STORIES FROM THE FIELD - UNDP in Turkey

Assess the effectiveness of the UN countryteam’s gender-mainstreaming strategy in supportof gender equality and women’s empowermentby using an accountability framework (‘genderscorecard’) here:http://undg.org/index.cfm?P=222 (UNCT GenderPerformance Indicators – Users’ Guide).Read more about how to strengthen genderequality in UNDAFs here:http://undg.org/index.cfm?P=222Malawi Unlocks a Future forAdolescent Girls“The analysis of the socio-cultural and economicsituation of women and girls has revealed that thegirl child is at the centre of the challenges limitingthe achievements of the three MDGs whereMalawi is lagging behind. The Government, andits development partners, are focusing aroundthe adolescent girl child as key entry point forany interventions aimed at accelerating theachievement of the MDGs. Adolescent girls areand must be a key focus of our developmentwork in Malawi.”—Anitta Kalinde, Minister for Gender, Childrenand Social WelfareAs a teenager, Linda Tobias got married, acommon practice for adolescent girls in herpoor, rural area of Malawi. It was not longbefore she realized that marriage had solvedfew problems. Basic necessities at home, fromfood to proper clothing and shelter, were still inshort supply. Opportunities for an education oreconomic empowerment had declined. However,through a joint UN programme in support ofintegrated education, health and other servicesfor adolescent girls, she found new hope.“Education is the only key of unlocking mydestitute life”, she says. Now in standardsix after earlier dropping out of school, herdream is to become a doctor one day.Adolescent girls like Linda are among the mostexcluded groups of young people in Malawi.They lack access to services and livelihoodsand face harmful cultural practices such as earlymarriage. Compared to male counterparts, theyare almost four times as likely to be HIV-positive,a signifier of poverty and gender discrimination.Bringing together the expertise of UNESCO,UNFPA, UNICEF and WHO, the joint UNprogramme has acted to address thesedisparities. Since 2010, it has operated intwo rural districts, Chikhwawa and Mangochi,areas with some of the most limited progressin improving the welfare of adolescent girls.Linda is one of several thousand girls who havebenefited from opportunities that used to benearly unimaginable there. Before, for example,girls dropped out of school at high rates, mainlyto marry and have children. It was far lesscommon to see girls finishing their learning andusing their education to better their lives. Somebarriers came from prohibitive school costs.The programme seeks to model differentoutcomes and to encourage girls and theircommunities to pursue new aspirations. Severalinterventions have reached out to girls who haddropped out of school. Over 200 identified asorphaned and particularly vulnerable have beengiven scholarships to return to class. Drop-outrates among them have declined remarkably,to only 2 per cent, and better attendance hastranslated into higher academic achievement.In Mangochi, two five-day science camps drewgirls from nine schools. The camps concentratedon subjects in which girls had some of the lowestachievements and helped to break down genderstereotypes about appropriate studies. By theend, assessments found a marked increase inconfidence in pursuing science-related courses.Other initiatives have targeted girls not in aposition to return to school. Over 250 illiterategirls have acquired functional literacy andnumeracy skills, learned about the preventionChapter 1: United to Deliver development results 27