From barriers to assets Plan Egypt’s experiences in promoting girls’ and women’s empowerment

In a context of barriers… a story of an Egyptian girl Stay at home, no opportunities, no aspirations, her daughters will reproduce the same cycle They born in families with lack of knowledge about early childhood practices They go to school but drop out very soon Exposed to FGM Early married

B A R R I E R S Cultural norms, patriarchal attitudes, stereotypical behaviors: preference of boys over girls Burden of domestic workGender based violence Early marriage, FGM, low awareness of reproductive health Schools’ condition, low quality of teaching, overcrowded, no proper toilets, high rate of illiterates inside the school

How to change this reality? How to overcome these barriers?

A S S E T S Life skills, informal education opportunities and back formal education Personal Assets saving groups Business skills, vocational skills Fiancial Assets Social support, men and boys, opportunities to participate Child protection mechanisms Social Assets

CREATING ASSETS AND REDUCING BARRIERS The story of Intisar Arab Women Speak Out Vocation al training HTP awarene ss VSLA (saving) REFLECT (literacy) Went back to school Daughters & sons attends New Horizons Daughter free of HTP Set up her own business Activist in her community Young women and young men participate in premarital Community members participate in international events

Key Success Factors Holistic approach: one intervention is not enough to create assets, it has to be comprehensive and integrated. Tackle the different factors that take girls out of school: money, space, time, traditional teaching methods, violence Child Centred Community Development: the reality of children cannot be changed without tackling gender inequality. Long term commitment

Key Success Factors Including local community development associations as key actors and promoters of the program (strengthening their capacities), as well as schools and child protection committees Start from the early beginning through Early Childhood programs: gender equality in the family and work on importance of education for girls

Main Challenges faced by the program girls’ and women’s issues are not national priorities, Cultural norms, patriarchal attitudes, involvement of men and boys in the program very challenging. It’s not just about providing opportunities for education, but convincing parents and husbands Changing the mentality of communities and stakeholders: working on education is not just quantity, not just about the school building. It’s a whole package: the cycle of education, livelihoods…

Lessons Learned Sensitive issues such as FGM or early marriage cannot be stand alone programs, they need to be integrate with other interventions that are easily accepted from the community. Involving men and boys: helps a lot in achieving results, it needs to be introduce at the beginning of the program, as part of the process of mobilizing communities

Partnership and networking with government,unversties, NGO and INGOs Lessons Learned Starting early: ECCD, involvement of men and boys: introduced at the beginning of the program, as part of the process of mobilizing communities