Accelerating Action to End Child Marriage in Bangladesh

  • R Research Project/Report/Study

I Inactive

Key Information

The Population Council is partnering with UNFPA and Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MoWCA) Government of Bangladesh (GOB) to delay marriage. The project aims at empowering girls with life-skills, livelihood and gender awareness trainings, and engaging communities to address normative drivers of child marriage. The project intends to reach more than 13,000 girls aged 10-19, who may be in or out of school and married or unmarried. In addition, groups of adult men and women aged 25-35, who are identified as supportive allies by the adolescent girls, are engaged in separate group meetings as part of community outreach. The project recruited 36 young women known as Gender Promoters who conduct sessions and carry out community outreach activities. The project is being implemented in Bogura and Jamalpur district that are among the 21 districts identified by the United Nations partner agencies as vulnerable. 96 randomly selected unions of Bogura and Jamalpur districts are the project area. The intervention approaches are evaluated in a four-arm cluster randomized control study with 72 intervention villages allocated to three arms and 24 control villages. The design intends to assess the impact of skills, as well as the added contribution of community engagement activities involving women and men. Skill building training activities for girls takes place in 72 Kishori Resource Centres (located in primary schools) of 72 Unions. Each center is equipped with laptops, internet modem, and associated reading materials to run the sessions for 2 adolescent groups.


Lead Implementing Organization(s)

Location(s)

South Asia

Bangladesh

Government Affiliation

Government-affiliated program

Years

2016 - 2020

Partner(s)

Bangladesh Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MoWCA)

Ministry Affiliation

Bangladesh Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MoWCA)

COVID-19 Response

Unknown

Geographic Scope

National

Meets gender-transformative education criteria from the TES  

Unknown

Areas of Work Back to Top

Education areas

Other skills

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

Cross-cutting areas

  • Adolescent pregnancy/childbearing
  • Community sensitization
  • Digital literacy
  • Early/child marriage
  • Economic/livelihoods (including savings/financial inclusion, etc.)
  • Empowerment
  • HIV and STIs
  • Menstrual hygiene management
  • Social and gender norms and beliefs

Program participants

Target Audience(s)

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

Age

12 - 18

School Enrolment Status

Some in school

School Level

  • Upper primary
  • Lower secondary
  • Upper secondary

Other populations reached

  • Youth

Participants include

  • Adolescent mothers (pregnant or parenting)

Program Approaches Back to Top

Community engagement/advocacy/sensitization

  • Community mobilization
  • General awareness-raising/community engagement
  • School management committees

Curriculum/learning

  • Gender-sensitive curricula

Educational Technology

  • Computer-assisted learning
  • Digital devices for the purposes of studying, learning
  • Digital learning materials/programs

Life skills education

  • Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE)
  • Gender, rights and power
  • Negotiation skills
  • Sexual and reproductive health (including puberty education)
  • Social and emotional learning (SEL) skills building

Menstrual hygiene management

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

Social/gender norms change

  • Work with community leaders
  • Work with religious leaders

Women's empowerment programs

  • Advocacy/action
  • Self-help groups (non-financial)

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 secondary school completion
  • Increased years of schooling

Cross-cutting goals

  • Changed social norms
  • Improved nutrition
  • Improved sexual and reproductive health
  • Increased advocacy/civic engagement
  • Increased agency and empowerment
  • Increased employment/job-related skills
  • Increased knowledge of rights
  • More equal power in relationships
  • Reduced adolescent pregnancy/childbearing
  • Reduced child marriage
  • Reduced school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV)

Additional Information Back to Top

Primary Contact

Masuma Billah
Population Council
Senior Program Officer
mbillah@popcouncil.org