Adolescent Girls' Education in Crisis Initiative (AGENCI)

  • P Project/Program

A Active

Key Information

The Adolescent Girls’ Education in Crisis Initiative (AGENCI) is a four-year (2019-2023), $17.1 million project to enhance the empowerment of adolescent girls and female youth pursuing educational pathways in crisis-affected areas of South Sudan, Syria, and Uganda. This is a joint initiative between AKFC and WUSC, and implemented in consortium (South Sudan by WUSC, Syria by AKFC, and Uganda jointly by WUSC and AKFC).

AGENCI is designed to address gender, social, cultural and economic barriers it’s targeted beneficiaries face in accessing education, and making life decisions. The project seeks to improve equitable learning outcomes for adolescent girls and female youth in formal and non-formal upper primary school, secondary school, and in skills training programs. AGENCI responds to specific barriers and educational needs identified by adolescent girls, female youth, community members, and education stakeholders through gender analyses conducted in the three countries. AGENCI addresses the root causes of inequality by challenging and helping to transform structural barriers and entrenched social norms, attitudes, and power relations that impact girls’ ability to access and benefit from education.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, AGENCI carried out Covid-19 activities in the selected secondary schools. This was done by installing hand-washing facilities and providing hand sanitizers for the staff and soap for students to wash their hands. Awareness on sanitation and importance of girls’ education was carried out through local FM radios and door to door outreach.


Location(s)

Middle East & North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa

South Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Uganda

Government Affiliation

Non-governmental program

Years

2019 - 2024

Partner(s)

Charlie Goldsmith Associates, Episcopal Church of South Sudan, Yei Teachers Training College and Syria Society for Social Development (SSSD).

Ministry Affiliation

Unknown

COVID-19 Response

Adapted

Geographic Scope

Global / regional

Meets gender-transformative education criteria from the TES  

Unknown

Areas of Work Back to Top

Education areas

Attainment

  • Post-secondary
  • Primary to secondary transition
  • Secondary completion

Other

  • Transition from school to work

Other skills

  • Financial literacy
  • Life skills/sexuality education
  • Rights/empowerment education
  • Social and emotional learning
  • Vocational training

Quality

  • School facilities
  • School quality
  • School-related gender-based violence
  • Teacher training

Skills

  • Civics education
  • Literacy
  • Numeracy
  • Other academic performance-related
  • STEM

Cross-cutting areas

  • Adolescent pregnancy/childbearing
  • Community sensitization
  • COVID-19 Response
  • Early/child marriage
  • Economic/livelihoods (including savings/financial inclusion, etc.)
  • Emergencies and protracted crises
  • Empowerment
  • Female genital mutilation/cutting
  • Gender equality
  • HIV and STIs
  • Masculinities/boys
  • Menstrual hygiene management
  • Mentorship
  • Other aspects of sexual and reproductive health
  • Other cultural practices
  • Sexual harassment & coercion
  • Social and gender norms and beliefs
  • Sports
  • Violence (at home, in relationships)
  • WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene)

Program participants

Target Audience(s)

Community leaders, Girls (both in school and out of school), Youth

Age

10 - 24

School Enrolment Status

Some in school

School Level

  • Upper primary
  • Lower secondary
  • Upper secondary

Other populations reached

  • Boys (both in school and out of school)
  • Fathers
  • Mothers
  • Other caregivers
  • Other community members - female
  • Other community members - male
  • Other family members
  • Parent-teacher associations/school management committees
  • Religious leaders
  • School administrators
  • Teachers - female
  • Teachers - male

Participants include

  • Displaced/refugee - External (from other countries)
  • Displaced/refugee - Internal (from other areas of the same country)

Program Approaches Back to Top

Access to school

  • Alternative learning centers/mobile schools/home schools

Community engagement/advocacy/sensitization

  • Community-based monitoring (e.g. school report cards)
  • Community mobilization
  • General awareness-raising/community engagement
  • Parent Teacher Associations (PTA)
  • School management committees
  • Technical assistance/capacity building to civil society organizations or governments

Curriculum/learning

  • Gender-sensitive curricula

Life skills education

  • Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE)
  • Gender, rights and power
  • Negotiation skills
  • Sexual and reproductive health (including puberty education)

Menstrual hygiene management

  • Educating girls about menstruation
  • Raising awareness about menstruation (beyond just girls)

Mentoring/psychosocial support

  • Peer mentors
  • Teachers as mentors

Reducing economic barriers

  • Addressing cost of school supplies
  • Conditional cash transfers (including non-cash goods) to individuals/households
  • Scholarships/stipends for school fees

School-related gender-based violence

  • Anti-violence policies and codes of conduct
  • Safe and welcoming schools
  • Training of school personnel (including teachers)

Social/gender norms change

  • Engaging parents/caregivers of students or school-age children/adolescents
  • Media campaigns
  • Work with community leaders
  • Work with religious leaders

Teaching

  • In-service teacher training – gender-responsive pedagogy

Women's empowerment programs

  • Empowerment training
  • Leadership training

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Program Goals Back to Top

Education goals

  • Improved academic skills (literacy and numeracy)
  • Improved social and emotional learning/skills and mindsets
  • Increased enrolment in primary school
  • Increased grade attainment
  • Increased primary school completion
  • Increased progression to secondary school
  • Increased re-enrolment in school among out-of-school children
  • Increased secondary school completion
  • Increased years of schooling
  • Reduced absenteeism

Cross-cutting goals

  • Changed social norms
  • Improved financial literacy and savings
  • Improved mental health
  • Improved sexual and reproductive health
  • Improved understanding of sexual harassment, coercion, and consent
  • Increased agency and empowerment
  • Increased employment/job-related skills
  • Increased knowledge of HIV, puberty, and sexual and reproductive health
  • Increased knowledge of rights
  • More equal power in relationships
  • More equitable gender attitudes and norms
  • Reduced adolescent pregnancy/childbearing
  • Reduced child marriage
  • Reduced intimate partner violence
  • Reduced school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV)
  • Reduced STI/HIV/AIDS
  • Reduced violence against children in the home