Goal of the Project: Goal of this project is to focus on new ways of grooming boys into non-violent men, creating new positive norms, values and girls acquiring relationship skills and learning how to develop and maintain healthy relationships that are gender just and violence free.
Project outcome: This project will address adolescent and young boys and girls aged 10-19 with the aim of grooming them into responsible, non-violent, healthy, and happy adults, as future (sexual) partners, fathers and mothers with gender equitable attitudes and practices.
Financial Partner: Plan International, Bangladesh (Fund comes from Embassy of Netharland to UNFPA to Plan International, Bangladesh)
Project Duration: 2014-2019
Project outcome: This project will address adolescent and young boys and girls aged 10-19 with the aim of grooming them into responsible, non-violent, healthy, and happy adults, as future (sexual) partners, fathers and mothers with gender equitable attitudes and practices.
Project Location and Target groups: Project is being implemented in Patuakhali and Barguna districts, Dhaka city and Barisal town. Adolescent boys/girls aged 10-19 are the primary target group of this project.
To meet the diverse gender and ASRHR needs of different age groups, the primary target population will be split into two sub-age groups to allow for appropriate age-related approaches and content:
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Pre-adolescents |
10-14 years, boys and girls |
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Adolescents |
15-19 years, boys and girls |
In form of secondary/ tertiary beneficiary group project will address parents of the targeted adolescents, teachers and School Management Committees (SMC), Govt. stakeholders (Ministry of Education and Ministry of Women and child affairs), elected representatives, religious leaders and other community gatekeepers.
Project Background: After working for 5/6 years in the field providing Family Planning services to the married women of reproductive age for the disadvantaged population of the slums of Dhaka, CWFD realized that adolescent’s specially adolescent girls are the most vulnerable and neglected group of people in the whole community. Most of the adolescent girls do not go to school, no place to play, no source of entertainment, can’t go out of the house. Only thing they are involved in helping mothers in their daily chores, taking care of the siblings and wait for getting married. Mostly they are married at an early age with an immature body and mind. They don’t have any knowledge of family life, very little information on sex and sexuality. Before they understand their own body they get pregnant and either give birth to a ill health baby or the baby die at child birth or even they themselves die. If they survive due to the trauma of child bearing and child birth they continue to have ill health, become burden to the husband and his family, carry on their life without any purpose. This situation led CWFD to reorient their focus and rethink about service delivery options for adolescents. In early 1980 CWFD initiated a small scale program for the unmarried adolescent girls for providing reproductive health information, family life education and let them get involved in some skill training and income earning. With a small grant from a well-wisher of CWFD the program started in the office head quarter of CWFD. Parents of these girls let their daughter come out of the houses and get these so called forbidden information because they had trust on CWFD. At that time there was no model to follow or CWFD did not plan the program well ahead of time or proper planning was done. However, by experimenting different idea and model they realized what needs to be done, what could be or could not be done. Since then, CWFD managed large programs on Adolescents. The adolescent issue is addressed in different ways. Right Based Approach which try to empower the adolescents through information, education, entertainment about their rights, their responsibility to the community they live in and to the country as a worthy citizen, provide Family Life Education to a large number of adolescents using group of peer educator as trainer and prevent Early Marriage and Early Pregnancy and there by improve status of reproductive health. Both girls and boys are involved in this program and to educate boys and girls on gender based violence through school and Madrasa teachers and clubs.
Major activities:
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To train up 13,500 personnel on Gender Equity Movement in School (GEMS) curriculum which includes master trainers from Ministry of Education and Ministry of Women and Child affairs; teachers and SMC members from 350 selected high schools. The curriculum will be made available in 5,000 selected clubs under Ministry of Women and Child affairs.
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To help in arranging training for school teachers and youth club peer educators
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Conducting meeting with key stake holders on regular basis to ensure their participation in the project for creating an enabling environment to practice gender equity and exercise SRHR of adolescents in the community.
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To make GEMS diary available for school students.
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To liaison with Department of Education and women’s Affairs for addressing/identifying different weakness/ challenges at schools and execution level. And find suitable solution through joint effort in a participatory manner
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To inform and sensitize community around the school identified project activities and to promote different services i.e help desk, Adolescent friendly health services in the community
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Promoting new enter-education program by the project which includes different types of online gaming, FAQ (frequently asked questions), Blogs on popular sites like Facebook, Twitter and other BCC/ICC materials to the adolescent
Key Achievement of Generation Breakthrough Project:
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Strong ownership of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) has led to their expressing commitment to mainstream Generation Breakthrough interventions through Government’s Secondary Education Development Programme and School-based Adolescent health and nutrition programme (funded by World Bank)
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Students attended GEMS and SRHR sessions in all 350 schools and madrasahs under GB; 4, 32,606 adolescents (girls- 2, 34,564 & boys-1, 98,042) attended in GEMS sessions
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Generation Breakthrough Helpline “Dosh Unisher Mor” (09612600600) provided 39,185 counselling where 8,458 (21.58%) from 10-14 years, 27,088 (69.13%) from 15-19 years and 3,639 (9.29%) from 20+ and 1,659 referral services among the adolescents
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50 master trainers were trained on GEMS curriculum
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Head teachers and other related concerns were 408 and 1,400 teachers were oriented on Generation Breakthrough project
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123 health service providers were trained on adolescent friendly health services (AFHS)
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1,400 teachers and 20 gender promoters were trained on session conduction
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150 adolescent clubs were formed to support and involved 4,500 schools dropout adolescents
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7,529 adolescent leaders were (3,387 girls and 4,142 boys) trained
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47 sports coaches, T-20 athletes 900 and football athletes 500 involved in CBIM/SBI event
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2,22,500 GEMS diary; 2,000 GEMS teacher’s guide; 3,400 GEMS register, 6,000 board games printed and distributed at all educational institutions
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100 episodes of radio programme developed and aired on radio (FM 89.6, Loko and Krishi Beter)
