Footprints Project
Since 2005, travelers like you have helped us change the world through micro-donations.
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A total of
3889
Travelers
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donated
$25005.09
(100% funded) -
to help reduce
Poverty
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impacting
56000
people -
in
India
Project Background:
In India, adolescent girls often face exclusion from education and the pressures of early marriage. Bihar, one of India’s most populous states, has a significant adolescent population, with an estimated 36% of the population under the age of 15.
Adolescent girls in Bihar face numerous challenges:
- 41% of young women were married before the age of 18
- 11% of girls aged 15-19 have begun childbearing
- Only 9% of women have completed 12 years of formal education
The Hunger Project’s Adolescent Girls program focuses on empowering young girls by helping them identify obstacles to their growth and equipping them with the skills to overcome these challenges. Key to the program is delaying the early marriage of girls to keep them in school. The program builds the girls’ confidence in advocating for their own needs and desires in their families and the broader community.
Key Project Activities:
The program included:
Sukanya Club meetings
Sukanya Club meetings are held fortnightly and are the core of the Adolescent Girls Program. The meetings are each held with small groups of girls and provide the girls with education about certain topics that they may find difficult to discuss with their families. The meetings are a safe space for the girls to talk freely about their lives and concerns whilst also learning skills to support their futures. Topics in the meetings included environmental protection, time planning and management, discrimination, and nutrition and healthy habits.
Needs based workshops
Needs based workshops are designed based on the identified needs of the girls during each year.
Block level conventions
Block level conventions provide the platform for the adolescent girls to raise their voice against issues that they witness in their communities in the presence of government officials and other community representatives. It gives the girls an opportunity to advocate for their needs in an environment where their voices are listened to and respected.
State level workshop
A three-day trip was organised for 32 adolescent girls in Bihar’s capital city, Patna. The girls that were chosen for this trip were aged 14-18 and all belonged to a marginalised caste group or minority group. The participants had never visited Patna before, with many not even leaving their village before. The girls were able to explore the city, hear from women with careers that break gender stereotypes, learn self-defense skills and hear from a counsellor on the importance of positive thinking.
Key Project Outcomes
Adolescent Girls Key Achievements 2024:
- 1,400 girls engaged across 40 villages in four districts
- 94% remain in school (up from 50% in 2021)
- 94% remain unmarried with girls actively supporting peers to resist early marriage
- 97% pass rate for 10th Grade exams, 88% for 12th Grade
- 50 girls began college, many the first in their families
- Girls led 73 advocacy petitions for school improvements and 36 community petitions for infrastructure changes
2021-2024 Endline Evaluation Highlights:
- Over 95% of girls are now aware of their fundamental rights as young women and citizens
- 83% had a say in decisions regarding their marriages, including delaying or stopping marriage
- 79% participated in collective action to claim their rights and entitlements
- 83% have raised their voices or spoken out against gender discrimination
Community Involvement
The Block Level conventions allow the girls to advocate for their needs in the presence of Government Officials and community partners including police officers and healthcare workers. During these conventions, the girls raised their voice against issues affecting the broader community, and were praised by their communities for inciting change. Issues raised in the conventions included:
- The demand for bribes from government officers and schools
- The need for better school facilities (bins in bathrooms, books for libraries etc.)
- The need for police patrols while girls are travelling to schools
- Better local level health services
What’s Next:
As the girls are now older, between 15-17 years, the programs have been adjusted to address their changing interests and needs. For example, the girls have been continually questioning traditional practices based on gender. They want to talk about dowry, domestic violence and sexual violence. Programs have been aligned to address their questions. Furthermore, their older age means that the girls have begun thinking about what opportunities they would like to explore after leaving school. The exposure of the girls to women who break the gender roles has helped inspire the girls to different future possibilities. These types of sessions have been increased to motivate the girls to envision different opportunities.
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