I’m quoting when I say, “SHOUHARDO II produc[ed] the most impressive overall results.” Tufts just published a Qualitative Review of the USAID Food For Peace Projects in Bangladesh, and among other things, they are recommending that any programming with adolescent girls should use CARE’s EKATA model to have truly transformative change. The review digs past the numbers from their earlier report to look at underlying causes and nuances. It’s not as much fun as the SHOUHARDO music video, but the answers are intriguing.
They cite the combination of examining social norms, peer support and support from older women and men, and improved income as a catalyst for changing the game for girls in Bangladesh. One girl said, “After getting training, my bravery level has gone high… because I can earn now.”
What have we accomplished?
- Women are involved in decisions: Young girls said that the biggest change they experienced is that women are involved in decision-making. “In the past, women could not make decisions for their families. Now they can, and they act on it.”
- Women are more mobile: Women and girls in families that were in SHOUHARDO (or even those that were exposed to the program) are free to go further from home than they could before.
- Child marriage is changing: Families report a drop in the numbers of child marriage, and in the amount of dowry changing hands during marriages. This is partly because of SHOUHARDO and partly as a result of the government becoming more proactive on the issue.
- Women are getting more food and rest while they’re pregnant: The number of women who get more food and better during pregnancy went up 346%, and the number who are getting more rest nearly tripled.
- Services are sustainable: The review found that almost all of the volunteers from SHOUHARDO I (which covered different areas) are still active, and that livestock services were an especially sustainable intervention.
- Disaster risk reduction was an area of major success: Of the 3 partners, CARE had the most, and most sustainable, impacts on DRR—through a combination of tailoring activities to local context and working with and through the local government.
- Income generating activities were key for resilience: IGAs helped communities where people lost land due to flooding and erosion have different livelihood options. Families also felt that IGAs helped them advance because they allowed them to “eat from the profits, not from the capital.” In other words, it gave them a surplus to work with rather than running through their savings.
How did we get there?
- Work with the government: Over and over, the review cites CARE’s special relationship with the government of Bangladesh as a key to advancing project goals and building sustainability. It’s recommending that other programs figure out how to build those relationships with the government.
- Target the poorest people: CARE’s programs not only had the biggest impact on malnutrition, they also started in the poorest places. In CARE areas, severe malnutrition was at 44% and dropped to 12% at the final evaluation.
- Integrate services: The review cites including a range of services and activities—what they refer to as the “convergence” approach (as compared to some other projects, which only offer one or two) as a key to success. They say this is why SHOUHARDO II offers the “most impressive overall results” of all of three projects they examined
Want to learn more?
Check out the qualitative review, the quantitative evaluation, and the music video. Or take a look at the page on care.org, watch a video about the resilience approach.