CARE International launched SOMGEP and, following its successful completion, continued its programming through Somali Girls’ Education Promotion Project – Transition (SOMGEP-T). The project, which began on May 1 2017 and is expected to close on October 31 2021, builds on evidence from SOMGEP and seeks to further address barriers and challenges Somali girls face related to attendance and learning outcomes. At proposal stage, the project was expected to reach a total of 27,146 marginalised girls; calculations based on up to date enrolment data indicate that the project is estimated to reach 27,722 in-school girls across 148 primary schools and 53 secondary schools in Somaliland, Puntland, and Galmudug, as well as 5,140 out-of-school girls in the same locations.
SOMGEP-T aims to bring about sustainable improvements to the learning and transition outcomes of marginalised Somali girls. To address barriers and the causes of marginalisation, the SOMGEP-T Theory of Change (ToC) focuses on four key outputs: (1) Improved access to post-primary options, (2) Supportive school practices and conditions for marginalised girls, (3) Positive shifts on gender and social norms at community and individual girl level, and (4) Enhanced MoEs’ capacity to deliver quality and relevant formal and informal education. Outputs are expected to contribute to the achievement of the project’s four intermediate outcomes of attendance, retention, improved quality of teaching, and life skills development, which will in turn contribute to the long-term goals of improving learning outcomes, boosting transition rates, and ensuring the sustainability of changes brought about by the project.
The SOMGEP-T evaluation uses a mixed-methods, quasi-experimental design, involving a longitudinal panel of girls with a non-randomly assigned comparison group. The baseline sample comprises 76 schools, with 38 intervention schools and 38 comparison schools. The primary findings from the evaluation are summarised below.