Girl Shine Life Skills Curriculum
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Acknowledgments For writing and contribution of expertise: Kim Foulds Samrawit Assefa Kimberlee Shoecraft Shelby French Mehreen Jaswal Veronica Torres Meridith Gould For organizational support: The Coalition for Adolescent Girls Women’s Refugee Commission Population Council For advising and guidance: Abby Erikson Heather Cole Leila Younes Nathaly Spilotros Annalisa Brusati Ilaria Michelis Lemlem Endale Rena Deitz Ayele Tadesse Janine Kossen Leora Ward Sandra Maignant Barri Shorey Jennate Eoomkham Mae Smith Sarah Cornish Betsy Laird Joane Cremesty Malay Taylor Senait Gebremariam Dorcas Erskine Joanne Creighton Marian Rogers Tizita Tekletsadiq Farah Salhab Johanna Arp May Abi Samra Geoffrey Shyamba Kirenga Kristin Kim Bart Meghan O’Connor 3 Some session content has been adapted from existing external and internal curricula, including: Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program, Population Council Menstrupedia Adolescent Girls Toolkit, UNICEF/UNFPA - Iraq My Safety, My Wellbeing, IRC - Lebanon Adolescent Kit for Expression and Innovation, UNICEF Safe Healing and Learning Spaces, IRC Creating Opportunities through Mentoring, Parental Involvement and Safe Sisterhoods of Success, IRC - Liberia Spaces, IRC - Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Pakistan Vision Not Victim, Meredith Hutchison Girl Empower, IRC - Ethiopia and Liberia Life Skills through Drama, IRC - Lebanon 4 Health & Hygiene - This module gives girls the opportunity to learn critical information related to their bodies, during a period when they are going Introduction through significant changes. They can explore issues related to hygiene, puberty, and sexual health in a safe space, where they are provided accurate information. Girl Shine is a program model and resource package that seeks to support, Safety - This module focuses on the concepts and skills girls need for protect, and empower adolescent girls in humanitarian settings. Girl Shine preventing, mitigating, and responding to GBV. has been designed to help contribute to the improved prevention and response to violence against adolescent girls in humanitarian settings by Solidarity - This module helps girls to start preparing for the end of the providing them with the skills and knowledge to identify types of GBV and program cycle, and strengthen their support networks so that they will seek support services if they experience or are at risk of Gender Based continue to nurture the skills they have learned and their support network Violence (GBV). once the life skills curriculum finishes. Visioning - This module is designed to strengthen the social and emotional skills related to perseverance, as well as to create hope and support girls in The Girl Shine resource package is presented in four parts: concrete planning for their futures. Part One - provides a detailed overview of how to design effective Each module offers multiple sessions covering the concepts and skills in adolescent girl programming in a variety of humanitarian settings. each topic area. The sessions are outlined on color-coded cards and include Part Two - is a life skills curriculum for working with adolescent girls that key definitions, mentor/facilitator talking points and questions, and various focuses on six topic areas. activities and methodologies. The organization of this content is designed to be flexible and allow for adaptation to the particular context, time available, Part Three - is a curriculum that can be used when working with female and male caregivers of adolescent girls and key community stakeholders. the stages of an emergency, and most importantly the input and requests of girls themselves. Part Four - is a training resource on the adolescent girl life skills curriculum (Part 2) that can be used with mentors and facilitators to help The content and methodologies should: strengthen the capacity of those working directly with girls. • Be driven by the girls • Reflect their context and day-to-day realities The Part 2 curriculum includes six core topic areas that cover the knowledge, skills, and assets necessary to • Build their knowledge and asset base decrease risk and increase safety for girls: • Allow for the learning and practice of key skills • Shift individual and community thinking, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors Trust - This module helps lay the foundation for the group to be able • And most importantly, empower them for the future to move on to more challenging topic areas, while also addressing some immediate issues related to safety. Social & Emotional Skills - This module provides the foundation for building girls’ positive sense of self and their ability to successfully interact with each other and their communities. 5 The Girl Shine Core Principles Girls are resilient, powerful and resourceful; they are the Girls must be protected from harm, including all types of 1. experts in determining their future. 7. violence, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse, and sexual exploitation. Girls face greater risks and dangers in humanitarian settings 2. than boys of the same age. Girls must be believed if they report violence, sexual abuse, or 8. exploitation, and all measures must be taken to ensure their Investment in girls increases the overall well-being of families safety and promote healing. 3. and communities. Early marriage and the traditional practices of female genital Core life skills and assets are critical to a girl’s safe transition to 9. mutilation (FGM), as well as other harmful traditional practices 4. adulthood, particularly during emergencies. (HTPs), are grave risks to girls’ physical, mental, and emotional health and must be abolished. Girls have the right to attend school regularly and attain the 5. highest education level available. Female and male parents, caregivers, and the community are 10. equally responsible for girls’ safety, and must work together to Girls must know about their bodies, puberty, and the facts keep girls safe from violence, sexual abuse, and exploitation, 6. about all aspects of adolescent sexual and reproductive health particularly in situations of conflict and emergencies. (ASRH). Girl Shine Program Components The Girl Shine Safe Space: A girl-only safe space allows for consistent organizations can serve in the mentor role as a facilitator. The aim of this role access to programming and provides a trusted environment where girls can is to create a connection between a girl and a “safe person” who can mentor express and be themselves. These spaces provide girls with a safe entry point her and contribute to her safety and well-being in the given context. for services, where they will not face stigma for being a survivor of violence. Safe gathering points also offer girls an opportunity to engage with each The Girl Shine Female/Male Caregiver Engagement: other, exchange information, and strengthen informal support networks. In Female/male caregivers should be engaged with Girl Shine whenever it is this way, safe spaces can be a key way to build girls’ social assets. safe and possible. At a minimum they should be informed of the Girl Shine program and provide consent for adolescent girls to participate. Where The Girl Shine Life Skills Groups: The Girl Shine girl groups are the possible, they should be engaged in a parallel curriculum. This will help to heart of the program. Girls participate in a collection of learning sessions ensure that girls are not put at greater risk for participating in the program, that have been tailored to their needs, age range, experience, and situation. and that their new skills and knowledge will be supported and reinforced in The learning sessions build upon the girls’ existing assets and equip them their home environment. with key skills to prevent, mitigate, and respond to violence against them. Through the life skills groups, girls will develop and strengthen key skills The Girl Shine Community Outreach: Community support of the focused on negotiation and decision-making, while also accessing essential program is essential to ensuring that participating girls are safe. Staff are information on adolescent sexual and reproductive health. Furthermore, the encouraged to create steering committees that include local stakeholders and groups provide an opportunity for girls to voice what’s important to them, key community leaders to assist with the program recruitment, selection and explore their strengths and opportunities, and develop their leadership skills. protection of safe spaces, and to provide guidance on social norm change elements. Additionally, health and psychosocial service providers should be The Girl Shine Mentors & Facilitators: Girl Shine encourages linked to Girl Shine in case referrals are needed. the recruitment of older adolescent girls or young women from the local community to facilitate the Girl Shine groups. Young women as mentors expand the safety network for the girls in their communities, and allow for sustainability and ongoing solidarity. In some circumstances, older adolescent girls can first be beneficiaries of the program, and then become mentors themselves for subsequent program implementations. Use of young mentors should be managed and supervised by professional staff. If eligible young women are not available, program staff and/or staff from partner 7 Trust Social & Emotional Skills Health & Hygiene Girl Shine Core Topic Areas Safety Solidarity Visioning 8 Girl Shine Core Topic Areas and Sessions • Introduction to Girl Shine • My Safety Map • Our Safe Place • Our Support Services Trust • Communicating