Document Type
Brief
Publication Date
9-7-2020
Abstract
Covid-19 has disrupted lives, networks, and institutions across social, economic, and health dimensions around the world. This report examines how the pandemic has affected adolescent girls and young women in particular, and explores how group-based programs for girls in low- and middle-income countries have been affected by and are responding to the pandemic. The pandemic has affected adolescent girls and young women across multiple outcomes, including education, livelihoods, sexual and reproductive health, sexual- and gender-based violence, and early and forced marriage. These heightened barriers to economic and social opportunities have the potential to derail progress toward gender equality unless recognized and addressed. Insights shared by 12 girl-centered programs revealed that girls’ groups offer a unique opportunity to identify and deliver interventions to vulnerable communities during crises, and many programs have seen an expansion in their roles during the pandemic. This report urges decisionmakers, donors, and researchers to invest in generating data and evidence to assess how Covid-19 is affecting adolescent girls and young women, and to evaluate the potential roles and effects of girls’ groups in the immediate and longer-term.
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Briggs, Hannah, Nicole Haberland, Sapna Desai, Thomas de Hoop, and Thoai Ngo. 2020. "The impact of COVID-19 on opportunities for adolescent girls and the role of girls’ groups," brief, Evidence Consortium on Women's Groups.
Project
Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic; GIRL Center