This evaluation of CARE International’s Adolescent Girls Education in Somalia (AGES) programme concludes a four-and-a-half-year effort to track the programme’s impact on various cohorts of girl learners. The evaluation is preceded by three previous evaluations: a baseline (BL) round in late 2019, a Midline 1 (ML1) round in early 2022, and a Midline 2 (ML2) round in early 2023. Three key outcomes for girls are measured through this study: 1) learning outcomes, as measured by numeracy and literacy skills; 2) transitions outcomes, measured by girls’ trajectories since first surveyed, such as whether a girl has progressed in grade levels, or secured gainful employment after their participation in the AGES programme; and 3) sustainable change emerging from shifts in social norms at the community and individual level, as well as strengthened institutional capacities to support inclusive education.
In addition, the programme’s theory of change (ToC) posits that several intermediate outcomes mediate the effect of programme interventions on the primary outcomes. As such, this study also examines progress on several intermediate outcomes: 1) attendance rates, 2) quality of teaching practices, 3) girls’ leadership and life skills, 4) school management and governance, 5) community support for girls’ education, 6) girl’s self-efficacy, 7) strengthened economic circumstances for female youth, and finally, 8) access to social support services.
Importantly, this study comprises evaluations for three separate groups of girls, all recruited into the study at various points in time. The study began with an original baseline cohort of girls participating in the formal education (FE), Alternative Basic Education (ABE), and Non-Formal Education (NFE) programmes. These girls were recruited from schools in the following states, or geographic zone: Banadir, South West State, and Jubaland. The ABE programme focused on accelerated education of basic skills to enable girls to transition into the formal education system, while the NFE programme aimed to equip girls with the skills – both hard and soft – needed to pursue livelihoods, though some NFE girls also transition to the formal education system. These initial groups – whom we collectively refer to as Cohort 1 (C1) or the baseline cohort – were first recruited at BL in 2019, and were funded by the UK’s Girls’ Education Challenge (GEC) fund.
Two further cohorts, funded by USAID, were later introduced. Cohort 4, or C4, NFE girls were introduced into the study at ML1, while Cohort 5, or C5, NFE girls were introduced to the study at ML2. As such, unlike the C1 girls, we take the ML1 and ML2 evaluation rounds as the cohort-specific baselines for C4 and C5 NFE girls, respectively, and compare changes in main and intermediate outcomes from those rounds to EL. The USAID expansion of the NFE programming also meant the C4 and C5