In 2018, Africa’s Voices implemented a pilot study for KEEP II, a DFID-funded programme on girls’ education implemented by the World University Service of Canada, to better understand the social norms, collective beliefs and practices hindering or enabling girls’ education in Kakuma and Dadaab refugee camps and their host communities. Using interactive radio (radio programmes in interaction with SMS feedback and follow-up SMS surveys) and complementary listening groups, we gathered community voices to unearth and probe these collective beliefs.
The pilot found a mismatch between normative expectations and perceived practice. Both in Dadaab and Kakuma, a majority disapprove of a girl not receiving education and believe others would too, but most perceive the practice to be relatively common.
In 2019, we launched an extended 3-year implementation programme building on the success and the lessons learnt from the pilot. This longer programme is designed to achieve the following objectives:
(1) To achieve a contextual understanding of the normative tensions that still keep girls out of school despite the practice being largely disapproved;
(2) To sustain a curated dialogue for social and behavioural change through interactive radio and existing interpersonal spaces and structures on advancing girls’ educational outcomes and gender equality;
(3) To develop an evidence-based approach to supporting KEEP II implementing partners adapt their programme to advance positive social change around girls’ education.
AVF’s pilot report was extremely interesting and generated a lot of discussion and ideas in our team. It provoked lots of questions and ideas for how to incorporate the pilot insights and findings into our wider work, as well as thinking about how to best scale it.
