2021 Seed Grant Award Problem Statements 

Environment / Energy

Problem #14: In Senegal, electricity is sporadic - this impedes the ability of adolescent girls, with limited access to economic resources, to study at night and to obtain digital literacy.

Country/Region of execution:  Senegal, West Africa
Collaborating Organization: Plan International USA
Plan International USA is a girls’ rights organization. Powered by supporters, Plan partners with adolescent girls and children around the world to overcome oppression and gender inequality, providing the support and resources that are unique to their needs and the needs of the communities, ensuring they achieve they full potential with dignity, opportunity and safety.  Plan programs reflect the priorities and needs of young people across their life cycle. Our holistic approach leverages learning and cross-sector programming as core strategies to tackle structural drivers such as poverty, gender inequality and education. Guided by local experts, in partnership with global health and development sector leaders, we embrace adaptive learning and leverage innovation as a core strategy for promoting equity and resilience.
Problem Statement Description: GirlEngage Senegal has worked with adolescent girls in a rural location to co-design programming that ensures girls are able to learn and thrive in post-primary education opportunities and pursue their hopes and dreams free from the pressures to marry early.  Over a three-year period, this program will improve girls’ agency and access to quality and safe education to 600 girls in the region of Kédougou. Girls play an integral role in the project, not only as beneficiaries, but as drivers of program content.
We have found that by programming in a way that facilitates girls’ participation in the design of the program, girls can enjoy increased self-esteem, confidence and support to identify and overcome barriers and importantly to identify solutions to those barriers. After all, they are the experts of their own context and best able to prioritize and develop solutions. The Covid-19 pandemic forced many girls to be at home during school closures. Studying at home become critical for learning. A rapid assessment among the girls identified the challenge of intermittent electricity impeding girls’ access to lights and where available to digital platforms –also important to the girls for access to peer support and learning materials (from Plan and from school teachers).  By supporting programs that enable girls to continue learning, girls are more likely to avoid early and forced marriage and unions and also enjoy better health outcomes.  The nagging challenge of electricity impedes their access to light and to the use of basic cellular and digital technology, which has become a central strategy for delivering educational materials in the time of Covid-19. A low-cost solution such a very simple low-cost solar charger that might double as a light would enable the girls to sustain access to educational materials and digital literacy. A girl friendly solution to this challenge remains essential both to the girls as well as to our program objectives.