Project profile — Adolescent Girls’ Education in Crisis Initiative - program 2020 to 2025

This project aims to empower adolescent girls and young women aged 10 to 24 years, who are pursuing educational pathways in crisis-affected areas of Uganda, South Sudan and Syria. The project reaches marginalized girls and women who are refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and the most vulnerable members of the host communities. Project activities include: (1) providing life skills sessions on healthy lifestyles, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), mental health, financial literacy and negotiation skills to existing and newly established girls' clubs and peer-to-peer groups; (2) providing financial assistance for the families of the most vulnerable adolescent girls and young women to address specific educational barriers; (3) holding training workshops for formal and non-formal teachers and school leaders on basic, gender responsive and inclusive pedagogical approaches, including providing psycho-social support; and (4) developing remote curricula for learners to use at home enhances access to education and improves the quality of home-based instruction. This project benefits 123,768 adolescent girls and young women, including approximately 37% refugees or IDPs. The project aims to reach an additional 23,164 teachers (formal and non-formal), educational leaders, other education professionals, members of boys’ clubs, and community and faith leaders, 61% women.

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) reduced social, cultural and economic barriers to accessing safe, secure, gender equitable and quality upper-primary, secondary and skills-based education by adolescent girls and young women, including barriers such as Sexual Gender Based Violence and SRHR that are exacerbated during crisis; and (2) improved equitable and coordinated provision of quality, gender responsive, innovative and inclusive formal and non-formal educational opportunities that promote adolescent girls' and female youth empowerment and learning in crisis situations.

Results achieved at the end of the project (January 2025) include: (1) reduced barriers to safe, secure, gender-equitable education for adolescent girls and young women. Community support increased by an average of 6.3 percentage points above the 69% target, and school attendance rose 7 points above the 85% goal. Girls’ ability to make decisions about their education, health and marriage improved, with scores rising on five-point scale - from 4.1 to 4.5 in Uganda, 1.8 to 4.3 in South Sudan, and 4.1 to 4.2 in Syria; and (2) improved access to quality, inclusive, and gender-responsive education. In Uganda, learning proficiency rose from 29% to 52%, surpassing the 34% target by 18 points, with strong gains in reading, math, and leadership. In South Sudan, reading proficiency rose from 13% to 37%, leadership from 33% to 54%, but math declined from 37% to 14%, highlighting ongoing challenges in instructional quality and resource availability. In Syria, overall leadership improved from 63% to 69% (target: 68%).