COMMISSIONR E F U G E EW O M E N ’ S

Economic Strengthening for Girls in Emergencies

THEORY OF CHANGE

AND SAFEEMPOWERED

The humanitarian community urgently needs to in-tensify investment in adolescent girls in emergen-cy contexts. Adolescent girls made largely power-less in most societies, but given the opportunity, they have tremendous capacity to transform their own lives and catalyze change within their families and communities.

To realize this potential, humanitarian actors need to identify effective approaches to prevent the gender-based violence (GBV) they face. Few program efforts specifically target girls’ economic assets, despite evidence that these assets can play a crucial protective and empowering role alongside other asset-building opportunities: social, physical, and human.

This Theory of Change (ToC) is meant to guide the design of interventions that empower and pro-tect adolescent girls by reducing their economic vulnerability. This is one component of a holistic approach to meeting their needs and fulfilling their rights. The ToC is one of three resources devel-oped to promote economic strengthening (ES) interventions to reduce girls’ risks of GBV and contribute to their empowerment in emergency settings; the other two are the background paper Empowered and Safe: Economic Strengthening for Girls in Emergencies and Empowered and Safe: A Menu of Program Options. All three are available at womenensrefugeecommission.org.

The ToC is based on evidence and insights from the few programs that have sought to empower adolescent girls economically as a means to ad-dressing their vulnerability. To fulfil our collective responsibility to ensure girls’ rights to safety, dig-nity and protection, we need to test the pathways for change the ToC describes. The ToC aims to promote ethical and safe programming and to foster research that will build the evidence base on what works, for whom, and in which contexts.

Building economic assets as a protection strategy should complement, not replace, other multi-sectoral GBV prevention efforts in humanitarian

settings, such as those outlined in the Inter-Agen-cy Steering Committee (IASC) Guidelines for Integrating Gender-based Violence Interventions in Humanitarian Action: Reducing Risk, Promot-ing Resilience, and Aiding Recovery.1

Background

Humanitarian emergencies only exacerbate the double disadvantage that girls face in be-ing female and young, both which curtail their agency2 and increase their vulnerability to GBV within the household and the community. GBV is a complex problem with multiple causes and drivers, some of which are structural, such as gender and age-based inequalities held in place by discriminatory social norms. Economic inse-curity in particular is a driving factor of GBV that increases in humanitarian crises.

Emerging evidence suggests that building girls’ protective assets can improve their health-seek-ing behavior, reduce their risk of violence and delay the onset of sexual activity.3 Building girls’ economic assets through economic strength-ening (ES) interventions can reduce the risk of GBV associated with economic deprivation, such as transactional sex, labor migration and unsafe forms of work.

As well as having a direct positive effect through creating safer livelihoods, ES, combined with other asset building, can lead to greater empow-erment and agency for women and girls,4 which can reduce their risk of GBV by increasing their bargaining power, decision-making and auton-omy. Delivering an integrated package of social and economic asset-building services to girls, combined with efforts to create an enabling en-vironment, will help reduce girls’ risk of GBV and promote their safety, resilience and agency from the onset of an emergency through recovery and longer-term development.

2

The problem addressed

Conflict and displacement exacerbate economic insecurity and reduce safe livelihood options. As a result, girls may be forced to resort to harmful measures to survive, such as transactional sex, dangerous labor migration or low-paying work in the informal economy, where unsafe work such as collecting firewood or hawking goods on the street carries a heightened risk of sexual violence and exploitation. Economic vulnerability also heightens girls’ risk of exposure to sexual exploitation by aid workers, peacekeepers and others in the community. Some girls may resort to trading sex for money or goods, or may even be pressured by their families to do so. Un-less the economic dimension of these forms of violence against girls is addressed, eradicating them is difficult.

Approach to change

The strategy for preventing GBV against adolescent girls in emergencies is to facilitate preparation for and access to safe and dignified livelihood opportunities and build girls’ social and human assets to increase their self-worth, resilience, social position and bargaining power to exercise their rights.

Programs must be carefully designed, monitored and evaluated. Findings must be disseminated to build knowledge and evidence for which interventions work best to protect different girls in different settings and contexts. Interventions must be age- and developmentally appropriate to avoid causing school dropout and harmful child labor, and tailored to the phase and type of emergency, as well as to wider community and national development efforts.

In line with a holistic approach recognizing the need to focus not only on building girls’ as-sets — particularly economic ones — but also the social ecology in which they live, the ToC reflects changes needed in three domains: girls’ agency; the family and community environment; and the wider humanitarian response. Taken together, changes across these domains confer a protec-tive effect against certain forms of GBV.

Guiding principles

1. Minimize risk of harm from interventions.

Humanitarian action must not inadvertently cause harm to individuals, groups or communi-ties. Reducing risk of harm requires careful, re-flective practice, risk assessment and planning, as ES for girls carries potential risks that must be identified and addressed from the outset and monitored on an ongoing basis.

2. The humanitarian community has an obliga-tion to protect girls’ rights and to ensure their participation.

Types of Assets5

Natural: land, water, trees, etc.

Physical: agricultural and business equipment, housing, consumer dura-bles, vehicles and transportation, water supply and sanitation facilities, technol-ogy and communications infrastructure.

Human: education, skills, knowledge, health, nutritional status and labor power.

Financial: savings, credit, and accrued private and public transfers.

Social: membership in organizations, networks that increase trust, ability to work together, access to opportunities, reciprocity and informal safety nets.

Political: citizenship, enfranchisement and effective participation in gover-nance.

3

The humanitarian community has an obligation to protect and promote girls’ rights to protection, safety and dignity in emergencies, as enshrined in international humanitarian and human rights law. Respecting girls’ right to meaningful participation in assessment, design, monitoring and evaluation will lead to better programming and outcomes.

3. Programs should be integrated, compre-hensive and inter-sectoral.

Strategies aimed at building girls’ economic and social assets need to complement rather than replace other approaches to GBV prevention, such as those outlined in the IASC Guidelines for Integrating Gender-based Violence Interven-tions in Humanitarian Action: Reducing Risk, Promoting Resilience, and Aiding Recovery. Protecting girls is a shared responsibility and requires coordination across sectors.

4. Interventions must be tailored to girls’ needs and circumstances, and to each context.

Adolescent girls are not a homogenous group and ES interventions must cater for different developmental stages reflecting the different ca-pacities, needs and roles of girls in early and late adolescence, and different social and economic circumstances, such as girls’ education, poverty and marital status, among others. Interventions must also be tailored to the type of emergency, relevant national policies and programs, and market realities. They should contribute to broad-er national and community development efforts.

5. Ending GBV involves tackling harmful gender-based discrimination and social norms in the community.

Ending discrimination and harmful gender norms is at the heart of ending GBV against women and children. Preventing GBV involves promot-ing gender equality and promoting beliefs and norms that foster respectful, non-violent atti-tudes, behaviors and relationships.

Notes

1. See www.gbvaor.net

2. The capacity to make decisions about one’s own life and act on them to achieve a desired out-come, free of violence, retribution or fear.

3. Paik, K. (2014) Strong Girls, Powerful Women: Program Planning and Design for Adolescent Girls in Humanitarian Settings, Women’s Refu-gee Commission, New York. www.womensrefu-geecommission.org/resources/document/1036-strong-girls-powerful-women-report

4. Asset ownership has been linked to increased bargaining position for women and girls, in-creased voice in household decision-making, re-duced malnutrition among their children, reduced rates of marital violence and fewer restrictions to leaving situations of domestic violence. See for example, Quisumbing (2003) in Quisumbing, A. and Kovarik (2013) (note 4); Allendorf, K. (2007) ”Do Women’s Land Rights Promote Empower-ment and Child Health in Nepal?” World Devel-opment 35(11): 1975-1988; Marcus, R. (2014) Gender Justice and Social Norms: Towards a conceptual framework, Overseas Development Institute, Sussex. www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/8831.pdf

5. Adapted from Quisumbing, A. and Kovarik, C. (2013) Investments in Adolescent Girls’ Physi-cal and Financial Assets: Issues and Review of Evidence, Girl Hub, London. www.girleffect.org/resources/2013/3/investments-in-adolescent-girls-physical-and-financial-assets/

4

Res

ults

Out

com

es

Str

ateg

ies

Pro

blem

Impa

ct

Girl

s ar

e lit

erat

e an

d ha

ve g

reat

er

self-

wor

th a

nd s

elf-

effic

acy

Girl

s ha

ve in

crea

sed

asse

ts,

inco

me

and

barg

aini

ng p

ower

Girl

s liv

e in

com

mun

ities

that

act

ivel

y su

ppor

t and

pro

tect

them

Hum

anita

rian

actio

n is

mor

e re

spon

-si

ve a

nd a

ccou

ntab

le to

girl

s’ p

artic

u-la

r ris

ks, n

eeds

and

righ

ts

Girl

s’ ri

sk o

f GB

V is

redu

ced

and

they

hav

e gr

eate

r age

ncy

and

oppo

rtun

ity to

exe

rcis

e th

eir r

ight

s to

be

safe

in th

eir f

amili

es a

nd c

omm

uniti

es

• G

irls

have

acc

ess

to b

asic

edu

ca-

tion

• G

irls

have

acc

ess

to s

ocia

l ne

twor

ks a

nd p

eer s

uppo

rt

• G

irls

have

acc

ess

to li

fe s

kills

ed

ucat

ion,

incl

udin

g S

RH

and

GB

V

• B

arrie

rs to

pro

gram

par

ticip

atio

n ar

e re

mov

ed th

roug

h pr

ovis

ion

of

stip

ends

and

rele

vant

sup

port

• G

irls

have

acc

ess

to fi

nanc

ial

educ

atio

n an

d m

anag

emen

t su

ppor

t

• G

irls

have

acc

ess

to b

usin

ess

deve

lopm

ent s

ervi

ces

and

empl

oym

ent a

nd jo

b sk

ills

trai

ning

, res

ourc

es a

nd o

ppor

tu-

nitie

s

• G

irls

have

a s

afe

plac

e an

d th

e sk

ills

to s

ave

mon

ey

• C

omm

unity

lead

ers,

sta

keho

lder

s an

d pr

ivat

e se

ctor

act

ors

enab

le

girls

’ acc

ess

to s

afe

spac

es a

nd

prog

ram

par

ticip

atio

n

• P

aren

ts s

uppo

rt g

irls’

par

ticip

atio

n in

ass

et-b

uild

ing

activ

ities

• Fa

mili

es in

vest

in g

irls’

edu

catio

n an

d de

velo

pmen

t

• P

aren

ts a

nd o

ther

com

mun

ity

mem

bers

str

ateg

ize

way

s an

d ac

t to

mak

e gi

rls s

afer

in th

e co

mm

unity

• H

ealth

, edu

catio

n an

d ot

her b

asic

se

rvic

es a

re a

vaila

ble

and

girls

can

sa

fely

acc

ess

them

• R

isks

ass

ocia

ted

with

eco

nom

ic

and

soci

al e

mpo

wer

men

t int

erve

n-tio

ns fo

r ado

lesc

ent g

irls

are

iden

tifie

d, m

onito

red

and

man

aged

• P

rogr

ams

are

eval

uate

d an

d fin

ding

s an

d le

sson

s di

ssem

inat

e

Iden

tify

and

recr

uit

mar

gina

lized

an

d at

-ris

k gi

rls

Map

ping

and

as

sess

men

ts

invo

lvin

g gi

rls

Del

iver

a

basi

c se

t of

soci

al,

educ

atio

nal

and

econ

omic

as

set-

build

ing

serv

ices

Con

duct

m

arke

t su

rvey

s to

id

entif

y vi

able

vo

catio

nal

and

inco

me-

gen-

erat

ing

oppo

rtun

ities

an

d ba

rrie

rs

to e

ntry

for

girls

Invo

lve

fam

ilies

an

d co

mm

unity

le

ader

s, p

rivat

e se

ctor

act

ors

in p

rogr

am

desi

gn

Initi

ate

com

mun

ity

dial

ogue

on

disc

rimin

ator

y an

d vi

olen

t at

titud

es a

nd

norm

s

Dev

elop

a

com

mun

i-ty

-wid

e G

BV

st

rate

gy to

in

crea

se

know

ledg

e of

ha

rms

and

right

s re

gard

-in

g G

BV

Adv

ocat

e fo

r pr

otec

tion

and

empo

wer

men

t of

ado

lesc

ent

girls

acr

oss

hum

anita

rian

assi

stan

ce a

nd

prot

ectio

n

Inve

st in

ev

alua

tion

to

asse

ss

prot

ectio

n ou

tcom

es fo

r gi

rls

Dev

elop

co

mpr

ehen

sive

ris

k-m

anag

e-m

ent s

trat

egie

s an

d pl

ans

for

ES

nd

soci

al

empo

wer

men

t in

terv

entio

ns

Ado

lesc

ent g

irls

in h

uman

itaria

n se

tting

s ar

e at

hei

ghte

ned

risk

of G

BV

—a

serio

us h

uman

righ

ts v

iola

tion

with

sev

ere

heal

th a

nd d

evel

opm

ent i

mpl

icat

ions

for i

ndiv

idu-

al g

irls,

thei

r fam

ilies

and

com

mun

ities

. The

driv

ers

of G

BV

aga

inst

girl

s ar

e m

ultif

acet

ed a

nd in

clud

e ge

nder

-bas

ed d

iscr

imin

atio

n an

d no

rms

that

dis

empo

wer

girl

s an

d re

stric

t the

ir ag

ency

. In

hum

anita

rian

setti

ngs,

the

prob

lem

is c

ompo

unde

d by

dep

rivat

ion,

dep

ende

nce,

eco

nom

ic in

secu

rity

and

inad

equa

te a

ttent

ion

to g

irls’

sp

ecifi

c ne

eds,

righ

ts a

nd ri

sks

with

in h

uman

itaria

n ac

tion

5

The Child Protection in Crisis (CPC) Network undertakes innovative research and builds evidence to effect change in child protection policy and practice. At the country level, the CPC Network brings together policy makers and practitioners to determine learning priorities and ensure the results of these endeavors are put to good use. Globally, the CPC Network works with coalitions of UN, nongovernmental, private sector and government actors to generate evidence and link research findings to global practice.

The Women’s Refugee Commission is a research and advocacy organization based in New York. It identifies needs, researches solutions and advocates for global change to improve the lives of crisis-affected women and children.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is the main UN organization defending, promoting and protecting children’s rights.

AcknowledgmentsWritten by Sophie Read-Hamilton (independent consultant), Josh Chaffin (Women’s Refugee Commission), and Mendy Marsh (UNICEF), with inputs from an inter-agency expert group. Edited and designed by Diana Quick (Women’s Refugee Commission).

For inquiries, please contact info@wrcommission.org.

© 2014 6