Space Time
Keeping Safe Spaces safe and sound for adolescent girls in LMIC settings
Adolescent-friendly Safe Spaces are places where young people can feel physically and emotionally safe to learn, acquire relevant information, knowledge and skills, and expand their social networks.1
Safe Spaces for adolescent girls are a common feature of projects to empower and support adolescent girls in low- and middle-income countries(LMICs); notably, they are not the same as safe houses or shelters.1 While some projects do provide adolescent friendly Safe Spaces for boys or mixed groups, this article will focus on Safe Spaces for adolescent girls, aged 10-19 years.
In LMIC settings, adolescent girls often lack access to quality education and healthcare; they may also have limited information, skills and power to make decisions about their lives.2 Safe Spaces can provide them with a safe environment to learn new things such as life skills, literacy, numeracy, vocational skills and financial literacy, sexual and reproductive health information. Evidence suggests that, when managed well under the leadership of a skilled mentor, Safe Spaces can help girls to become healthy, productive and engaged adults.3
But, from our independent evaluation work, we know that implementing Safe Spaces projects can be challenging, especially in resource-poor settings.4 Our consolidated evaluation evidence suggests:
• Girls’ participation can be short-lived – it can be hard to keep Safe Space curricula meaningful and interesting for girls over longer timeframes –especially for out-of-school girls with household commitments.
• Capable mentors are crucial – the success and continuity of Safe Spaces is often highly dependent on the calibre and commitment of the mentors who lead the group – such mentors can be hard to find and retain.
• Stigma may be increased – when group membership is highly targeted, e.g. to vulnerable / disadvantaged girls; there is sometimes suspicion, resentment or stigmatisation by non-members.
• Monitoring can be challenging – quality control and oversight of Safe Space groups is important to maintain standards and avoid inadvertent harm – this type of monitoring can be difficult to maintain at scale.
Drawing on our experience of providing Safe Spaces for girls in the health and education sectors in a range of lower income countries, we’ve identified seven factors for ensuring Safe Spaces for adolescent girls are based on sound design principles.
Keeping Safe Spaces safe and sound
• Start with a situation analysis – look at where adolescent girls are already meeting, e.g. school clubs, church choirs, hobby and sports clubs; it is sometimes more sustainable to situate trained local mentors or counsellors within these settings.
• Engage parents, caregivers and community leaders from the outset to avoid suspicion and ensure their support; be transparent about the Safe Spaces curriculum; if appropriate, involve these stakeholders in curriculum development and delivery.
• Let girls lead – in line with sound youth development principles, adolescent girls should be allowed to design and lead Safe Spaces activities; this can usefully include monitoring and research that engages the wider community.
• Invest in skilled mentors – select and train mentors carefully; ensure they have sound understanding of the group, the context and the stakeholder environment; provide them with age-appropriate resources, supportive supervision, and access to peer networks and referral systems.
• Optimise group dynamics to ensure Safe Spaces are inclusive and beneficial to all; support mentors in managing their group size, composition, accessibility and dynamics; inculcate values of equity, diversity and mutual-respect.
• Prioritise Safeguarding – ensure mentors and all members of the group understand their rights, including their right to be protected from harm; be clear about respective roles and what to do if a Safeguarding issue arises.
• Monitor, listen and learn – ensure all members of the group feel empowered to participate in monitoring the group’s progress; encourage members and key stakeholders to play an active role in steering the group to successful outcomes for all.
References
1. UNFPA. (2015). Women & Girls Safe Spaces: A guidance note based on lessons learned from the Syrian crisis. Available at: https://www.unfpa.org/resources/women-girls-safe-spaces-guidance-note-based-lessons-learned-syrian-crisis
2. UNICEF. (2019). Technical note on Adolescent Girls’ Empowerment. Available at: https:// www.unicef.org/documents/technical-note-adolescent-girls-empowerment
3. UNFPA-UNICEF. (2021). Technical Note on Life Skills Programmes for Empowering Adolescent Girls: Notes for Practitioners on What Works. Available at: https://www.unicef.org/media/63656/file
4. See for example our evaluation of the Adolescent Girls Empowerment Programme in Zambia. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-of-adolescent-girls-empowerment-programme
