CASE STUDIES: Overcoming Gender Inequities

Addressing the Needs of Adolescent Girls in a Resettlement Colony in Delhi

Adolescent girls — both married and not — in a resettlement colony have new forms of social participation available to them, thanks to a local NGO and support from UNFPA and others. A multi-sectoral, community-based programme in an urban resettlement colony in Delhi, India offers clinical services, information, education, social support mechanisms, social marketing strategies, skills-building programmes, and projects that provide access to economic resources in the form of micro-credit. The girls take part in support groups, receive information and engage in discussions on health, rights and other concerns, build skills in decision-making, problem-solving, communication, negotiation, relationship and boundaries, and learn about sexuality and how to prevent sexual abuse.

In order to design activities for adolescent girls, Swaasthya, the NGO that runs the programme, conducted a needs assessment study. Based on the findings, the organization introduced a number of interventions. Although the interventions were not designed specifically for married adolescent girls, they are among the beneficiaries of many programmes. Swaasthya is part of the KIDAVRI network of mutually supporting organizations.

Learning About the Different Worlds of Boys and Girls in Mali

What keeps girls from participating in sports activities, and other forms of social activities? That was a question studied by the Mali Ministry of Youth and Sports, with technical assistance from the Population Council and UNFPA support. The study was intended to identify obstacles to girls' participation, and generate a base of information on gender-related disparities in educational attainment, mobility and knowledge of reproductive health issues, among other things.

The study found that girls are not granted parental permission to go out as often as boys, and that their mobility was often linked to domestic responsibilities. Moreover, girls were often harassed by boys when they went out. Based on the findings, the Ministry is making special efforts to schedule and locate activities to accommodate girls and to recruit females to lead activities.

Enlisting the Military to Protect Reproductive Health

Taking advantage of the considerable resources of military institutions to protect reproductive health and rights is emerging as a powerful strategy in both peacetime and conflict situations. It has proved to be an excellent way to target large groups of young men at a formative stage in their lives. For decades, UNFPA has worked with the military sector to reach out to men with information, education and services on family life and family planning. This experience is now being applied to a wider spectrum of reproductive and sexual health concerns, including HIV/AIDS prevention and reduction and a variety of gender issues.

A new digital document offers lessons learned from reproductive health projects in nine different military organizations. The interactive menu includes: case studies from Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe and Asia; a summary of policy and programme lessons drawn from these programming experiences; a full report that includes an comparative analysis of the findings and an overview of changing global and national contexts; a set of rapid assessment tools; and printable versions of all documents.