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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2013/oct/04/girl-declaration-advocacy-in-practice
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| Girl power: realising the dream of girl-centred advocacy | Girl power: realising the dream of girl-centred advocacy |
| (5 days later) | |
| The evidence that confirms the neglect of adolescent girls in policy and development practice is clear, considerable, and pretty damning (pdf). | The evidence that confirms the neglect of adolescent girls in policy and development practice is clear, considerable, and pretty damning (pdf). |
| Nearly 20 years after the Beijing declaration, where governments committed to ensuring that "the full implementation of the human rights of women and of the girl child as an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of all human rights and fundamental freedoms", too many young girls are still excluded from school, forced into early marriage, not seen and not heard. | Nearly 20 years after the Beijing declaration, where governments committed to ensuring that "the full implementation of the human rights of women and of the girl child as an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of all human rights and fundamental freedoms", too many young girls are still excluded from school, forced into early marriage, not seen and not heard. |
| But things are changing. From the Women Deliver conference in May, to the Clinton Global Initiative's annual meeting at the end of September, and most recently, the launch of the girl declaration on 1 October, there is a growing movement calling on policymakers to see girls as "critical to the post-2015 development agenda". | But things are changing. From the Women Deliver conference in May, to the Clinton Global Initiative's annual meeting at the end of September, and most recently, the launch of the girl declaration on 1 October, there is a growing movement calling on policymakers to see girls as "critical to the post-2015 development agenda". |
| Rather than speak on their behalf, organisations are now championing a model called 'girl-centred advocacy'. Denise Raquel Dunning explains what that means of her organisation: "Through Agali's model, girls strengthen their leadership capacity, conduct participatory needs assessments, and identify the factors that negatively affect their well-being, including harmful traditional practices, social norms, and weak policy frameworks. Girls then work with adult allies to advocate for their own solutions to the challenges they face, using community dialogue, media advocacy, and direct engagement with political decision-makers to transform their own lives and communities." | Rather than speak on their behalf, organisations are now championing a model called 'girl-centred advocacy'. Denise Raquel Dunning explains what that means of her organisation: "Through Agali's model, girls strengthen their leadership capacity, conduct participatory needs assessments, and identify the factors that negatively affect their well-being, including harmful traditional practices, social norms, and weak policy frameworks. Girls then work with adult allies to advocate for their own solutions to the challenges they face, using community dialogue, media advocacy, and direct engagement with political decision-makers to transform their own lives and communities." |
| So, is it all that easy? How do organisations ensure that they are not just offering a platform to the elite, those girls in any community who are already literate and whose parents allow for her to attend meetings? More importantly, how can girl-centred advocacy be saved from becoming a gimmick? Finally, if it's all about the girls, what role is there for the organisations who have long spoken out on her behalf? | So, is it all that easy? How do organisations ensure that they are not just offering a platform to the elite, those girls in any community who are already literate and whose parents allow for her to attend meetings? More importantly, how can girl-centred advocacy be saved from becoming a gimmick? Finally, if it's all about the girls, what role is there for the organisations who have long spoken out on her behalf? |
| Join our live chat panel 1pm BST on Thursday, 10 October, as we discuss the ways to practically implement the ideal of girl-centred advocacy. | Join our live chat panel 1pm BST on Thursday, 10 October, as we discuss the ways to practically implement the ideal of girl-centred advocacy. |
| The live chat is not video or audio-enabled but will take place in the comments section (below). If you are unable to get online on Thursday, email your views to globaldevpros@theguardian.com or follow our tweets using the hashtag #globaldevlive | The live chat is not video or audio-enabled but will take place in the comments section (below). If you are unable to get online on Thursday, email your views to globaldevpros@theguardian.com or follow our tweets using the hashtag #globaldevlive |
| Panel | |
| Payal Dalal, head of education and girls programmes, Standard Chartered, London, UK. | |
| Payal oversees all programmes related to financial education, financial inclusion, and workforce development. She also manages the bank's flagship programme, Goal, which engages and empowers adolescent girls through sport. | |
| Iffat Jamil, programme unit manager, Plan International, Islamabad, Pakistan. @iffatjamil | |
| Iffat works in the urban programme unit in Islamabad. She has also worked at grassroots level with marginalized children and women and with government as a focal person on gender. | |
| Asif Saleh, senior director of strategy, communications and capacity, Brac, Dhaka, Bangladesh. @asifsaleh | |
| Prior to joining BRAC, Asif was an executive director at Goldman Sachs. Upon his return to Bangladesh in 2008, he worked as a policy specialist for the UNDP-funded access to information programme at the Prime Minister's Office. | |
| Soledad Muniz, head of participatory video for monitoring and evaluation, InsightShare, London, UK. @solemu | |
| Soledad has recently coordinated and implemented an InsightShare training programme with the Population Council in Guatemala, using video to build the capacity of adolescent girls and staff to evaluate girl programming. | |
| Joya Taft-Dick, communications and youth advocacy officer, Together for Girls, Washington DC, USA. @joyz44 | |
| Joya is experienced in gender analysis, research, advocacy and rural community strengthening, in the US, west and central Africa and south Asia. She is currently a Global Health Corps fellow, working with Together for Girls in a programmatic and advocacy capacity. | |
| Kerry Smith, head of advocacy, Plan UK, London, UK. @KSmith-J | |
| Kerry is a qualified solicitor and joined Plan UK in 2012. She previously worked as the gender adviser at Amnesty International UK and the senior conflict and humanitarian policy adviser at Save the Children UK focussing on the impact of conflict on children. | |
| More to follow... | |
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