Girls and Women Leading the Way: How Clubs Empower Changemakers

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

Girls’ clubs (and mixed-sex youth development clubs) are an increasingly common approach to building skills, knowledge, self-confidence and social networks among young people, especially in international development contexts, particularly in places where social norms can be harmful, opportunities for youth few, and social cohesion deteriorating. Typically, these groups provide non-formal education in small, similarly aged- peer groups in a community setting. Girls’ and mixed gender equity clubs aim to empower girls, challenge gender inequalities, and shift power imbalances by providing them with safe spaces to learn about their rights, develop leadership skills, and build relationships with other peers, benefit from positive role models, life skills training, sexual and reproductive health education, and opportunities for civic engagement. Thus, girls’ clubs respond to the need to challenge the status quo and promote collective action.

Research shows that girls’ clubs can have positive effects on changing social norms and promoting social cohesion at different levels. At the individual level, girls’ clubs can enhance girls' self-esteem, agency, aspirations, and decision-making power. They can also increase girls' awareness of their rights and challenge harmful gender stereotypes (Marcus, 2017). At the interpersonal level, girls’ clubs can help girls develop stronger social networks with peers, mentors, and supportive adults. These networks can provide girls with emotional support, information, resources, and protection from violence (Mackie, Moneti, Shakya, & Denny, 2015) At the community level, girls’ clubs can foster social capital and collective action among girls and other stakeholders. They can also create opportunities for dialogue and collaboration with boys, parents, leaders, and service providers to address gender issues and improve social services. By working and creating impact at various levels, these innovative methods have the potential to change the narrative, broaden representation in activism, and catalyze change through meaningful participation.

However, the literature also acknowledges some challenges and limitations of girls’ clubs as a strategy for changing social norms and promoting social cohesion (Jones et al. 2015; Kyomuhendo Bantebya et al., 2015). Some of these challenges include: the difficulty of measuring and attributing changes in social norms and social cohesion to girls’ clubs; the need for contextual analysis and adaptation of club activities to suit different cultural settings; the potential backlash or resistance from conservative or patriarchal groups who may perceive girls’ clubs as a threat to their values or interests; the sustainability and scalability of girls’ clubs in resource-constrained environments; and the ethical and safety concerns of working with girls in vulnerable situations require careful planning and monitoring.
The collection of papers under the panel summarize empirical research and showcase four examples of girls’ clubs embedded in donor-funded programs to provide insights in how to address these challenges around how to appropriately contextualize clubs activities and organization, how to gain community support for these clubs from the start, how to sustain these clubs beyond project life, and how to account for the “do no harm” principles in designing these clubs, specifically when they are organized in crisis contexts. The papers will also contribute to the evidence base on how these clubs can impact the perceived improvement of social norms, social cohesion, self-esteem, and opportunities for girls’ and marginalized youth’s contributions to their communities. They demonstrate how girls’ and youth’s agency and strengthened activism can challenge existing inequities, power imbalances and the status quo. These examples include:
DRCongo case: The “Leadership and Gender” (known by the French acronym “LEG”) club and camp model was adapted to empower young women and girls (and boys on positive masculinity) and indigenous youth to be leaders of change in their communities.
Mali case: A mixed-methods research study to raise up the voices and experiences of adolescent girls participating in the program resulting in more appropriate and relevant programming.
Niger case: A donor-funded project utilizes a GirlEngage approach to shift power imbalances, build girls’ agency and leadership, and engage stakeholders at all levels. The project is making progress on high-level end goals of changing key stakeholders’ attitudes towards child marriage and increasing girls’ access to quality, safe basic education opportunities.
Nepal case: The "Climate Justice Clubs" focuses on developing five key life skills: collaboration, leadership, resilience, critical thinking, and decision-making and increasing participants' knowledge and skills regarding gender, climate change, and climate justice.

Sub Unit

• Gender Justice SIG

Organizer

• Nathalie Louge, FHI 360

Chair

• Nathalie Louge, FHI 360

Individual Presentations

• Creating a Legacy for Change: Empowering leadership in young women and girls through Leadership and Gender clubs in DRCongo - LWANGO NYANGABO MADHO, FHI 360 Family Health International

• Climate Justice clubs: Empowering adolescent girls to lead and promote equitable and sustainable solutions for their communities, and the planet - Heather M Simpson, Room to Read

• Mixed-Methods Research: Empowering Adolescent Girls in Practice: An Example from a Girls’ Leadership and Empowerment through Education Project in Mali - Brenda Sinclair, Independent Expert

• Shifting Power and Challenging Norms through GirlEngage, Niger - Meghan Mattern, Plan International USA

Discussant

• Julia Miller, FHI 360