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Blog
April 14, 2023

Meet the girls engineering a more sustainable future

When we ask the girls we work with about the problems they face in their daily lives, they sometimes bring up issues we don’t expect. They also have ideas about how to solve those issues. This is the heart of our GirlEngage approach at Plan International USA. When girls can truly direct their own lives, meaningful change becomes reality.

In Zimbabwe, many rural homes don’t have access to running water. It’s not uncommon for girls to walk several miles each day to collect water from rivers and streams for their families to use for cooking, cleaning and washing. This not only means girls have less time to go to school, if they’re even able to attend in the first place, but it also puts their safety at risk to travel so far from home on their own. With the climate continuing to warm, the availability of water decreases with every passing season — and the distance girls must walk to find it only increases.

Through The Graduation Project, which is building dormitories for girls at two schools in the country, Plan consulted participants about additional features they felt were necessary to support their education. One of those features was direct access to clean water.

“Now I appreciate the GirlEngage approach. It’s unleashing the potential that was hidden within me. I never thought I would confidently speak before an audience, but now I do it with much ease.” — participant in Zimbabwe

The Graduation Project installed a well at the girls’ school community to provide easy access to clean water.

So, in partnership with Purdue University, the project is also conducting an engineering training course for girls to design, plan and implement a water recycling system together. So far, the girls have learned about the basics of water recycling, including how to treat and reuse water for things like agriculture and drinking. Not only do the girls have the opportunity to create more sustainable access to water in their community, but they’re also inspired to pursue science and engineering in the future.

“We used to think engineering is for men and boys only, but now we have the understanding that engineering is for anyone ¾ including women and girls. We are so grateful because, through this project, we are now connected on Wi-Fi. We now have tablets where we have full access to our online engineering lessons.” — 14-year-old participant in Zimbabwe

Girls in Senegal are also taking on climate change initiatives through Girls Learn & Thrive, Plan’s project to prevent child marriage and keep girls in school. In this community, the pandemic surfaced many problems girls face, one of them being access to electricity. When schools closed and turned to remote learning, many girls couldn’t keep up. Even if some students were lucky enough to have access to the necessary technology, unreliable electricity made regular studying impossible.

Purdue University is also partnering with Plan and the local technical high school to implement an engineering program in Senegal, this time focused on solar energy. The girls identified problem areas where consistent lighting was necessary to keep them safe and shared with Plan what they currently know about engineering so courses could be designed with them in mind.

As the project continues, the girls will learn to co-design, test and implement the renewable solar systems in their community. And, once their new systems are in place, they’ll be able to study in the evening even after the sun goes down, and public spaces won’t feel so unsafe.

Girls in Zimbabwe stand along the foundation of the new dormitory they co-designed with Plan.

Best of all, the girls in Zimbabwe and Senegal are just beginning their journey in an industry that benefits the planet while opening new doors for their futures. With more girls engaged in climate solutions that solve local problems, we can strive for a greener, more sustainable world for everyone.

Blog
April 12, 2023

“No more normal”: Girls describe life after Syria’s earthquakes

Two devastating earthquakes struck the border of Syria and Türkiye in February 2023, including more than one thousand aftershocks, killing and injuring more than 13,000 people in Syria alone. In the wake of this disaster, more than 4 million people in the northwest region of Syria need humanitarian assistance.

Thousands of families have been forced into temporary shelters with little more than the clothes they were wearing on the morning the earthquakes struck. Girls and women are especially at risk in these overcrowded living situations, where they lack access to basic services and privacy.

Plan International is working with our partners in Syria to provide relief to girls and their families. You can make a gift to our earthquake response and help us deliver food, water, blankets, mattresses and sleeping bags to survivors in urgent need. We’re also working alongside our partners to assess the long-term needs of children, especially children who have lost their parents in the disaster, and those separated from their families.

In one of the shelters where Plan is providing support, we spoke with Juliana, 18, Carla, 16, and Jacqueline, 16, who shared how their lives have changed.

Before the earthquake, Carla says her life was very normal. The day the earthquakes struck was like any other. She came home from school, did her homework, ate dinner and went to bed.

“We woke to my mother’s voice telling us to get up as there was an earthquake,” Carla says. “It took me a couple of seconds before realizing that it was true, I was shaking. I thought it would stop after a few seconds, but it didn’t stop. I started crying and shouting and telling my mother, we were going to die.”

“My mother wanted to get her jacket before leaving the building,” Carla continues. “I was telling my sister that we needed to go straight away, but she wanted to wait for my mother. I was crying and telling them that the building was going to fall, we were going to die and I was not waiting for anyone.”

Carla left her building on her own, barefoot and wearing just her pajamas.

“I ran into the street; it was dark and raining,” she remembers. “I was alone until more people started to come down.”

When Carla reunited with her mother and sister, they went to a nearby square where there were fewer buildings at risk of collapsing. When it was deemed safe to return home, they found destroyed buildings and cars throughout the neighborhood. Even though their home was still intact, Carla and her family remained on edge. When the second earthquake hit later that morning, they were prepared to evacuate straight away with their winter clothing and shoes.

“The first place we went to was the church, which was ready to support us with food and somewhere to sleep,” Carla says. “Our mental health is very down, everyone is crying. Children here especially cry a lot.”

Children have been left deeply affected by the earthquake and are in need of mental health and psychosocial support. Some are experiencing panic attacks and frequent breakdowns since the earthquake. Parents have told us their children are suffering from extreme nightmares as they try to process what they’ve witnessed.

Adolescent girls and young women living in the temporary shelters also experience particular protection concerns due to the lack of privacy and having few personal belongings. They face an increased risk of gender-based violence, including sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment.

Part of Plan’s response is to install temporary dividing walls in shelters to increase privacy, as well as distribute hygiene kits with menstrual health supplies for girls and women, and information about services for gender-based violence survivors.

Juliana tells us that before the earthquake, she felt her life was too routine, and that she often felt bored by it. However, the disaster has put everything into perspective for her.

“After the earthquake, I was like, ‘No, my life was much better before,’” Juliana says. “I am ready to go back to my routine life and my [normal] problems and not go through what I am living in now.”

Juliana says she spends most of her days in the church basement, occasionally busying herself by volunteering to help others.

“Sometimes the scouts come and do an activity with us,” she says. “I am also part of the church scouts as well. If they need any help — for example, if they need someone to give parents a break and play with the younger children — then I do that. We also help the elderly if they need anything.”

For Juliana, the main priority is being able to return to her house and resume a normal life.

“I want to go back to my home, to rest, sleep in peace, wear comfortable clothes and not spend all day wearing outdoor clothing,” Juliana says. “Feeling safe is the most important thing for me. I do not feel safe anymore, anywhere I go.”

During their conversation with Plan staff, Jacqueline agreed and said she tries to lift her mood in the shelter by spending time with her friends and studying.

With many of the undamaged schools in Aleppo turned into temporary shelters, most children’s education has come to an abrupt halt. The education system in Syria was failing even before the earthquakes, with around half of school-age children ages 5-17 not attending school, and 1 in 3 schools not being used for educational purposes.

“They opened some of the schools for ninth graders and above, but after the second big earthquake, they closed them again because our school sustained some damage,” Jacqueline says. “At the beginning they were providing classes in the auditoriums, so in case anything happened, we could escape faster. But now, they closed it.”

As Plan continues to respond to this disaster, we’re organizing informal study sessions for students to keep up with their education while schools are closed. We’re also helping to restore damaged school buildings and replace furniture so that children can return to school safely.

Carla, Juliana and Jacqueline all agree that they want to leave the shelter as soon as they can and resume their lives, but they do not know when that will be.

“We have started to see that there is no more normal life,” Carla says. “The worst has happened, nothing worse than this can happen. We have been through wars, diseases and everything, but this is different.”

“Buildings falling in front of you is hard,” Carla says. “And the hardest thing is that they rescued a girl in front of me from under the rubble. Maybe I didn’t experience the building falling down on me, but the image of the girl being rescued has stayed with me. If [the rescue team] had been there later, perhaps she wouldn’t be breathing.”

Through our partners in Syria, Plan is providing support for earthquake survivors for the long term. While the future is uncertain for survivors of this disaster, your support will help make sure girls and their families stay safe and healthy, while also providing them with the resources they need to heal and rebuild their lives.

Blog
March 31, 2023

In her own words: Centering girls in the fight for gender equality

Young women around the world are at the forefront of change, fighting inequality in their communities and amplifying girls’ voices for a more inclusive future. Anika, a Plan USA Youth Leadership Academy alum, is the founder of Project Hearth, a digital media platform that shares girls’ stories from around the world to strengthen solidarity in the fight for equality. Here, Anika shares her perspective on centering girls’ voices and how women in her own life inspired her to become an activist and lead by example.

This story is part of a blog series called “In her own words,” where you’ll read incredibly powerful stories directly from the experts with whom we work: the girls and women themselves.

News headlines around the world constantly flash with rollbacks of girls’ reproductive rights, access to education, and freedom of expression. Young women are portrayed as victims of society, as unsolvable problems. Yet, their stories — our voices — hold invaluable insight and agency for creating positive change.

When I was a little girl, I refused to go to bed without hearing a story. I yearned to learn about my past, to hear the stories of my family, my culture and my ancestors.

My journey as an advocate for gender equality is fundamentally intertwined with the stories of the women who raised me.

The hallways of my home are lined with my aunt’s paintings, a reminder of her story from years ago of a young woman who left all that she knew to pursue higher education in a turbulent Russia.

My Dadi (my paternal grandmother), the mother of four boys, lived apart from her family for years in a remote mountain town in India to teach underserved youth. Five decades ago, against gender norms that instructed women to tend to the home, she stood in proud, bold defiance, uplifting young people through education to do the opposite.

Stories shape how we see each other and understand the world, contextualizing the need for change and holding potential for solutions, while statistics and data underscore our observations, needs and desires, acting as a common thread that connects our individual experiences with our communities.

Humanizing change-making and centering girls’ voices in decision-making processes is key to initiatives like International Day of the Girl. Campaigns often put girls on pedestals, using just our names or faces to satisfy marketing and diversity needs.

However, when organizations like Plan International, which directly impacts the lives of 26 million girls around the world, tap into our insights and center our ideas and perspectives, they harness real solution-making capabilities.

They tap into the ingenuity, creativity and passion that girls can offer when our voices are actively acknowledged and meaningfully integrated into policies, decision-making and programming.

When I immersed myself in fighting for girls’ rights, I was confused about my story. My entry into advocacy was more nebulous — not defined by a single moment or revelation but rather the product of a life shaped by strong women, a love for learning, and a commitment to creating the spaces my younger self deserved.

My time in Plan International USA’s Youth Leadership Academy was crucial to embracing this journey, which is now uniquely my own. The Youth Leadership Academy showed me what it means to belong to a community enriched by its diversity and united by the desire to make a difference. It empowered me to build connections and act on the power I drew from the stories of my culture.

Now, my activist journey is rooted in reconstruction, redefining what it means to be an advocate for gender equality. As I curate digital media platforms, I create spaces for young women to share their experiences in their own words. I work with Indigenous girls in rural Guatemala and leverage technology to uplift the potential of ancient knowledge and native agency in fighting for social justice.

In my role as a Plan USA Youth Ambassador, my voice calls for the engagement and representation of girls in all spaces of decision-making. Every position I hold circles back to the value of storytelling and creating change through human connection. I am driven by the goal of having narratives once written for girls to be written by girls.

In turn, as a girl leader, I feel a responsibility — like my aunt, Dadi and all the women who have shaped me — to lead by example, lifting up others and cultivating relationships and community.

My story is a work in progress, but it is a path that I’m forging with purpose by amplifying the power of stories and affecting positive change with girls and women who are harnessing the potential within their voices.

As girls, we are not voiceless. Today, we have an opportunity to share our own stories. And we have a right for our stories to be heard.

Blog
March 27, 2023

Equity vs equality: What’s the difference?

In the fight for gender equality, the terms equality and equity are sometimes used interchangeably, leaving people to think they mean the same thing. While they are two sides of the same coin, they actually refer to different things.

Equality is the principle that everyone should be treated the same way, regardless of their gender, race, sex, religion and other characteristics. So, gender equality is the idea that people of all genders should have the same rights, access to resources and opportunities for success.

Equity, however, refers to providing each person with what they need to achieve success and equality to others. The idea is that people have different needs and experiences, and those differences need to be considered to achieve fairness. In the context of fighting for gender equality, equity looks like addressing the specific and unique challenges girls and young women face, like gender-based violence and child marriage. It also considers intersectional identities, like race and class, and how they impact girls’ individual experiences.

At Plan, our work for gender equality around the world includes using equity measures to address the unique challenges girls are facing. And we believe the best people to lead in addressing those challenges are girls themselves. That’s why we’ve developed an entire program approach, GirlEngage, to make sure girls have direct input in developing the solutions that will change their lives for the better.

Girls in a Plan project in Niger formed a steering committee to oversee activities that support an end to child marriage in their communities.

Let’s consider how achieving equality in education involves gender equity. While poverty affects all children’s ability to go to school — and the goal of gender equality is to ensure every child can do so — girls face particular barriers that make education even more difficult to access.

Girls are more likely to be pulled out of school and forced into marriage. They’re expected to become homemakers instead of pursuing a career. Without access to resources like clean water and period products, they can’t manage their periods at school and instead have to stay home. Extended absences from school often lead to girls dropping out altogether because they don’t have support to catch up if they fall behind. And stereotypes about girls’ abilities discourage them from pursuing academic achievement.

These are just a few things that keep girls from a quality education.

In many communities in Bangladesh, talking about menstrual health, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and adolescent health is taboo. Girls grow up without the information they need to make informed decisions about their bodies, and they don’t have the resources necessary to care for their bodies, either.

There are no laws explicitly prohibiting girls from going to school in Bangladesh, which means technically there is legal equality. But using an equity lens means acknowledging that there are still factors separate from the law that specifically hinder girls’ access to school. Addressing these issues is necessary to achieving equality in all spheres of life.

“The girls need to know about the basics of [menstrual health management], so that they can adopt them into their lives and stay safe,” Abdul, a teacher in Bangladesh, says. “Otherwise, they will be at risk of facing serious health issues and may drop out of school.”

Even before getting involved with Plan, Abdul noticed inequities that hinder girls’ ability to thrive at school. “This is a coastal region,” he says. “Most of the girls come from lower-income families. They do not even have the ability to buy [menstrual] pads.”

Abdul attended a training organized by Plan on a gender equity education model, where he learned about gender, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and adolescent and menstrual health management.

Now, he teaches all of his students about these topics in a sensitive and inclusive way so that everyone has the knowledge they need to take care of their own health. And, with the support of other teachers and the school management committee, there are now pads available for girls to use when they get their periods.

Girls from Abdul’s school now have period products available to them while they’re in class, meaning they don’t have to stay home when they get their periods.

Addressing menstrual and reproductive health so adolescent girls can safely and confidently manage their periods at school (and at home) eliminates a barrier that keeps girls from their education. For girls in communities like Abdul’s, in order to achieve equality in education, equity must also play a part.

News & press
March 27, 2023

Gen Z raises voice for gender equality on International Women’s Day

PRESS RELEASE

Plan International USA partners with brands and policymakers to reaffirm girls’ rights

WASHINGTON, DC, March 7, 2023 — As a girls’ rights organization, Plan International USA believes when girls lead the way, they can change the world. In honor of International Women’s Day on March 8, Plan is partnering with brands and government stakeholders so that girls can take over positions of leadership, ensuring the voices of these young women and girls are heard in the critical conversations on gender equality.

“Girls and young women are leaders today,” Plan International USA’s President & CEO Shanna Marzilli said. “Giving girls, in all their diversity, not just a seat at the table, but a respected and heard position is necessary to building a world where women can thrive in all aspects of leadership.”

In celebration of International Women’s Day, Plan partnered with Bank of Montreal, UNIQLO and Vertex to host Takeovers, where our youth leaders, ranging from ages 16-22, step into executive positions for a day. Plan Youth Advisory Board member Rose became chief administrative officer and general counsel of Fast Retailing USA, Inc, the parent company to UNIQLO. During her Takeover experience, Rose leveraged her experiences leading diversity and inclusion recruitment for Plan’s youth programs to provide recommendations for UNIQLO’s women’s networking group. The Takeover was an extension of UNIQLO’s global partnership with Plan International as part of the brand’s PEACE FOR ALL project.

“We loved welcoming Rose to UNIQLO for International Women’s Day, sharing an inside look to our stores and headquarters, and the many talented women leading the way here,” Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel of Fast Retailing USA Serena Peck said. “Rose’s insights as a youth advocate provided an incredibly valuable perspective that will help us continue to grow and elevate women’s voices. We’re happy to have deepened our work with Plan International USA in our shared vision for a better world for all.”

At Bank of Montreal, Plan youth advocate Ava stepped into the role of Chief Communications and Social Impact Officer Kimberly Goode. Along other BMO executives, Ava took the stage at a culmination event for Black History Month where she shared her experiences.

“BMO is a long-term sponsor of Plan International in the U.S. and Canada, partnering to create opportunities to build confidence in young women and provide exposure to those actively working to create zero barriers to inclusion,” Chief Communications and Social Impact Officer at BMO Kimberley Goode said. “Watching Ava step into my seat gave me such confidence in the impact the next generation will have. They are ready to live their purpose and boldly grow the good in business and life as future leaders.”

In addition to Takeovers, Luna Silvana Abadía, a Youth Advisory Board member at Plan, will be a U.S. delegate for the U.N.’s Commission on the Status of Women. CSW67 will examine the role technology plays in achieving gender equality. Silvana Abadía will represent the views of girls all over the world through the results of Plan’s State of the World’s Girls report, which highlights the effects of online gender-based violence.

“As an activist and young person, I use social media every day,” Silvana Abadía said. “We desperately need policies that address long-term harassment like the kind I faced for two years. I will use my position at CSW67 to encourage leaders to work with young people to understand their experiences and set greater corporate accountability and human rights standards.”

Silvana Abadía will join Cailin Crockett, senior advisor for the White House Gender Council, Varina Winder, senior advisor for the Secretary of State Office of Global Women’s Issues, and Jamille Bigio, senior coordinator for gender equality and women’s empowerment at USAID, on a virtual panel discussing the U.S. government’s commitment to ending online gender-based violence on March 24. The event, hosted by Plan, is titled ‘Will the White House, State and USAID combat online gender-based violence?’

Join Plan as we celebrate girls and women this March 8 and every other day of the year. Learn more and register for the March 24 panel event by visiting: www.planusa.org/iwd.

For more information or interviews, please contact:

Maria Holsopple
Director, Corporate Communications
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, providing 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.

Blog
March 16, 2023

Humanitarian action in Syria: What we’ve learned from responding to earthquakes

This post is written by Dr. Unni Krishnan, Plan International’s global humanitarian director, who has spent more than 20 years responding to various global crises.

The earthquakes and aftershocks that hit Syria and Türkiye have resulted in more than 50,000 deaths. Life will never be the same for survivors.

I have worked on the front lines, often during the initial hours following monster earthquakes, in India, Nepal, Japan, China, Türkiye and Haiti, amongst other places. While standing shoulder to shoulder with local relief workers in crisis settings, I have picked up tips from local communities, government officials and often children.

Here are my learnings on how to respond after an earthquake:

1. Listen to local knowledge. 

Local volunteers are always the first responders, sometimes the only responders. They are the true heroes in every earthquake. The role of local communities, especially children and young people, in saving lives during the first few hours and days in an earthquake zone are critical. Local people are often quicker to know which bridges have collapsed and which roads are blocked after natural disasters, rather than satellites and navigation systems.

2. Children need priority attention. 

Children are often the most vulnerable in earthquake settings. Children who have lost their parents, who are separated from family and friends and displaced from their homes, girls, and LGBTQIA+ children are more vulnerable to bullying, abuse and exploitation. Relief efforts must place children, and those who are most vulnerable, like displaced girls, first.

3. Don’t ignore aftershocks.

They can bring down buildings that have been compromised and can cause many more deaths.

On Monday, Feb. 20 — just two weeks since the first earthquakes hit — another 6.3 magnitude aftershock struck southern Türkiye near the Syrian border. Families were only beginning to recover and are now in a complete state of shock and panic. Girls need your support now.

4. “Invisible” needs must be addressed. 

Search and rescue efforts must be the top priority, along with life–saving medical assistance, food, clean water and sanitation, and blankets to beat freezing weather conditions in the initial hours and days. However, some requirements are less visible – like mental health needs. Left unattended, psychological issues can leave lasting scars on young minds. It is critical to address the mental health needs of young survivors from day one.

In addition, earthquakes can cause fractures of the spine, hips, bones and legs. They can result in permanent disabilities. Offering physiotherapy services at the community level can change the life stories of earthquake survivors.

5. Correct information saves lives. 

The correct information at the appropriate time aids relief efforts. While working in Sendai in Japan (following the monster undersea earthquake and tsunami in 2011), I witnessed a group of students running an information kiosk. Their bulletin board provided information such as where to get heaters and blankets. A lifeline to many.

 6. Quick decisions and good leadership can make or break recovery efforts. 

Every moment is a litmus test on leadership in crisis settings. Every moment is also a new beginning to change the course of relief efforts. Speed is a characteristic of quality in crisis response. Governments must listen to survivors when designing relief and recovery plans.

7. Treat people with dignity. 

An earthquake zone is not the address to send old clothes and medicines past their expiration date. A principled humanitarian approach is about responding to the actual unmet needs of survivors, not about supplying what you have in surplus.

Cash and voucher assistance has emerged as a preferred and more effective mode of relief assistance in most aid settings. Sometimes survivors have simple needs — such as getting replacement eyeglasses when they’ve been destroyed.

8. Earthquake preparedness is vital to saving lives.

A dollar invested in disaster risk reduction and preparedness is priceless when disaster strikes. Governments and donors need to dig deeper into their pockets and invest to build resilient communities. It’s vital to make schools and hospitals in risk areas stronger and safer.

Disadvantaged communities are hit worst by crisis and poverty multiplies suffering. Long –term investments that target the root causes of poverty are key to building resilient communities.

9. Aid workers are human beings first and relief workers second. 

They are often a group that gets the least attention in the midst of impossible deadlines and competing priorities. Providing care and support, safe access and transportation, and ensuring the well-being of caregivers are vital.

10. Recovery will be a marathon, not a sprint

Recovery will take time. Thousands of lives have been lost and thousands more are changed irrevocably.

Plan International is joining with our local partners in Syria to address and respond to the unmet needs of children (especially girls), young women and their families as the true scale of this disaster is revealed.

Insights
March 10, 2023

Durable solutions for internally displaced people and host communities

Authors: John Lundine with input from Larry Agpalo, youth advisor for MRP; Jane Deita, MERL manager for MRP; Marlon Libot, Chief of Party of MRP

Globally, there are more refugees and internally displaced people, IDPs, than at any point in history. Most are desperate families fleeing conflict, violence or consequences of climate change. In many cases, they cannot easily return to their place of origin and spend years or decades in their new locations. Women and children especially face acute risks.

The 2017 Marawi siege in the Philippines is an example of a conflict that caused long-term displacement. From May-October 2017, Filipino government forces launched a military offensive against extremist groups in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur province, Maranao Island of the Philippines. The conflict caused an estimated 360,000 people to flee the city of Marawi, and about 80% went into “home-based” displacements across the province or went back to their home villages or to rural areas where they had family roots.

Plan International, through the USAID-funded Marawi Response Program, set out to address the needs of Marawi IDPs and host communities. In designing MRP, we first set out to “do no harm” and then bridge the initial humanitarian response with longer-term development approaches to promote durable solutions for IDPs and host communities. Our strategies addressed social cohesion, built trust, encouraged participation, promoted physical safety, worked toward economic well-being and supported access to basic services. We paid special attention to traditionally marginalized groups including women and youth.

As MRP ends, we have compiled the following learnings so similar projects can promote durable solutions:

Use participatory and inclusive approaches in design and implementation. All MRP activities were designed in consultation with IDPs and host community members, and implemented through groups consisting of both IDP and host community members. Individuals interested in participating collaborated to design activities, form community solidarity groups — known as CSGs — and then implement projects. MRP distributed a total of 1,000 small grants in support of these economic development and social cohesion projects. MRP also consistently communicated all of its activities with local governments, partner NGOs and other stakeholders to promote transparency and leverage local assets in support of implementation.
Build on cultural and social assets. It is important to understand cultural and social dynamics surrounding acceptance of IDPs and leverage them for project design and implementation. In this case, strong Maranao cultural aspects and traditions contributed to high levels of acceptance of the IDPs. They include membership in an “agama,” which puts an emphasis on kinship and common residence. “Kapamagawida” emphasizes community solidarity, cooperation and providing support to those in need. And the concept of “maratabat” emphasizes protecting the self-esteem and standing of members of kin.
Build trust and reduce polarization. By utilizing cultural and social assets and implementing all activities with the integrated groups of IDPs and host community members, MRP was able to successfully increase trust and public participation. Trust, as measured by six indicators, increased during the project among community members and IDPs, and toward institutions. CSGs led to increased public participation, particularly among IDPs — hundreds of these groups have continued after MRP and are now federated and linked to local government units.
Address key issues but remain focused. Life can be chaotic and complex for IDPs as they face many urgent and long-term needs. This was the case with the Marawi displacement, and MRP focused on addressing two basic issues — economic development and community solidarity. This focus prevented mission creep in attempting to address other urgent needs outside our scope.
Encourage and foment participation among traditionally excluded groups. By intentionally prioritizing women and youth, CSGs have closed gender gaps and promoted youth participation and leadership. The project monitoring system identified that 43% of CSGs have all women participants and 59% are led by women. In addition, a total of 72 CSGs are youth-led with a total participation of 1,720 youth (58% female). These groups have led to youth leadership opportunities in policy advocacy and economic development. The focus on empowering women contributed to closing gender gaps among project participants from the baseline to endline as measured by self-reliance, polarization and public representation.

“Before MRP, only my husband had a source of income,” a female CSG member from Buadiposo Buntong, Lanao del Sur said. “It was hard. With the livelihood support I got from MRP, I am earning Php 300.00-500.00. I use it for medicine and food. This seems not that much, but it has helped a lot.”

MRP’s approach has led to high acceptance rates of IDPs and improvements in public participation and economic well-being. In July 2021, MRP conducted a survey with 282 host community members and 197 IDP project participants. This found that 96% of host community respondents had a positive reaction to the IDPs in their communities, with 82% agreeing with their indefinite incorporation. Among IDPs, 97% felt accepted as members of their new communities and 74% of those surveyed reported wanting to stay indefinitely in their new communities. In addition, the survey found that 94% of IDPs reported participating in community (“bangaray”) activities always or sometimes. Finally, the external final evaluation also identified program participants as more likely to report sufficient income and savings compared to non-participants.

While MRP achievements have been positive, despite challenges including COVID-19, there are lessons that can be learned as well. IDPs need intensive and longer-term support on livelihoods to attain self-reliance and overcome poverty. Relatedly, the time horizon for resilient durable solutions should not be underestimated, as this process needs to continue longer than typical USAID-supported project cycles. In addition, special attention should be paid to the needs of the most vulnerable groups, including women and youth, from the start of any project.

Insights
March 10, 2023

Gender-based violence online: A young person’s perspective

Written by Luna Silvana Abadía, Plan International USA Youth Advisory Board and U.S. Public Delegate to CSW67

Sometimes it feels like I live, breathe and dream through technology. Technology is inextricably linked with my social, academic, economic and personal lives, especially as a young person. Growing up with the dominance of social media platforms is like a roller coaster of unpredictability. One moment, it can be exhilarating or comforting — and the next, isolating and harmful.

As a young girl, I stepped blindly into the world of social media and technology. This came with challenging experiences, including being harassed by a male schoolmate for two years because of my gender. These challenges never cease. In ways big and small, my generation deals with online harassment, hyper-sexualization, doxing, misinformation and more. For LGBTQI+ and nonbinary youth especially, online gender-based violence, or GBV, is a harmful but normalized reality.

Social media has facilitated youth activism, fueling virtual meetings, global networks, systemic outreach and passionate communication. During COVID-19, I attended Plan International USA’s Youth Leadership Academy virtually, an experience that would not have been possible without online platforms. Social media allowed me to recruit a global team for a climate organization I created, and to organize livestreams after advocating at the COP26 climate conference, sharing my learnings with a broader audience of youth.

However, experiencing harassment online directly impacts my mental health, interpersonal relations and agency, as well as that of other youth activists. Online GBV threatens to silence our voices.

Plan USA’s research found that 58% of young women experience online harassment and abuse. Technology platforms allow harassment towards women and girls to be relentless. It permeates our safest of places — our homes, our alone time. The plethora of apps available allow perpetrators to message from many platforms at once, compounding a cacophony of harassment.

Platform algorithms are built to elicit reactions and interactions, which means online behavior follows the “power law” — users who spend more time, such as dedicated activists, consequently receive more attention, both good and bad. Young people learn to respond to these challenges by shaping how we present ourselves online. Yet this leads to self-censoring, or even complete disengagement from social media, as 12% of online GBV victims reported doing when surveyed by Plan.

Technology companies are like the public utilities of today, being essential to our lives. Yet, they are subjected to little oversight through law and regulations. Criticism of platform regulation in the U.S. tends to fall back on the dangers of infringing on first amendment rights; yet it is clear that inaction on online GBV can further limit free speech and the capacity for personal expression.

Given the importance of these issues, Plan’s youth advocates are closely engaged in and following the developments of the Agreed Conclusions at this year’s Commission on the Status of Women, or CSW67. I echo and stand in solidarity with the demands made by the Plan’s SheLeads Youth Advocacy Cohort, which deserve thorough reading and implementation. Particularly, demands 2, 7, 8, 9 and 11 regarding online GBV must be addressed:

2. We demand member states to institutionalize and ensure meaningful and safe participation of girls and young women in all of their diversity in policymaking processes concerning innovation, technology and online safety, as well as other decisions shaping their digital experiences and interactions and affecting their lives.

7. We particularly call upon member states to treat digital education as a tool for realizing the right to education for all, not an end goal by itself; ensure digitalization of education is accompanied by adequate safeguards to mitigate risks, including equitable access, privacy, data protection and safety, that can be detrimental to the rights of girls and young women.

8. We urge member states to identify and address gaps in laws and policy frameworks that do not adequately recognize and address new technology-facilitated forms of gender-based violence, such as online harassment, abuse, cyber bullying, cyber stalking, unsolicited sending of obscene images and doxing; bring legal clarity to the definitions and handling of all forms of online violence and clarify the responsibilities of internet intermediaries, platforms, regulatory authorities and law enforcement in addressing it, ensuring effective enforcement mechanisms and access to justice for victims.

9. We demand member states to provide children, young people and parents with gender transformative educational programs on digital citizenship, digital safety and security, digital literacy, and other relevant subjects to support children and young people to learn about their rights in the digital environment (including privacy and security); understand the wide range of online risks (including abuse, harassment, scams, false information and identity theft, among others) to avoid them turning into harms, and navigate safely, critically and responsibly in digital spaces.

11. We urge member states to strengthen legal and regulatory frameworks to ensure that technology companies and other corporations respect human rights, including the rights of girls and women, in the design and deployment of ICT-based technologies, digital products and services; undertake age and gender-responsive human rights due diligence, in compliance with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights; and identify and prevent rights impacts for girls and women that may arise from their products, services and business activities.

We want to ensure anyone — especially girls and marginalized groups — is able to make informed and intentional choices about their engagement with technology, and feels safe to use their voices in online spaces.

We know the tools exist to develop and implement better practices. What is lacking is incentive. Now is the time to enact policies that ensure appropriate accountability is placed on companies and institutions, and that proactive efforts are taken to expand research and regulation on online gender-based violence.