Girl Capital

  • F Funding Initiative/Portfolio

I Inactive

Key Information

Girl Capital is a global strategy and integral component of CIFF’s pivot towards realizing the demographic dividend. Starting in India and building on current investments, it will focus on specific catalytic points that will enable girls 5-25 years to stay in school, choose if, and when, to get married and to start a family, improve not just their living standards and life outcomes but also those of their children. This will potentially break the intergenerational cycle of poverty of injustice on the planet. Our Theory of Change focuses on six key actions – education, life skills, technical and vocational training, income generation and social norm changes. We are confident a combination of these will have a direct impact on child marriage, age of first pregnancy and female labour force participation. We also anticipate progress across CIFF’s portfolio, such as lower instances of low birth weight, improved adolescent sexual and reproductive health indicators and reduced trafficking. The ultimate impact is agency to negotiate choices and make decisions, as well as resources and earnings to reduce poverty and inequality.


Lead Implementing Organization(s)

Location(s)

Global, South Asia

India

Government Affiliation

Non-governmental program

Years

2020 - 2022

Partner(s)

Not applicable or unknown

Ministry Affiliation

Unknown

COVID-19 Response

Unknown

Geographic Scope

National

Areas of Work Back to Top

Education areas

Attainment

  • Primary completion
  • Primary enrollment
  • 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

Skills

  • Literacy
  • Numeracy
  • Other academic performance-related

Cross-cutting areas

  • Adolescent pregnancy/childbearing
  • Early/child marriage
  • Economic/livelihoods (including savings/financial inclusion, etc.)
  • Empowerment
  • Gender equality
  • Mentorship
  • Other aspects of sexual and reproductive health
  • Social and gender norms and beliefs

Program participants

Target Audience(s)

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

Age

5 - 25

School Enrolment Status

Some in school

School Level

  • Lower primary
  • Upper primary
  • Lower secondary
  • Upper secondary
  • Vocational

Other populations reached

  • Other community members - female
  • Other family members

Participants include

  • Adolescent mothers (pregnant or parenting)

Program Approaches Back to Top

Access to school

  • Extending school hours

Community engagement/advocacy/sensitization

  • Community mobilization
  • General awareness-raising/community engagement
  • Technical assistance/capacity building to civil society organizations or governments

Curriculum/learning

  • Remedial education/skills

Health and childcare services

  • Sexual and reproductive health services (including family planning)

Learning while working

  • Apprenticeship/internship
  • Vocational training
  • Work-study

Life skills education

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

Mentoring/psychosocial support

  • Adult (non-teacher) mentors

Other

  • Other activities to end child marriage (not captured above)

Policy/legal environment

  • Advocating changes to existing laws/policies
  • Developing/promoting new laws/policies
  • Public-private partnerships

Reducing economic barriers

  • Financial literacy training
  • Reducing/eliminating school fees
  • Scholarships/stipends for school fees
  • Vouchers/grants

School-related gender-based violence

  • Safe and welcoming schools
  • Safe transportation

Social/gender norms change

  • Engaging parents/caregivers of students or school-age children/adolescents
  • Group activities with students or school-age children/adolescents

Women's empowerment programs

  • Advocacy/action
  • Empowerment training
  • Leadership training

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Program Goals Back to Top

Education goals

  • 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 school completion (general)
  • Increased school enrolment (general)
  • Increased secondary school completion
  • Increased secondary school enrolment

Cross-cutting goals

  • Changed social norms
  • Improved financial literacy and savings
  • Improved maternal, newborn, and/or child health (MNCH)
  • Improved sexual and reproductive health
  • Increased advocacy/civic engagement
  • Increased agency and empowerment
  • Increased employment/job-related skills
  • Increased knowledge of rights
  • More equitable gender attitudes and norms
  • Reduced adolescent pregnancy/childbearing
  • Reduced child marriage
  • Reduced poverty/increase household well-being