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Phase 3 encompassed the Pilot phase and included the following activities:
In preparation for the implementation of GUG activities, in July 2017 local community-based organizations (CBOs), with support from Save the Children and community liaisons, met with caregivers, schools, and community members to identify and engage in-school and out-of-school very young adolescents (VYAs).
One school club at each of the 40 pilot schools and 19 community-based clubs were established.
During the first two months of the school year, Save the Children and partner CBOs, with support from the Ministry of Education, trained a total of 23 community facilitators, 134 teachers, and 240 school club members on the GUG approach and tools. Save the Children and the Ministry of Health, in collaboration with Population Services International and its local affiliate, Association de Santé Familiale, also trained 55 health workers and administrative staff to facilitate health service linkage activities. These activities included one provider-led lesson and one visit for each VYA club to a nearby health center.
Throughout the remainder of Phase 3, GUG activities were implemented in schools, communities, and health centers. GUG activities in school and community clubs reached a total of 2,350 boys and girls ages 10 to 14 years; more than 2,000 caregivers and 2,200 community members met in groups to watch and discuss short videos featuring local parents talking about the behaviors they adopted to increase positive communication and health behaviors among their children. These groups, tailored for important adults in the lives of GUG VYAs, sparked critical reflection and discussion about how to support healthy adolescent transitions through puberty.
Phase 3 efforts also centered on strengthening project monitoring and documentation activities that started during Phase 2. The project team finalized a monitoring system to track implementation progress and quality and held quarterly Learning Meetings to present summary findings based on analyses of monitoring data. During Phase 3, the Youth Advisory Council was formed to provide substantial and meaningful opportunities for youth to contribute to program learning, evaluation, and adaptation. The project team also undertook a costing study to determine the overall cost of implementing intervention elements.
Two evaluation strategies were used to assess the success of the intervention in achieving its intermediate outcomes of building puberty and reproductive health knowledge, fostering gender-equitable attitudes and behaviors, and increasing self-efficacy: a quantitative survey among VYAs and a youth-led qualitative evaluation among VYAs, caregivers, teachers, and health providers.
Quantitative Evaluation
A cohort of VYAs (half GUG participants and half controls) were invited to be a part of the longitudinal Global Early Adolescent Study (GEAS) in Kinshasa. Specific items designed to assess GUG’s impact were developed from qualitative research, pilot tested, and included in the GEAS-Kinshasa survey. In 2017, shortly before the GUG intervention started, baseline data were collected among 2,842 adolescents. Roughly a year later—after the intervention ended in 2018—endline data were collected among 2,519 adolescents (nearly 90% of baseline participants). As highlighted in a brief and associated manuscript summarizing the evaluation findings, GUG improves the reproductive health knowledge, skills, and gender awareness of girls and boys ages 10 to 14.
“In the Growing Up GREAT! activities, I learned that all children are equal. Now [my son] wakes up in the morning and draws water and helps his sister do dishes."
Qualitative Evaluation
A youth-led participatory qualitative evaluation was conducted in 2018 to provide deeper insights into changes in the community due to GUG. Youth Advisory Council members used story-collection techniques and interviews with more than 50 VYAs and adults to gather their perspectives on individual, family, healthcare, and normative changes observed in the community. Findings from this evaluation noted improvements in sexual and reproductive health knowledge, skills, and gender awareness among adults, which helped to create a stronger developmental environment to enable VYAs to learn and grow in healthier ways.
Results of both evaluation studies were presented to partners and government officials during a Stakeholder Reference Group meeting in Phase 4.
