the Girls Education Challenge- a fund management (FM) perspective

• In Event: Safe to learn and safe to benefit- innovative approaches to tackle safeguarding and school-based GBV (SRGBV) in challenging contexts

Proposal

The FM's comprehensive safeguarding approach will be discussed focusing on how these more rigorous standards were applied across a large portfolio of 41 projects across 17 countries. There will be a discussion of how the approach was implemented, the important results it yielded and lessons learnt on how best to secure safeguarding compliance within a diverse portfolio of education programmes. All GEC projects were able to meet the 14 safeguarding minimum standards which greatly strengthened the ability of each project to protect learners from violence, exploitation and abuse. This outcome is significant and lays the foundation for safer programming and improved learning outcomes for girls. By 2021, 100% of implementing partners had complied with the Minimum Standards. In 2023, all GEC implementing partners have maintained full compliance and have made excellent progress at going beyond the basic level of safeguarding compliance. See here for the newly released Portfolio in Practice Brief, which discusses the impact of the GEC Safeguarding Approach and here for an in-depth exposition of the GEC safeguarding model - Protection is Possible.

Authors

• Andrea Watkins, Social Development Direct

• Nancy Abwola