October 11, 2016 (Edition #16)

INSIDE THIS EDITION:

Inclusive Design for Adolescent Girls’ Programming

Gender/Inclusion EDGE Certification

Boys and Girls in Armed Conflict: Unpacking Different Experiences, Advancing Equal

Agency

Advancing LGBTI Rights as Human Rights

**** HOT OFF THE PRESS! First Lady Michelle Obama Announces NewTAAP Initiative with Women’s Refugee Commission! See here: Fact Sheet:New Commitments to Let Girls Learn Announced by Fist Lady MichelleObama on International Day of the Girl. In the next TAAP Tuesday edition wewill provide further details. ****

Inclusive Design for Adolescent Girls’

Inclusive Design for Adolescent Girls’ProgrammingIn keeping with today’s celebration of the International Day of the Girl, wewanted to share one of our favorite new resources for innovative approaches toinclusion, “Building Girls’ Protective Assets: A Collection of Tools for ProgramDesign.” The resource was launched by The Population Council at a “RetoolingAdolescent Girl Programming” event. The event featured presentations fromthe Population Council and Safe Hands for Girls, an Atlanta­based organizationthat works to prevent female genital mutilation in the US and abroad throughgirls’ empowerment programs. The toolkit features “The Protective Asset­Building Approach” which has five pillars: 1 ­ Start with the girls to see the girls;2 ­ Segment to find the right girls; 3 ­ Concentrate on the “walkable community”;4 ­ Establish community­based platforms: and 5 ­ Build social and otherprotective assets (Population Council 2016). Together, the five pillars work toovercome adolescent girls’ exclusion and put adolescent girls on the path totransition safely to adulthood.While the toolkit includes a variety of tools for inclusive design andprogramming, the presentations at the event highlighted two tools: The GirlRoster and ASERT. The Girl Roster is an app­based tool that is “a householdquestionnaire that provides a snapshot of how many girls are in the catchmentareas; and a rapid analysis tool that categorizes girls by age, schooling, andmarital, childbearing, and living­arrangement status” (Population Council2016) The Safe Hands presentation was a case study of The Girl Roster tool.Safe Hands described how they tailored the tool for the refugee communitycontext they work in Atlanta and how it helped them to focus theirprogramming, especially through realizing there were girls younger than theiroriginal target population that they should include in their programming. TheASERT (Ascertaining Sexual Relationship Types) tool “facilitates a method ofunderstanding how girls describe and rank the different features of the peoplein their community with whom they have sex and the reasons for having sexwith each type of person” (Population Council 2016). Through using this tool,program staff can understand adolescent girls’ sexual relationships, thereasons for those relationships, and create family planning, empowerment orother programming that is better suited to the girls’ particular context.We think you’ll agree that this suite of practical, thoughtful, and inclusive toolsfor targeted programming is something to strive for in the forthcoming TAAPToolkit!Citation: Population Council. 2016. Building Girls’ Protective Assets: ACollection of Tools for Program Design. New York: Population Council.

Photo: Cover Page ­ "Building Girls' Protective Assets Tools" © PopulationCouncil, 2016

Gender/Inclusion EDGECertification: Kudos to theWilson CenterHave you heard of LEED Certification forresource efficient buildings? What about BCorporations for socially conscious businesses?What about EDGE Certification for genderequality?The Woodrow Wilson International Center forScholars in Washington, DC is the first think tankto be awarded the Economic Dividends forGender Equality (EDGE) Certificate. Launched atthe World Economic Forum in 2011, EDGE is an“assessment methodology and global businesscertification standard…built around four pillarsthat define success in gender equality” (EDGE2016). The four pillars are strong gender balanceat all levels of the organization; proactivemanagement of pay equity in the organization; asolid framework of effective gender equalitypolicies and practices; and an inclusive culture,as reflected in employees’ high ratings in terms ofgender equality (EDGE 2016). As Gwen Young,Director of the Wilson Center’s Global Women’sLeadership Initiative and the Women in PublicService Project (WPSP), stated, “The EDGECertification falls within the WPSP goal of genderparity in public institutions and our vision ofinstitutions that reflect the diversity of society.”(Wilson Center 2016). It is great to see anexample of an organization such as the WilsonCenter working to include gender not only in itsprogramming, but also as central toorganizational success.What do you think about the EDGE Certification?Could it be a model for a future InclusionCertificate? Share your thoughts at

TAAP@worldlearning.org. (Citations: The WilsonCenter. “Wilson Center Becomes First Think Tankto Receive Global Gender Equality Certification,”28 Sept 2016; EDGE. “The Global BusinessCertification for Gender Equality.” 2016.) Graphic: Award Clip Art, Public Domain, 2016

Boys and Girls in Armed Conflict: UnpackingDifferent Experiences, Advancing EqualAgency in Peacebuilding EffortsAs part of its’ 60 Days of Engagement around Youth, Gender and Peace(#YouthPeaceEquality), the U.S. Institute of Peace hosted a discussion on howboys and girls experience armed conflict differently, and the necessity ofsupporting the voices and agency of boys and girls in resolving conflict andpeace building around the world.USIP’s Kathleen Kuehnast and Carla Koppell explored the comprehensive legalframework that has emerged around the protection and rights of children,including a series of UN Security Council Resolutions that focus on childrendeserving protection, safety, education and the right to be a child. Koppell notedthe importance of recognizing the existing frameworks despite the realities ofmillions of children displaced and impacted by political and social upheaval.She noted existing development gaps (health, education, etc.) that exist

between boys and girls in a context even before the onset of conflict. Gender­based violence in conflict affected environments is a pervasive theme, andmust be recognized as perpetrated against boys as well as girls ­­ a reminderthat outsiders must take care not to be insensitive to violence that falls outsideof our cultural expectations. Girls faced particular challenges from forced earlymarriage related to conflict, and while both girls and boys can be forced tobecome part of armed movements, it is important to recognize the differentroles they play when designing responsive programs. This means includingyoung girls within demobilization programs for child soldiers, and boys withinprograms addressing victims of gender­based violence. Exclusion arises whenreturning girls and boys are shunned. Young men are often shunned for theviolence they had perpetrated as child soldiers, thereby not gaining access toland or opportunities to meet expectation for young men. Young women whocome back with children born of "forced marriages" find that they and theirchildren are shunned by families ­ and therefore lack access to family supportand resources.Koppell and Kuehnast emphasized that efforts must be made to "elevatechildren's voices in war­torn contexts" so that they may be change agents andforces for positive change. We need to publicize and raise [the voices of formervictims with strength to prevent others from experiencing the same], enablethem to think through with us where the solutions are, and what we need to doto drive forward change."Recommendations for inclusion­sensitive and responsive interventions includedbirth registration for access to benefits and identity in post­conflict societies,and re­writing textbooks to reflect the narratives of all voices impacted byconflict.Photo: © World Learning, Pakistan Reading Project, 2016.

Advancing LGBTI Rights as Human Rights

The United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) recently appointed VititMuntarbhorn, an international law professor from Thailand, as theIndependent Expert on the “protection against violence and discriminationbased on sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI).” In doing so, HRCseeks to protect homosexual and transgender people worldwide from violenceand discrimination by appointing its first independent investigator to inspectabuses against lesbian, gay bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI)people.A June 2016 article in the Washington Post, “U.N. Council Creates Watchdogfor LGBT Rights” notes that Randy Berry, the US State Department’s SpecialEnvoy for the Human Rights of LGBTI Persons, called the decision historic, butexpressed disappointment that opponents had succeeded in adding wordingsuggesting LGBTI rights may be a cultural imposition. The articles points outthat new position was, in fact, supported by several countries in Latin America­Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico and Uruguay. Accordingto the article, Latin American countries have some of the world’s mostadvanced legal protections for gay and transgender people.This new appointment is positive news for advancing LGBTI rights as humanrights. What does it have to do with TAAP and transforming agency access andpower through inclusive design? Shawn Gaylord, an advocacy counsel withHuman Rights First, notes in the Post article that the position has symbolic andpractical value, “It makes clear that LGBT rights are human rights. That’s anessential part of the U.N. moving forward. On a practical level, there areresources that will flow and more staffing for LGBT issues to be researched,reviewed and recommendations made.” Inclusive design recognizes thattransformative change is possible when development practitioners andadvocates amplify and leverage the value of symbolic and practical advancesat multiple levels of change, from local to regional to international. This newcommitment is an essential ingredient of and provides the platform fortransformative change.Photo: © United Nations Logo Rainbow Flag.

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