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| How adolescent girls in Africa are shaping their own future | How adolescent girls in Africa are shaping their own future |
| (4 months later) | |
| Teenage women are the focus of Forward – the NGO has worked with adolescent women in Africa to tackle issues around their sexual and reproductive health and rights for almost two decades. | Teenage women are the focus of Forward – the NGO has worked with adolescent women in Africa to tackle issues around their sexual and reproductive health and rights for almost two decades. |
| While its initial projects were carried out in partnership with established civil society organisations, over the years it became apparent that there was a missed opportunity to create change by partnering with emerging organisations led by young women. | While its initial projects were carried out in partnership with established civil society organisations, over the years it became apparent that there was a missed opportunity to create change by partnering with emerging organisations led by young women. |
| Despite the trend towards encouraging participatory approaches within the sector, Forward's experience has been that organisations led by young women were failing to receive the support they needed. All too often young women were simply the subject of assistance and not the drivers of change themselves. | Despite the trend towards encouraging participatory approaches within the sector, Forward's experience has been that organisations led by young women were failing to receive the support they needed. All too often young women were simply the subject of assistance and not the drivers of change themselves. |
| The organisation's Africa programmes manager, Elizabeth King, was born in Ethiopia and has worked for a number of international NGOs in the country, yet she says that her most valuable learning on how to address the issues faced by adolescent women has come from the young women themselves. | The organisation's Africa programmes manager, Elizabeth King, was born in Ethiopia and has worked for a number of international NGOs in the country, yet she says that her most valuable learning on how to address the issues faced by adolescent women has come from the young women themselves. |
| "My knowledge of girls in villages like Gonder in rural Ethiopia is based on what the girls have taught me. They taught me what it feels like to get married at 10 years old or the emotions you experience when you have to sleep with someone when you don't even know what sex is." | "My knowledge of girls in villages like Gonder in rural Ethiopia is based on what the girls have taught me. They taught me what it feels like to get married at 10 years old or the emotions you experience when you have to sleep with someone when you don't even know what sex is." |
| The ability to segment a project's target audience has proved to be the key to ensuring the organisation can effectively meet the needs of young women. Unlike projects that are designed to reach women of all ages, Forward and its project partners specifically deal with adolescent women. | The ability to segment a project's target audience has proved to be the key to ensuring the organisation can effectively meet the needs of young women. Unlike projects that are designed to reach women of all ages, Forward and its project partners specifically deal with adolescent women. |
| Because of the distressing experiences that many of these young women have, it is easy to forget how young they are. While a girl may be a domestic violence survivor, have suffered from fistula and have a family to support the fact that she is still a teenager needs to be addressed. | Because of the distressing experiences that many of these young women have, it is easy to forget how young they are. While a girl may be a domestic violence survivor, have suffered from fistula and have a family to support the fact that she is still a teenager needs to be addressed. |
| Greater participation and encouraging a consultative approach can sometimes be interpreted as simply encouraging local partners to be part of the process. Yet this still fails to put adolescent girls into the picture. Gathering the thoughts of a local civil society organisation is not the same as specifically encouraging the young women to share their experiences and insights. | Greater participation and encouraging a consultative approach can sometimes be interpreted as simply encouraging local partners to be part of the process. Yet this still fails to put adolescent girls into the picture. Gathering the thoughts of a local civil society organisation is not the same as specifically encouraging the young women to share their experiences and insights. |
| "You avoid the traditional hierarchies when you involve girls from the village and hear directly from them," says King. | "You avoid the traditional hierarchies when you involve girls from the village and hear directly from them," says King. |
| "We forget that we were young once and that we need to leave the space to give young women the chance. These girls have unique insights but what they lack is the chance and capacity to lead." | "We forget that we were young once and that we need to leave the space to give young women the chance. These girls have unique insights but what they lack is the chance and capacity to lead." |
| One of the methods that Forward uses to facilitate this learning is participatory ethnographic evaluation and research. The benefit of this qualitative method is that it empowers young women to understand and resolve the issues from their own perspective. They are trained to be the experts and the organisation argues that these young women are best placed to give an insight into the problems they face. | One of the methods that Forward uses to facilitate this learning is participatory ethnographic evaluation and research. The benefit of this qualitative method is that it empowers young women to understand and resolve the issues from their own perspective. They are trained to be the experts and the organisation argues that these young women are best placed to give an insight into the problems they face. |
| The young women get extensive training to develop their research skills. They are fully involved in the initial research design so as to be at the centre of the project and to ensure that the interview questions are relevant to their peer group. They conduct the surveys and, while the original design called for university students to act as supervisors, Forward's experience has been that is more effective to use adolescent women from the local community who have strong literacy skills. | The young women get extensive training to develop their research skills. They are fully involved in the initial research design so as to be at the centre of the project and to ensure that the interview questions are relevant to their peer group. They conduct the surveys and, while the original design called for university students to act as supervisors, Forward's experience has been that is more effective to use adolescent women from the local community who have strong literacy skills. |
| A key part of the process involves reviewing the information with the young women before it is shared with a wider audience. Local organisations and authorities listen to the report findings in the women's own words. The experience not only empowers the women by sharing the findings in their voice but also provides local officials and policy makers with first-hand evidence of the girls' experiences and challenges any assumptions they may have held. | A key part of the process involves reviewing the information with the young women before it is shared with a wider audience. Local organisations and authorities listen to the report findings in the women's own words. The experience not only empowers the women by sharing the findings in their voice but also provides local officials and policy makers with first-hand evidence of the girls' experiences and challenges any assumptions they may have held. |
| Despite the appeal of the rhetoric of participation, the reality is that bottom-up approaches are both time-consuming and costly. People have to wait as the partner organisations are the ones who decide what action should be taken. Yet the organisation is adamant that the results have laid a solid foundation for future work. "The best approach to learning about adolescent girls is to approach them with a blank piece of paper and an open mind," says King. | Despite the appeal of the rhetoric of participation, the reality is that bottom-up approaches are both time-consuming and costly. People have to wait as the partner organisations are the ones who decide what action should be taken. Yet the organisation is adamant that the results have laid a solid foundation for future work. "The best approach to learning about adolescent girls is to approach them with a blank piece of paper and an open mind," says King. |
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