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Blog
January 2, 2024

There’s no denying that 2023 was a difficult year for gender equality. Natural disasters, war, migration, inflation and a global hunger crisis exacerbated the challenges that girls and their communities were already facing.

But it is during our most challenging times that we have the opportunity for the greatest acts of kindness. This year, we came together to let girls know that they are seen, that they will not be left behind and that hope is not lost.

And, this December, Plan USA celebrated the end of our five-year We Are the Girls campaign. Thanks to the support of donors like you, we impacted the lives of 15.5 million people and exceeded our goal to raise $200 million in support of projects designed for and with girls.

To celebrate the end of the campaign and help you feel inspired for all that you’ve accomplished — and all that we can accomplish together in the year to come — here are 13 photos illustrating a small slice of the impact you made for girls and communities in 2023 and beyond.

1. You inspired girls like Erika to dream big — and helped to make that dream a reality!

“Indigenous women, for the most part, do not study,” Erika says. “Many think that sending a girl to school is throwing away money. Why would a girl study if she has to stay at home to clean, cook and take care of the children?”

Growing up in a traditional Kichwa community in the Andes Mountains, college seemed like an impossible dream for her. Then, Erika became a Plan sponsored child when she was 8 years old. Over the years, she received encouragement and support from her sponsor. As she got older, she participated in Plan leadership programs, which helped to build her confidence, and after graduating from high school, she was awarded a scholarship from Plan to attend university.

“I have told my classmates at university, and in fact all the women in my community, that we must raise our voices, that we must all collaborate, so that other women can hear us and change their lives,” Erika says. “If we can help one person, it will help many others.

Erika, 21, is a former sponsored child who received a scholarship from Plan to attend university.

2. You helped girls like Nokuthula stay safe and educated.

In a rural community in Zimbabwe, girls were walking incredibly long and unsafe distances to school, facing abuse and harassment from men along the way. Then, to be closer to school, they started sleeping in an abandoned shed behind a liquor store — and the abuse continued.

The Graduation Project made it possible for the girls to bring their dream dormitory to life. The girls worked directly with Plan staff to design two boarding houses from start to finish, requesting things like female dorm matrons, highly secured fences and a school garden. Living peacefully in the beautiful safe space they need, the girls are now able to stay in school and graduate.

“My life has since changed and everyone sees in me as a healthy girl who is at peace,” Nokuthula, one of the girls living in the dorms, says. “I enjoy comfortable nights now, as it is my first time ever to leave the mat and sleep in a bed. At home, my parents are the only ones who own a bed.”

Nokuthula, 16, participated in The Graduation Project, supported by Plan’s We Are the Girls campaign.

3. You amplified the voices of young activists like Roshani.

Roshani, 19, lives in a town in Nepal that borders India. Through Plan’s PROTECT project, supported by the We Are the Girls campaign, she became an active campaigner against human trafficking, spreading awareness in her community.

“I believe that we have been trusted with the work we continue to do in our community,” Roshani says. “I now realize that all the dots are connected to form one line.”

More than 15,000 people in India and Nepal received information on trafficking risks and available support programs through information centers established by the PROTECT project.

Roshani, 19, is raising awareness about the dangers of trafficking in her community in Nepal.

4. You helped young women like Eliza kick-start their careers.

Plan’s Connection to Success project in Guatemala, supported by the We Are the Girls campaign, is improving economic opportunities for young people through activities such as entrepreneurship training, startup funding, vocational training and internships. Through the project, Eliza, 23, got a job at a hotel kitchen.

“I feel happy for the space I have been given in the Connection to Success project,” Eliza says. “My mom says she sees changes in my life. I tell her what I learned in the employment sessions. She tells me not to stop, to put everything into practice, and to keep growing.”

Eliza, 23, participated in Plan’s Connection to Success project in Guatemala.

5. You planted seeds of hope for children in Niger.

To respond to the hunger crisis affecting the Central Sahel region of Africa, Plan created school gardening clubs and school meal programs in countries like Niger and Burkina Faso. Through these projects, schools are provided with seeds and gardening tools, while teachers and students are taught how to grow and produce their own food. Plan’s school meal programs are effective both in mitigating hunger and sustaining school attendance. With school gardens, students eat a nutritious lunch, and parents are motivated to send them to school, knowing they will at least be fed there.

Students tend to their school garden in Niger.

6. You supported Champions of Change like Dayana.

More than half of women in El Salvador have experienced some form of violence.

But you’re giving girls hope through your support for Champions of Change, a project supported by the campaign in El Salvador. Girls who participate in this project are learning important life skills, including how to lean on their peers for help. And, they’re sharing what they’ve learned with other young people in their communities.

“Knowing about issues of gender, violence and others have made me see the world differently, and having participated in other spaces helped me feel more secure in my abilities and skills,” Dayana says. “I have developed my inner power and it has allowed me to be a leader in my community to empower more girls.”

“The project has changed my life,” Dayana, who participated in one of the Plan projects supported by the campaign in El Salvador, says.

7. You inspired entrepreneurship and helped women like Era launch their own businesses.

In Indonesia, women earn 23% less than men on average, and high-paying jobs are dominated by men. Young women need more, better options.

The GIRL 2.0 project, supported by Plan’s We Are the Girls campaign, focuses on providing young people, especially women, with the skills, resources and connections they need to start their own businesses. Through the project, young entrepreneurs learn technical skills like product development and financial management, while strengthening key life skills like decision-making. They work with mentors to develop business plans and, as the project progresses, pitch their ideas to panels of judges for seed capital. Local entrepreneurs are invited to network with project participants to build support and resources so young people’s businesses are successful.

Era, 23, started a business selling ornamental plants in Indonesia, with support from the project. Now, she encourages other young people to follow in her footsteps with this advice: “Don’t be afraid to start a business. By becoming an entrepreneur, we can improve our family’s well-being, and ourselves as well.”

Era, 23, started her own business selling ornamental plants after participating in Plan’s GIRL 2.0 project in Indonesia.

8. You helped to keep adolescent girls safe during crises like war and natural disasters.

Your gifts to Plan’s emergency response in Syria are providing girls and their families with the resources they need to rebuild and recover from the massive earthquakes that devastated the country last February.

Plan worked with local partners to rehabilitate six water networks and tanks, benefiting more than 100,000 people in Aleppo and Latakia.

To address the protection risks that adolescent girls and women face while living in shelters, Plan helped to install two gender-segregated bathrooms in a shelter in Aleppo, each equipped with four shower stalls.

“These shower facilities ensure that girls, in particular, have their privacy and protection while maintaining their dignity,” Sara, who lives in a shelter with her family, says. “We no longer have to worry about disturbing each other’s space, and can clean ourselves in an environment that respects our need for privacy. … This newfound sense of protection has lifted a heavy burden from our shoulders, and we feel safer and more secure within these walls.”

Sara feels safer now that Plan has installed gender-segregated bathrooms in the shelter where she’s staying with her family.

9. You involved boys in the fight for equality — and helped to level the playing field!

Through gender equality clubs, girls and boys around the world unite to build the confidence they need to become leaders and advocates of equality. Together, they share ideas about what change could look like in their communities and gather support. Boys reflect on their privileges and the ways they might perpetuate inequality in order to challenge machismo culture and support girls and women in their lives. Meanwhile, girls identify how being female affects their lives and how their experiences may be different from their male peers. Together, they practice what they learn through soccer games and other structured activities.

Boys and girls play soccer together and work as a team in Vietnam.

10. You protected migrating girls and families.

Plan’s Protected Passage project provided a lifeline for adolescent girls and families affected by migration in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico. The project helped to fill critical service gaps, including psychosocial support and protection services.

“Plan International helped me see what I want for myself,” one adolescent girl living in a shelter in Mexico says. “I have to take care of myself so that I don’t damage my future and can get ahead in life.”

Adolescent girls participate in an activity organized by Plan in the shelter where they are staying in Mexico.

11. You fought against period stigma.

For a long time, 15-year-old Theresia dreaded going to school when she had her period.

“When I saw my female classmate being shamed when she had a leak in class, my fear grew even bigger,” Theresia recalls. “I promised myself I would never let anybody know when I was on my period; I would rather suffer in silence.”

It was only after attending a training session on menstrual health organized by Plan at her school that Theresia’s perspective started to change. She learned that menstruation was a natural process and should be discussed openly.

Plan’s mobile menstrual health lab has been visiting schools in Tanzania’s Kigoma and Geita region since it was set up in 2022. The labs have become a hub of knowledge, dispelling myths and misconceptions surrounding menstruation while fostering an environment where questions are welcomed, and discussions are encouraged.

“I used to fear going to school during my period, but now I know it’s natural,” Theresia says. “I won’t let it stop me, and I want every girl to feel the same way.”

Theresia decided to take action by organizing a series of meetings for other girls in her school. More than 150 adolescent girls attended the awareness raising sessions.

“Theresia showed us that we can talk about this openly,” Dina, one of the girls who attended the meetings, shares. “We don’t have to hide anymore.”

Young people in Tanzania learn about menstrual health at Plan’s mobile lab.

12. You helped children like Thailan continue to participate in sponsorship.

People like you sponsor thousands of children in need through Plan. When you become a sponsor, you can help a child receive an education, have access to clean water and healthcare and be protected from violence.

Thailan, age 5, is a sponsored child with Plan who lives in Cambodia. She attends the pre-school in her community which was built by Plan.

Plan has constructed more than 400 pre-schools in Cambodia over the past 20 years. In most areas where Plan works, children under 5 now have access to early childhood care and development. More parents are sending their children to pre-school and investing in their education from an early age.

Thailan, age 5, is a Plan sponsored child in Cambodia.

13. You created a ripple effect by supporting a network of young leaders here in the U.S.

Gender inequality exists everywhere, including the U.S., so Plan USA works with young people here, too, to fight against it.

One of the ways we do that is through our Youth Leadership Academy — a yearlong leadership program dedicated to training, supporting and mentoring young activists in the U.S. as they seek to create positive change in their communities.

In July, Plan gathered more than 40 young people from across the U.S. together for a four-day residential academy in Washington, D.C., with activities including a panel on youth in politics, a deep dive session focused on the sustainable development goals related to climate change and gender equality, and a model U.N. session.

One of the most important activities is participants’ leadership projects. Throughout the 2023-2024 academic year, YLA participants design, create and implement a project in their community on the social justice issue of their choice. The young leaders meet online with Plan staff and mentors from Plan’s Youth Advisory Board, attend skill-building webinars and access seed funding to launch their projects in their communities!

Four YLA participants stand in front of the White House during their stay in D.C.

Your support gives us hope and inspires us to work harder every day. We look forward to all of the positive change we will create together with girl leaders in 2024!

News & press
December 22, 2023

Plan International leads a mutually beneficial industrial park-worker program model

PRESS RELEASE

WASHINGTON, DC, December 22, 2023 — Plan International is leading innovations to better ensure that young women can benefit from the economic growth opportunity that industrial parks provide — and that the same innovations are good for the region’s local businesses and community. Developed in partnership with the U.S. government and The Children’s Place, the Hawassa Industrial Park’s community-based childcare model is demonstrating positive economic outcomes for women, children and the private sector in Ethiopia.

The Government of Ethiopia has invested nearly $1 billion in 32 industrial parks, primarily focusing on textile manufacturing where 94% of the workforce are females and three fourths are ages 18-24. These investments are meant to transform the economy and reduce poverty; however, realizing the full benefit of these those goals requires non-traditional support systems.

To assist the Hawassa Industrial Park improve worker performance and productivity and reduce attrition, Plan and USAID have created a worker wellness program to ensure that potential employees understand their future roles and are connected with local services. As most employees relocate to be near the plant, they benefit from connections with fair housing, an understanding of the community they are joining and how to access essential needs. For the largely young and female workforce at Hawassa, this includes childcare services and early childhood development programs.

Partnering with The Children’s Place, childcare centeres have been created to support over 200 children each year. Workers have reported lower absenteeism from work, improved productivity and increased participation in work, leading to increases in their pay.

“The workforce at Ethiopia’s Hawassa Industrial Park, which is predominantly composed of young women, is impacted by a shortage of quality early childhood care and education in the region,” Adrian Sherman, Vice President of Environment & Social Responsibility at The Children’s Place said. “By establishing a safe and dependable daycare center, we have helped to relieve that impact and, importantly, contribute to advancing gender equality and financial independence for women in the region. We take great pride in our partnership with Plan International in helping to promote worker well-being and provide families a reliable and nurturing childcare option in Hawassa.”

As industrial parks continue to expand across Africa, there is an opportunity to replicate this childcare service model for improved outcomes for women, children and private sector partners.

“Sending my child to the Plan run childcare center in Cheffe is the single most important decision I have made in my life,” Debretu, a 24-year-old operator at a garment manufacturing company, said. “The Center has made it possible for me to work and at the same time, for my child to be in a safe and caring environment. As you can imagine, I can now work free of any stress and give my best to my job.”

By investing in the set-up of community-owned and operated childcare services targeted to the employment demographics of industrial parks, companies will see higher returns on their investments while driving sustainable ESG agendas. For young women like Debretu, the investment is one in their and their child’s future as well.

For more information or interviews, please contact:

Maria Holsopple
Director, Communications & Creative Services
Email: [email protected]

Mobile: 540.383.3628

About Plan International USA

Powered by supporters, Plan International USA partners with adolescent girls, young women and children around the world to overcome oppression and gender inequality. We provide the support and resources that are unique to their needs and the needs of their communities, ensuring they achieve their full potential with dignity, opportunity and safety. Founded in 1937, Plan is an independent development and humanitarian organization that is active in more than 80 countries.

For more information, and to learn about our commitment to safeguarding, please visit www.PlanUSA.org.

About The Children’s Place

The Children’s Place is an omni-channel children’s specialty portfolio of brands with an industry-leading digital-first model. Its global retail and wholesale network includes four digital storefronts, more than 500 stores in North America, wholesale marketplaces and distribution in 16 countries through six international franchise partners. The Children’s Place is proud to be a women-led Company, including industry-leading gender diversity in senior management and throughout all levels of its workforce, and of its commitment to sustainable business practices that benefit its customers, associates, investors, suppliers and the communities it serves. The Children’s Place designs, contracts to manufacture, and sells fashionable, high-quality apparel, accessories and footwear predominantly at value prices, primarily under its proprietary brands: “The Children’s Place”, “Gymboree”, “Sugar & Jade”, and “PJ Place”. For more information visit: www.childrensplace.com, www.gymboree.com, www.sugarandjade.com and www.pjplace.com, as well as the Company’s social media channels on Instagram, Facebook, X, formerly known as Twitter, YouTube and Pinterest.

Blog
November 27, 2023

The Secret Weapon to Fighting Climate Change? Girls

This is a guest blog post written by Elsa, a high school student based in Washington, D.C.

As ice caps melt and natural disasters intensify, women experience the biggest impacts.

When hosts of natural disasters borne by heat and human irresponsibility sweep the globe, the ensuing conflict makes women and girls even more vulnerable to gender-based violence. Additionally, it creates a peril that women are also more vulnerable to: the destruction of natural resources. Women of color, LGBTQIA+ women, migrant women and many other marginalized groups are especially at risk from the instability resulting from climate disaster. As injustices intersect, climate change can worsen gender disparities — but uplifting girls and women under two key areas can create positive change.

1. Farming and natural resources

Women are more at risk when disaster strikes natural resources. Since the man is viewed as the “head of household,” his nutritional needs too often come first when disaster strikes. Furthermore, barriers to education and information conspire to prevent women from receiving information on crop patterns and natural disasters, and from innovating to respond to them. And in addition to this increased vulnerability to climate change, women already have less access to the rapidly declining backbones of life, like crops and building materials.

Girls also bear the worldwide burden in collecting water, meaning in times of drought (which are more and more common due to climate change), girls are more likely than boys to drop out of school. On top of this, women are repeatedly marginalized from farming, being characterized as “the farmer’s assistants” across the world. Yet, studies show that maternal income plays a much greater role than the income of fathers in improving family nutrition and children’s survival rates.

Empowering women farmers would improve land use efficiency and increase crop yields, serving as a bastion against deforestation, starvation and other effects of climate change. Women have always been stewards of natural resources — food, plants, water — so with training, women can use these traditional roles and newfound knowledge to create new, sustainable solutions to climate issues.

2. Education

It’s not just that women and girls are more vulnerable to climate change, they’re also discouraged from working to solve it. Well below 10% of climate tech startup funding goes toward women. This means it’s essential to give girls and women the training and financial support required to participate in fields previously made unavailable to them — not just for gender equality, but also for climate justice. Because what if we could work toward both at once?

A2013 study cited by Project Drawdown, a climate justice nonprofit, found that educating girls is “the single most important social and economic factor associated with a reduction in vulnerability to natural disasters.” This could be because educated girls receive higher wages, experience lower rates of maternal mortality and are less vulnerable to HIV/AIDS and malaria — the “social vaccine effect.”

How young people are taking action

An intersectional approach to climate justice is key. Women-led initiatives and nonprofits are taking this kind of climate action every day, but they need more support. Women’s solutions for development remain heavily underfunded. And, overall, nonprofit organizations like Plan that focus on girls and women receive less than 2% of all charitable giving.

One example of the power of investing in women is thriving businesswoman, Gladness Gilole. Gladness is a mentor for girls in her northern Tanzanian village of Sale. She participated in an environmental entrepreneurship training through the U.N.’s Energize Project, which helped her launch her career.

“I moved back to Sale and now I own a farm, manage a tailoring business and I sell and install solar equipment,” Gladness says.

Including girls in the climate conversation like this means more than simply listening to their perspectives — it means elevating pre-existing solutions by girls, for girls, and embracing locally-led development.

Young people like Gladness are leading the charge for climate justice across the world. But young women still have to jump significant systemic hurdles to participate in climate leadership roles.

Girls for Climate Action, a youth-led movement, makes it possible for girls to prototype and launch climate change solutions. The organization has helped place young women in leadership roles on historically male-dominated local environmental committees, emphasizing the importance of leadership in the fight for climate action and gender justice. Sometimes, it just takes one person to change a community.

And, at Texas State University, students are transforming the way we interact with our climate. The unruly hyacinth, an aquatic plant, grows rapidly over the banks of the San Marcos River, blocking sunlight and oxygen from reaching the placid water below. If not removed, it has the potential to crowd out biodiversity by preventing nearby plants from performing photosynthesis. But local youth are fighting back. As part of the HEDGE team, TSU students sail the river, cutting excess water hyacinth and sending it to industrial-grade ovens to be dried and mixed with cotton, transforming the hyacinth fibers into biodegradable menstrual products!

Many HEDGE members are young women. Graduate student Wren Vogel says participating in HEDGE has inspired her to continue discovering “how we can take something harmful and use it to make something good.” And utilizing the water hyacinth’s natural capabilities to make pads does create the perfect balance, strengthening the river’s ecosystem while decreasing menstrual inequities. By inviting youth to be part of the solution to local climate nightmares and global period poverty, HEDGE is one of the many initiatives springing up that use the voices of young women to combat climate change and gender inequality.

As part of my own personal advocacy work, I spoke on a NOAA youth climate panel and was happy to see that many of the faces I was addressing belonged to girls. Some of these young women have gone on to make highly innovative projects (such as Kennesha Garg’s mangrove root prototype to reach and manage greenhouse gasses in landfills). Others were already trailblazing in their own communities. Working toward gender justice is not wiping a slate clean or reinventing the wheel — it’s elevating the passion that girls and women across the globe have for the climate, and making it known to the world.

So, when you think of climate change, forest fires and melting ice might come to mind. But so should the many girls and women who are fighting to improve their lives while helping their environment. As Vanessa Nakate, a Ugandan climate change activist, says: “We can’t have climate justice without gender equality … we need women in spaces where decisions on their wellbeing are discussed, especially decisions about the future of the planet.”

News & press
November 14, 2023

Plan International USA surpasses $200 million campaign goal to fight gender inequality

PRESS RELEASE

WASHINGTON, D.C., Nov. 14. 2023 — Plan International USA surpassed its’ $200 million fundraising goal for its We Are the Girls campaign. The funds raised as part of the campaign are supporting girl-led programs that fight gender inequality internationally and in the U.S.

Over the past five years, the campaign has impacted the lives of more than 15.5 million people through programs focused on girls’ unique needs. In a quest to change the way the world sees girls, and the way girls see themselves, Plan developed an approach called GirlEngage. GirlEngage places girls at the center and includes them as a critical partner from program design to implementation to evaluation.

“We set out to ensure that girls were safe, educated and economically empowered,” Shanna Marzilli, chief executive officer and president of Plan International USA, said. “What we found is that girls are best positioned to understand and solve the challenges they face. When given resources and opportunities, they can lead positive change in their communities.”

An example of GirlEngage in action is The Graduation Project in Zimbabwe, which is focused on increasing the number of girls who complete secondary school. Many girls travelled long distances to school and would stay in unsafe places, like abandoned buildings, during the week to avoid the lengthy trip. When Plan decided to build dormitories, it was assumed girls would want things like WiFi and technology. However, when asked, girls were most concerned about safety, requesting features like a barbed wire fence and a female security guard. This challenged assumptions, but allowed for a dorm to be built that better fit the needs of girls. As one participant noted, “this project is for us, by us.” Today, the dormitories are at full capacity.

“GirlEngage is providing girls with the tools to choose their future rather than have it dictated for them,” Vicki Escarra, campaign cabinet chair and senior advisor at Boston Consulting Group, said. “I have been so inspired not only by the girls themselves, but also by those who saw the potential of girls and have supported this campaign. I am excited to see what can be accomplished next!”

Inspired by the suite of projects developed by We Are the Girls, Plan mobilized support from nearly 300,000 individual, corporate and foundation donors. The resources raised by the campaign were also used in the U.S. to partner with young people through leadership training community-building. In addition, Plan worked with Unsplash, the internet’s source of freely usable visuals, to portray girls on their own terms and change Unsplash’s search algorithm to feature real, confident girls.

Building on the campaign’s successes, Plan is creating additional programs in new communities to inspire even more transformational change alongside adolescent girls. As the world faces crises and growing inequality, you can join in the fight to achieve gender equality by joining Plan’s community of We Are the Girls activists.

For more information or interviews, please contact:

Maria Holsopple
Director, Communications and Creative Services

Email: [email protected]

Mobile: 540.383.3628

About Plan International USA

Powered by supporters, Plan International USA partners with girls and their communities around the world to overcome oppression and gender inequality. We provide the support and resources that are unique to their needs and the needs of their communities, ensuring they achieve their full potential with dignity, opportunity and safety. Founded in 1937, Plan is an independent development and humanitarian organization that is active in more than 80 countries.

For more information, and to learn about our commitment to safeguarding, please visit www.PlanUSA.org.

Report & Resource
October 4, 2023

The State of the World’s Girls report 2023

This year Plan International’s State of the World’s Girls Report focuses on activism. It provides a unique insight from over a thousand participants into what it’s like to be an adolescent girl or young woman activist in 2023: how are they treated, do they feel safe, what keeps them going? The research, one of the largest studies of girl and young women activists to date, is groundbreaking, not least because the face-to-face interviews were led by 70 young women researchers who are themselves activists and their findings are supported by focus group discussions using participatory techniques.

Insights
June 22, 2023

Increasing graduation rates for girls through participatory action research

Authors: Meghan Mattern, Inclusive Quality Education Advisor; Artmore Muguse, Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning Coordinator; Alisha Parikh, Inclusive Quality Education Associate

Across the world, girls face disproportionate challenges due to entrenched gender inequality. Gender norms, stereotypes and discrimination lead to girls often experiencing multiple and varied barriers in accessing their rights, especially in education.

In many parts of Zimbabwe, the rate of girls graduating from secondary school is stubbornly low. The upper secondary completion rate for children in rural schools is 6% and the overall completion rate for girls in Zimbabwe is 14%. When Plan International first started exploring ways to work with girls and their communities to address barriers, we quickly learned through comparing interviews with girls to existing research that there are large discrepancies between what a standard desk review and local officials would say the reason is for these realities and what girls themselves say.

GirlEngage

Working with girls and positioning them as the drivers of change is the essence of Plan’s GirlEngage approach, a socioecological model that positions girls as partners and co-designers in all phases of a project — from planning to developing solutions that reflect their needs, priorities and aspirations. Through this approach, girls in Zimbabwe identified specific factors that impeded their graduation from secondary school. These included needing to walk long distances to school, lack of safe drinking water, protection risks, lack of confidence, child marriage and teenage pregnancy.

When asked how they would solve these challenges, girls identified and designed solutions such as building secure dormitories, improved access to potable water, confidence-building activities and building supportive families, schools and communities that respect gender equality. Thus, The Graduation Project was born.

Participatory action research

In order to further develop our understanding of what drives girls to leave school in the target districts and help us effectively address those factors, the project employed the use of youth-led participatory action research. YPAR involves researchers and program participants working alongside one another to design and execute the research process. This allows for methods and findings to reflect the important perspectives and priorities of those involved in the study.

A select group of girls went through a PAR training, which showed them how to design and implement the research to address identified challenges. Girls chose research topics based on their concerns about so many girls dropping out in the last few years of their education, and Plan staff showed them how they could use PAR to explore their research interests. The girls developed survey questions and conducted in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and key informant interviews with 33 girls who dropped out of school, 10 boys, nine parents and four other key informants.

Through the research, girls found that economic hardships and complex family situations, as well as gender-specific barriers such as the of lack of safety while walking long distances to and from school, stigmas and inadequate materials to manage their menstruation, gender bias, early marriage and teen pregnancy, are factors that led girls to drop out of school.

Based on these findings, the interviewed girls recommended greater economic empowerment; raising awareness about gender biases; increasing sex education and access to birth control; and creating a safe, enabling environment for girls to return to school.

These recommendations informed Plan’s work to address the barriers that prevent adolescent girls’ successful graduation from secondary school. A key aspect of these recommendations is that they reflect solutions involving actors at various levels. At the individual level, increasing access to birth control and economic opportunities gives girls greater control in decisions that affect their bodies and livelihoods. At the school level, improving sex education and creating an enabling environment for girls to return to school — particularly for pregnant and married girls — not only enriches the education of students in school, but also provides opportunities for those not in school to continue their education. At the family level, economic opportunities contribute toward preventing financial constraints as a barrier to girls’ education. Finally, at the community level, raising awareness about gender biases — particularly among men and boys — fosters a shift in mindsets, attitudes and behaviors.

Results

Girls are best placed to highlight existing challenges that prevent their access to inclusive, quality education, and thus, best placed to design the solutions to address these challenges. The cohort of girls in The Graduation Project, which utilized the GirlEngage approach, reported an increase in agency and life skills, based on the project baseline and endline.

The use of PAR created an opportunity for girls to discuss issues that affect them and develop solutions. Girls who are in school and living in the dorms shared their experiences of bush boarding. Those interviewed shared their experiences of local young men, or “Jonie-Jonies,” luring them into sexual relationships, resulting in unwanted pregnancies and early marriages. This lived reality of many girls prompted their recommendations to improve sex education and raise awareness about gender biases among community members, especially men and boys. Girls also identified secure dormitories as a solution to improve their safety and access to schooling.

The GirlEngage approach epitomizes girls’ meaningful and active participation, which often is lacking in traditional education projects, and is what differentiates it from other approaches. It is also an evolving approach, which allows girls to iteratively adjust their situations. PAR is an example of this evolution as girls deepened their understanding of the issues and refined solutions.

Moving forward

Through implementing The Graduation Project, and with the use of PAR, we learned that we must allocate significant time during the co-creation phase for girls to develop and design actionable solutions, and then be ready to change course to reflect those solutions. Based on findings from the endline, adaptive management and the ability to change a project implementation strategy on the basis of new information is important when managing projects such as The Graduation Project. While it was critical to focus on girls, it was important to include other stakeholders to achieve the girls’ vision and ensure sustainability.

It will be also be critical to conduct meetings with girls and community members to present the main findings from this project, and encourage feedback and suggestions. Using these results and feedback, future work will focus design activities tailored to reducing dropout rates and encouraging the return of out-of-school girls.

Using PAR with adolescent girls, which is now integrated into the GirlEngage approach, can help us design innovative ways to address barriers to girls’ education. In this way, we work with girls as partners and position them as the drivers of change to promote access to inclusive, quality education.

Blog
June 12, 2023

Making seas safer for migrant fishers

First published by the U.S. Department of Labor.

The global demand for cheap seafood has led the seafood industry to rely heavily on sourcing from the Asia-Pacific region. There, a large workforce of migrant workers catch, farm and process most of the world’s seafood supply. Many are subjected to labor exploitation in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, also known as IUU fishing. Employers subject workers to emotional and physical abuse, excessive overtime, poor living conditions, deceptive or coercive recruiting, and nonpayment or underpayment of wages. The isolated nature of fishing activity makes addressing forced labor in the industry especially challenging.

In 2017, we launched the Safe Seas Project with Plan International to address systemic issues that allow labor exploitation to flourish at sea in Indonesia and the Philippines. Five years later, the project has ended. We spoke with Plan International’s Kate Ezzes, who has been overseeing the project since 2018, about the challenges and successes of the project.

Officials get ready to inspect a fishing boat.

Why is labor exploitation at sea often considered labor trafficking?

Recruiters promise Indonesian and Filipino fishers, primarily young men, high-paying, decent, safe jobs on fishing vessels. They are then trafficked into international waters and held on boats, where they are exploited for their labor while receiving little to no pay.

Victims of trafficking report that employers exert control by withholding their wages, denying them freedom of movement, seizing their documents and holding them in cycles of debt bondage. Over 83% of victims have reported suffering both psychological and physical abuse.

Most forced labor and human trafficking victims in Rambang and Tagal, major Indonesian port areas, are between 12 and 29 years old. Children and youth often face pressure to help support their families, and it is relatively easy to influence and illegally recruit them globally.

What are the challenges of addressing labor exploitation at sea that became evident through the project?

In Indonesia and the Philippines, fishing regulations were insufficient, and the government lacked the capacity to conduct inspections and take follow-up action. In many cases, there were gaps in the regulations and policies that prevented the proper implementation of laws. IUU fishing is not considered a crime in either country. And, national human trafficking task forces do not formally recognize the fishing industry as a source of human trafficking and exploitation. So even when law enforcement searches vessels, labor trafficking is not always among the criminal activities they look for.

Another challenge was that fisher folk were unaware of their rights, and existing grievance reporting mechanisms were ineffective.

How did the Safe Seas Project address these challenges?

One of our strategic interventions was establishing Safe Fishing Alliances in both countries. The strategy behind the SFAs was to promote a common understanding of forced labor and trafficking while ensuring collaboration and coordination between government agencies, the private sector, civil society and fishing communities.

For example, the project regularly shared updates about the work conditions faced by Indonesian migrant fishers and discussed case reports from the Fisher Centers. These reports spurred relevant ministries to strengthen collaboration with destination countries proactively. Working collaboratively, the SFAs resolved the problem of different mandates and overlapping regulations and closed the legal gaps that allowed fishers to fall through the cracks.

We also established a training program for government officials and relevant stakeholders on how to carry out inspections on fishing vessels. The program worked with government agencies to develop procedures to identify fishing vessel labor violations. Through a participatory process with government agencies, we helped formulate site-specific labor inspection procedures for critical ports. We then developed these procedures into a Multi-Disciplinary Inspections training manual. Newly trained vessel inspectors then piloted the procedures on vessels at port.

Educating fishers and their families about their rights and providing a space to voice complaints was as critical as addressing the regulatory and legal issues. We did this by setting up community-based Fisher Centers in eight villages near ports where fishers can report grievances and access referral services and information about workers’ protection and rights.

Hundreds of fishers and their families have used the centers, which will continue to operate beyond the life of the SAFE Seas Project as hubs for community action to support fishers.

What was innovative about the Safe Seas Project?

One of the project’s most innovative aspects was engaging all stakeholders from the beginning, including the Indonesian and Filipino governments, fishers, the private sector, civil society and communities. We worked closely with local community organizations and the government to ensure buy-in and participation from day one, and sustainability once we turned the project over to local leaders and community-based organizations.

What was one key lesson learned from the project?

A program focused on IUU fishing is incredibly complex and includes many stakeholders. One key lesson learned is the need to increase engagement with the governments of destination countries in addition to the source countries. In the Asia region, this would include a specific focus on Taiwan.

Looking back, what project result are you most proud of? What were the biggest successes in terms of impact?

The level of commitment and engagement from communities has been remarkable. In Indonesia, dedicated volunteer groups serve as a community-based protection mechanism for fishers. They raise awareness about fishers’ rights, receive grievance reports and connect fishers to the Fisher Centers, service providers and relevant government agencies for follow-up assistance. The women members have been vital to the successful functioning of the groups. They play a significant role in reporting complaints or fishers’ rights violations on behalf of their male relatives/husbands. They have become crucial and adept advocates against forced labor and trafficking in their communities.

Another 100% volunteer-based organization protecting fishers is SAKTI, a network of 250 paralegal village volunteers trained by local organizations. The group educates fishers about their rights, provides legal assistance and assists with securing vital documentation such as contracts and passports.

Seeing how communities are taking ownership of the work we started is deeply gratifying and a great example of what communities can accomplish when empowered with knowledge. Working alongside communities as they learned about fishing exploitation and worker rights and then participated in developing solutions has been a rewarding experience.

To learn more about the Safe Seas Project, please visit: https://www.planusa.org/projects/indonesia-philippines-safeguarding-against-addressing-fishers-exploitation-at-sea/

Blog
June 8, 2023

Meet 5 “girl dads” advocating for gender equality

This blog was updated on June 8, 2023.

The #GirlDad movement — it started in tribute to Kobe Bryant, honoring his words about being a father to four daughters.

“Girls are the best,” Bryant said in a conversation with ESPN reporter Elle Duncan in 2018. “I would have five more girls if I could. I’m a girl dad.”

Fathers everywhere are proudly claiming that same love for their girls. They recognize that the potential of their daughters is the same as that of their sons. And because of that, they’re making serious strides toward gender equality.

In honor of Father’s Day, we’re highlighting five “girl dads” from around the world who are doing amazing things for their daughters — and for girls everywhere.

Juan Carlos from Ecuador

Juan Carlos has been participating in Plan International’s programs since he was a sponsored child himself. After turning 18, he joined and became president of several children’s groups, advocating for their rights and equality. Today, he works as a psychologist. And for about eight years now, he’s also been a sponsorship facilitator for Plan in his community.

But his greatest accomplishment to date is becoming a father.

“[My daughter] gives me the opportunity to be a hands-on parent,” Juan Carlos says. “My wife and I share the responsibilities of feeding, caring, dressing and bathing our daughter. We are both clear that it is not help or support, it is the responsibility of both of us to love and guide Brianna toward healthy growth and well-being.”

As a psychologist, Juan Carlos knows how important him being an active and positive parent is for his daughter’s development, a belief that is uncommon in machismo culture in Ecuador. And, with all of the experience he’s had advocating for children’s and young people’s rights, Juan feels confident in raising his daughter to become whoever she chooses.

“I want to invite other fathers to share the upbringing of their children, to show affection, to learn to take care of them, so that we can build a more equitable world,” he says.

Yusuf from Indonesia

Everything was in place for Yusuf to marry off his daughter when she entered her second year of high school. The entire wedding was planned without his daughter’s knowledge.

This isn’t an easy decision for many parents like Yusuf. If they can’t make ends meet, they might think an older husband will provide their daughters with more security. They want to help her survive. But it comes at the cost of their daughter’s freedom.

Before his daughter’s wedding, Yusuf and his wife, Naimunah, attended an awareness-raising session on child protection, set up with the help of Plan. Yusuf learned about the dangers of child marriage — and he realized that if his daughter were to be married, it would affect her long-term physical and mental health.

The session was a turning point for Yusuf. He didn’t want to take away his daughter’s future. So he decided to break tradition and cancel his daughter’s wedding.

And he didn’t want others in his village to make the same mistake, which is why he joined the village child protection group. Now, he spends his time teaching other families about the dangers of child marriage and helping girls like his daughter stay safe.

Ismael from the Dominican Republic

Bienvenida, who is 15 years old, leads a group at her school about preventing sexual exploitation. She’s super enthusiastic about her advocacy work with Plan, and she has an ally she can always count on — her dad, Ismael.

Ismael brought Bienvenida up by himself, defying gender norms in a society where single fathers aren’t common. Together, the father-daughter duo is determined to help girls live free from violence.

“Child exploitation is rife around here,” Ismael says. “There are lots of tourists who talk to girls of 14, 15 years old, and come looking for them. Sometimes they’re girls who have been abused by their families or who have parents who want money. ‘Take my daughter,’ they say. That happens a lot. They do it because they don’t have enough to eat. They don’t have anything.

“We don’t have much more than those people. But no matter what, I won’t let my daughter be sexually exploited. I don’t know if I’ll be able to afford to send her to university. But I want to try. ‘Study so that you don’t have to depend on any man, so that you can support [yourself], so that you don’t end up like me.’ That is what I say to her.”

Lan from Laos

Lan knows that educating girls can break the cycle of poverty. That’s why he makes sure his daughter, Khaimouk, gets the chance to go to school — just like her brother.

Lan’s family lives in the mountains of northern Laos along their rice paddy field. The harvest is small. And it’s not easy work. But Lan is motivated to make sure his children have every chance to make their dreams come true.

“I hope my children receive a good education so they can lead good, successful lives,” Lan says. “I myself had to quit school in fifth grade. My wife did not go to school at all.”

Getting an education as a girl in Laos is difficult. Especially in smaller villages, many girls don’t finish primary school. And around one third of girls in Laos are married before they turn 18, increasing girls’ dropout rates.

But Lan believes his daughter deserves the same opportunity to get an education as his son. “Girls and boys have the same rights,” he says. “It is very important for all children to have an education.”

And because Lan believes in Khaimouk, she has the support she needs to follow her dreams.

“My favorite subject in school is Lao,” Khaimouk says. “I want to be a teacher when I grow up.”

Heloilson from Brazil

Heloilson is his daughter Thayssa’s biggest fan. He goes with her to her soccer club every Friday, run by Plan, where he cheers her on from the sidelines.

“Thayssa came with me from an early age when I played soccer with friends,” Heloilson says. “I saw that she could play quite well … That’s why I signed her up for Plan’s soccer project.”

In their community, many think that soccer is a gendered sport. “Some children think that soccer is only for boys,” Thayssa says. “They call me names and I don’t like that, because boys and girls can both play soccer. At the meetings with Plan, we learn to deal with these prejudices.”

“My own brother, for example, doesn’t even allow his wife to work,” Heloilson says. “I really can’t understand that.”

Heloilson and Thayssa want things to change for girls and women. And with Thayssa playing soccer, and Heloilson supporting her, they’re showing what needs to be done to change the game.

“It’s important that she sees that things can be done differently,” Heloilson says.