girl child shield 01-07girl child shield project assessment report, june 2001 2list of contents...

Girl Child Shield Project

Assessment Report, June 2001 1



List of Contents

Introduction 2

1. Project Objectives and Achievements 3

1.A Awareness 3-5

1.B Participation 5-6

1.C Empowerment 6-7

2. Strategies Supporting Implementation 7

2.A Management and Co-ordination 7-8

2.B Leadership and Training 8

2.C Content and Communication 9

2.D Activity-Based Learning 9-10

2.E Monitoring and Evaluation 10

2.F Targeting and Outreach 10-11

3. Future Directions & Recommendations 12

3.A For Guides 12

3.B For Girls 12-13

Conclusion 14

Appendices # 1 Project Structure 16

# 2 Summery of Six 17

Badges

# 3 Badges Design 21

# 4 Methodology 22

# 5 Sample of 24

Management

# 6 Input Cost 25



Introduction

The Girl Guide Shield Project was launched in its present form by the Pakistan Girl GuidesAssociation (PGGA) and UNICEF in 1997 after several years of informal co-operation andfollowing the development and testing a pilot programme. The main beneficiaries of the projectare girl guides between 11 and 16 years who are organised into companies attached to girls'schools and, in addition, it also benefits their schools, families and communities.

The overall objective of the Project is to improve the status of girls and women in Pakistan byincreasing the awareness of girl guides of the problems faced by girls in their community andsociety. Thus the Project aims to educate guides on issues pertinent to girls and childrenincluding child rights, gender discrimination and the importance of nutrition, health care andeducation. Simultaneously it aims at raising their self-esteem, increasing their confidence,improving their skills for communication with peers and families and expanding capacity-building for community service. The acquisition of new knowledge and skills by girls in thetargeted age-group is intended to demonstrate to peers, families and communities the potential ofgirls and their abilities to act as role models and agents of change and thus bring about changesin attitudes towards girls and a reduction in gender discrimination.

The Girl Child Shield Project is designed around six proficiency badges which are activity-basedand encourage girls to learn about their rights, responsibilities and opportunities to improve thestatus of girls. Four of the badges(Facts for Life, Child Rights, Education and Girl Child Issues)aim to increase awareness about the status, education, health and rights of the girl child and twobadges(Inter-personal Communication Skills and Team-Building) enable girls to learn aboutparticipation, inter-personal relations and collective planning and action.(2) Each guide in theProject is expected to complete the two compulsory badges(Facts for Life and Inter-personalCommunication Skills) and any two of the remaining four optional badges. Once twelve girls inany company complete four badges each, the company receives the James Grant Shield, theguider a special certificate and the girls an additional Shield badge.

Now that the first five years of project implementation are due to end in 2001, this assessmentreport has been commissioned by UNICEF to examine the match between objectives andachievements, to identify omissions and lessons learned and to suggest future directions whichthe project might take. This assessment is based upon a study of documentary materials pertinentto the project including periodic project reports, communication kits and other materials forparticipants; discussions with guides, guiders, headmistresses, teachers, family members andcommunity leaders; and observations of guide activities over a range of locations andcircumstances in May 2001.



1. Project Objectives and Achievements

One way of measuring the success of any project is to assess its scale and numbers of direct andindirect beneficiaries. By 1998 a total of 10,000 guides had participated in the project and it isanticipated that by the end of 2001 the Project will have (a) trained between 20,000 and 30,000girls as role models on girl child issues, child rights, affirmative communication and teambuilding and (b) have reached 20,000 families and 100,000 girl peers (one pus five) in addition toneighbouring families (one plus five), schools and communities.

By May 2001 it was reckoned that the Project had involved 20,000 girls in more than 800 schoolin lower and middle-income urban and rural communities and had reached the targeted numbersof peers, families and communities. Issues of outreach and replicability will be addressed later inthe report, but to emphasise such quantitative measures to the exclusion of other factors is tomiss the truly innovative and creative features of this Project in a society where for a girl tobecome a guide requires family permission which is not always forthcoming without somepersuasion and negotiation.

To fully appraise the achievements of the project, its objectives have been subdivided into threemajor categories which aim to

a. increase awareness of child rights, girl child issues and importance of health, hygiene andeducation in the survival and development of children;

b. encourage participation in activities to improve health, nutrition and education of girls,women, families and communities.

c. empower girl guides to communicate with others and address the problems faced by girlsin Pakistan;

1.A Awareness

a. Child Rights and Responsibilities

The contents of all the badges and especially the Child Rights Badge suggest that every efforthas been made to increase the awareness of girl guides about child rights and responsibilities andthe ways in which such rights might be realised. The materials and activities of the Child RightsBadge primarily aim at familiarising girls with the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).



i. There was every indication that the girls who had participated in the Girl Child ShieldProject were aware of the CRC and the importance of these rights for their survival,development and protection. Their responses to questions suggested that they wereespecially interested in their equal rights to education.

ii. There was evidence of a strong emphasis on increasing awareness of child rights'violations especially those to do with child labour and the ways in which child rights toeducation might be realised.

iii. What was very noticeable was the awareness of girls of not only their rights but also oftheir corresponding responsibilities including the importance of educating their familiesand communities about child rights and rights realisation via persuasion and negotiation.The equal emphasis on responsibilities meant that the Girl Child Shield Project with itsemphasis on child rights still enjoyed the widespread support of parents, teachers andcommunity leaders. This approach is a very interesting example of a rights-basedapproach implemented in a social context where families and community leaders retainconsiderable authority and control often to the disadvantage of child- and especially ofgirl-development.

b. Girl Child Issues

The overall orientation of the Project and the specific issues addressed by the Girl Child badgeaim to raise awareness about discriminatory attitudes and practices against girls and encouragethem to take action to improve their status.

i. The guides showed an active awareness of the attitudes and behaviours whichdiscriminate against girls in their own homes and communities. They highlighted theways in which girls are denied equal access to food, education, health care and leisure,the restrictions on their movement and heavy domestic labour, their lesser freedomscompared to those of their brothers and the lack of consultation with girls especially infamily decisions to do with their education and marriage. They thought that the Projecthad been instrumental in raising their general awareness of the problems faced by girls inPakistan.

ii. Many of the guides were also very aware of some of the causes of gender discriminationand how they did not have the same rights and privileges as their preferred brotherslargely they thought because of their eventual removal to another family on marriage.They had begun to understand the causes of their secondary status and lack of long-termimportance to their families.

iii. The guides showed special awareness of their rights to equality in education and theways in which discriminatory practices inhibited their full and potential development asindividuals as well as reducing their abilities to contribute to their families, communitiesand society. Many could report how they themselves or on behalf of others had attemptedto win freedoms to join activities such as guides, stay in education and challengeinequalities within their families.



c. Health and Education

Within the Project there is a major emphasis on the importance of health, education, nutrition andhygiene largely because there are few alternative sources for the dissemination of thisinformation to adolescent girls. The compulsory Facts for Life badge teaches girls theimportance of protective health care including hygiene and nutrition and conveys information onimmunisation, rehydration, iodised salt, safe water, hand washing and disease symptoms. TheEducation badge encourages guides to become aware of the educational opportunities forchildren in Pakistan, identify the causes of illiteracy and think through ways to help out-of-school children gain an education. It is hoped that the content of these badges will contribute tothe creation of community demand for basic services.

i. The girls showed every indication of understanding the importance of health educationand practices for their own survival and development and that of their younger siblings,peers and families. The attitudes they expressed and new practices they describedsuggested that they had received these important health-education messages.

ii. The guides had also acquired new practical skills include the testing of salt for iodinecontent, rehydration procedures and the recognition of disease symptoms.

iii. Several parents, teachers and community leaders reported on changes in household,school and community practices as a result of guide mobilisation. These included the use of soap and iodised salt, cleanliness of latrines and clearance of rubbish.

iv. Many of the girls were aware of the importance of literacy and education for their owndevelopment and expressed a strong desire to continue with their own education as far aspossible. Several girls gave examples of their influence in the education of siblings ordomestic servants. In one school visited, guide opinion had provided a strong impetustowards the addition of a senior class in a local village school.

1.B Participation

The Project encourages advocacy and guide participation in school, family and communityactivities both as role models and as agents of change. The compulsory Communications badgeand the optional Team-Building badge aim to develop effective inter-personal communicationskills, help guides to work together towards well-defined and collective goals, and via individualand collective participatory methodologies, guides acquire experience of community activities,plan-development and conflict-resolution. It was a very important principle of the Girl ChildShield Project that girls identify communication barriers and should work with their families andcommunities in effecting change.



i. It was evident that effective communication skills were emphasised to encourageadvocacy with peers, family and village or town communities. In discussions, guidesresponded with clarity and directness and expressed their views with confidence. It wasobserved that girls had acquired collective experience of group activities and wereconscious of their individual and collective role in imparting knowledge and advocatingchange.

ii. In several school discussion, headmistresses and teachers reiterated the differences theyobserved between guides and non-guides. They thought these differences inresponsiveness and confidence were due to the opportunities provided for guides toacquire participatory skills and practices.

iii. As a result of their participation in the Project many parents and siblings commented onthe directed energies and increased politeness and co-operation of their daughters andsisters.

iv. Many community members could cite examples where guides had modified attitudes andbehaviours of their peers and families to do with hygiene, education, health care andmarriage practices. Community leaders could also cite examples where guide example ormobilisation had influenced a community practice or decision to do with the physicalenvironment, hygiene or education. This is novel behaviour in a society where girls arecommonly not allowed to meet in public spaces or enter the homes of neighbours.

v. There was documentation available on several community camps where senior guidesvisited, taught initiated and participated in selected projects to teach village womenliteracy, hygiene or health care and practical skills such as embroidery.(4) In onecommunity visited, where such a camp had taken place a year previously, there was stillevidence that senior guides had very effectively facilitated and fulfilled their roles asmodels encouraging and improving the health knowledge, literacy and skills of local girlsand women who took great pride in recalling and sharing the results of theirachievements. What made a vivid impression on the community, and they rememberedmost, was the manner in which the guides related to and taught community members ofall ages.

1.C Empowerment

One of the main aims of the Project is to increase the confidence of girls to take practicalinitiatives and to influence or contribute to their families and communities. The Projectrecognises that empowerment rests on a strong sense of self-esteem or self-respect and activitiesare explicitly designed to foster the qualities of self-reliance and self-worth.



i. The majority of the guides encountered were responsive in discussions and were able toexpress their opinions and communicate with confident words and demeanour. Manygirls, parents and teachers suggested that because of the Project, girls had found 'theirown voice'. There was also evidence of inter-personal and leadership skills among manyof the guides which could be observed in discussions and activities.

ii. A number of girls reported on their new status as visible and responsible members oftheir families and communities. They gave examples of ways in which they were nowlistened to as a result of acquiring new knowledge especially on practical matters to dowith health, nutrition and sanitation and new skills. Many described how originally theyhad to be quite assertive to overcome the initial opposition of fathers and brothers.

iii. Teachers, parents and community leaders commonly stated that the Project hadincreased the confidence of the girls and their abilities to impart new knowledge andexpress opinions clearly and politely.

iv. In all these ways, guides were seen to demonstrate the capabilities of girls once given theopportunity for self-development. Given that all guides are in school, it is difficult toascertain how much confidence and self-esteem was evident before entry on to theProject or is due to other factors, but there was a strong consensus among girls, parents,teachers and community leaders that the Girl Child Shield Project had helped girlsovercome shyness, insecurity and inferiority and that, as they had become more confidentin their own knowledge and abilities, they seemed more co-operative, assertive and politein their inter-personal relations.

In sum it is apparent that the project has achieved its objectives in raising awareness,participation and empowerment, in the acquisition and advocacy of knowledge and life skills andin effecting positive changes in family and community perceptions of girls. That so manyobjectives aiming at educating and empowering girls to participate in guide and communityactivities has been achieved in a society where the movement and education of girls is stillrestricted is due to a number of the Project's excellent implementation strategies.



2. Strategies Supporting Implementation

The partnership between UNICEF and PGGA and the respective strengths and contributions ofeach have been important components of the success of the project.(5) The Advocacy andCommunication Project of lthe UNICEF Pakistan's national office in Islamabad has offered bothstrategic guidance and practical support for this project which has been a major contributingfactor in its careful implementation. The Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operationprovided supplementary funding in 1998 for the subsequent spread and development of theproject. The PGGA, a nation-wide movement already dedicated to providing opportunities forthe development of young girls and women, is the executing agency. Incorporation within thisnation-wide movement has enabled the project to take advantage of the strengths of thatorganisation and utilise and develop its existing structure, network and activity-basedimplementation strategies.

2.A Management and Co-Ordination

The project has benefited from the organisational infrastructure and careful and creativemanagement of the PGGA which has created an enabling environment for the project.(6)

a. The documentation of the rationales and progress in the development of the project andrecord of case studies of component activities are impeccable and reflect the high qualityof management and of co-ordination for communication and project implementationwithin the PGGA.(7)

b. The project is based on a well-tested and popular format for proficiency badges with in-built incentive strategies embracing both individual badge acquisition and companyshield awards.

c. The commitment and quality of service of both national officers and guiders almost all ofwhom are voluntary is impressive in providing role models for girls and women.

2.B Leadership & Training

Training of national and provincial officers and guiders in the components of the project is givendue importance in the Project. By 1999 a total of more than 650 guiders had received training forthe Project.(8)

a. The PGGA has well-documented national and provincial schedules for the training oftrainers and guiders to implement the Girl Child Shield Project.(9)

b. The training modules and materials produced and disseminated incorporate both the keymessages and activity-based methodologies of the Project and are themselves well-designed and participatory.



c. As a result of basic, refresher and advanced training Projects there is an expanding poolof master trainers and experienced guiders throughout the country although theirnumbers still remain a constraint on expanding the Project.

2.C Content and Communication

The PGGA and UNICEF are responsible for an array of communication kits which include guidebadges, information booklets, pamphlets for parents, iodine test kits, motivational posters, specialcards on child rights and child labour, videos and a shoulder bag. The formulation and design oftraining and communication kits which include information for parents, headmistresses as wellas participants have all been developed by PGGA and UNICEF.

a. The content of the Project materials shows evidence of careful preparation, dueconsideration of content and experimentation in communication. The messages andmethodologies developed were originally based on situation analyses including surveysof the attitudes and needs of girls and children. The resultant communication kits andpublicity materials for girls, headmistresses, parents, communities and the media werethen pilot tested before widespread use.(10)

b. The distinctive design and artwork of the badges, shoulder bag, communication kits andProject activities incorporate positive images of girls and are varied, attractive andeducational. The badge designs are justifiably the cause of some considerable pride.(11)

c. The Project makes full use of videos, booklets and posters featuring MEENA whofeatures large in discussions on rights and who very obviously provides a role model forguides who are impressed by her positive outlook and ability to solve problems.

2.D Activity-Based Learning

Most guide activities take place in regular weekly meetings and school and college vacationproject weeks and service and work camps. The Girl Child Shield Project relies upon activity-based learning and participatory methodologies to build upon existing knowledge, provide skillsand demonstrate practical applicability. This is in keeping with the practice of the internationalguide movement which states that methodologies should be participatory and interactive andactivities practical and above all enjoyable.(12)

a. The types of activities fostered by the Project include communication via role-play,games, drawing, writing and staging dramas or puppet shows and learning skills such asplanning and problem-solving, surveys and compiling life-histories and the identificationof gender stereotypes in textbooks. Specific practical skills include salt-testing for iodineand guides could quite accurately describe such activities and the lessons they havelearned.



b. Many of the activities include collective planning and organising activities to fostermutual help and the collective progress of participants. Several of the guides reportedhow they had begun to take pride not just in their own levels of achievement but also inhelping their peers to achieve.

c. Participatory and inter-active learning which is activity-based is still a novel means oflearning different from the more formal pedagogical practices in Pakistan's schools. These activities make a vivid impression on the guides who frequently declared howmuch they enjoyed this form of learning. As one guide said 'they were learning withoutbeing taught'.

2.E Monitoring and Evaluation

There is evidence of extensive and effective monitoring of the Project components to maintainand assess the proficiency and quality of the badge and other activities and to ensure uniformityof knowledge, skills, efficiency and value across the Project.(13)

a. The comprehensive and extensive mechanisms in place for monitoring consist of periodicvisits by field staff/trainers, extensive self-reporting on activities and staff assessmentsand procedures which are co-ordinated by an assessment committee.

b. The monitoring of training standards and content at different levels is also undertaken byPGGA master trainers and UNICEF staff.

c. Monitoring indicators are both quantitative and qualitative. The former includes anemphasis on the numbers of guides achieving badges, guiders, facilitators and girls,schools and families reached. More qualitatively, modifications in the form ofimprovements or corrective decisions have been taken as a result of monitoring andevaluation by trainers and guiders or on the basis of feedback from the guidesthemselves.

2.F Targeting and Outreach

Given that the Project is primarily targeted at girl guides between ages 11 to 16 years whoalready to some extent privileged in that they are still in school albeit located in middle and low-income communities, the strategies in place to encourage schoolgirls to be aware of theconditions of others, to engage them in outreach activities to benefit their peers, families andcommunities and to have them act as role models and agents of change are important and ameasure of the efficacy of the Project.

a. There was evidence of a number of formal mechanisms which encourage each girl to beaware of the conditions of others and to communicate with them: they are encouraged tocompile life histories of girls not in school or in child labour and to impart the keymessages of the Project to at least five peers and other families and communities. Theirability to do so is measured and tested in the badges and was especially investigated inthe field visits for this assessment report.



b. Several of the guides could report on recent activities during which they had talkedinformally to their peers on issues such as personal hygiene, the importance of educationand child rights and responsibilities.

c. Several of the girls and their parents reported recent occasions when the girls hadpersuaded their families to immunise infants, improve latrine hygiene, introduce iodisedsalt and extend the schooling of girls.

d. Several of the headmistresses and teachers in girls' schools reported instances whereguides had reported on their rights activities in school assembly, installed soap in schoollatrines and introduced new environmental improvements.

e. Several of the guiders and community leaders could report recent instances where girlshad made some environmental or hygienic improvement in community facilities, rubbishclearance and minor repairs or refurbishment.

f. A strong outreach role for guides in fostering ties with local communities is entirelyappropriate where community and family approval and support is still very necessary forgirls to undertake activities outside of their homes.

g. An important mechanism for outreach involves the participation of senior guides inselected social services, community developments and environmental projects. Seniorguide community camps offer an important opportunity for raising the awareness ofguides about rural conditions, the conditions of the poor girls and women and their ownconfidence in their abilities to relate, help and teach in poor villages. They first have toidentify the most pressing needs of the community and teach literacy, crafts, skills,hygiene, nutrition and sanitation according to local needs as well as individually andcollectively participate in community projects. The community itself benefits from thepresence of guides in a number of tangible and non-tangible ways. In one communityproject observed, there was evidence of the very real gains experienced by local girls andwomen as they took the first steps in collective activity and in acquiring new skills inliteracy, numeracy and embroidery.



3. Future Directions and Recommendations

Both the design of this project and its incorporation within the established guiding movement hasmade for an in-built sustainability so that future generations of girls in this age group will in alllikelihood continue to have the opportunity to participate in this continuing Project. The projecthas existed in its present form for the past five year and it is difficult to see how it could improveupon its present strategy in that its formulation, content, design and implementation strategieswhich are exemplary and cost-effective. The most important question, now that the Project isfirmly established, is how can the Project expand and the advantages which 20,000 guides enjoyas participants in the Project be extended to additional companies of guides and more widely togirls in general.

3.A For Guides

It is evident in both documentation and discussion, that although the methodologies andmaterials that make up the Girl Child Shield Project are said to have influenced the Pakistannational guiding movement, it is estimated that only about half the guide companies and some 25to 50 per cent of guides have participated in the Girl Child Shield Project. The PGGA is a highlyprofessional non-government organisation that is also voluntary and the constraints to expansioninclude (i)a lack of teachers who can lead local companies mainly because of other demands ontheir time and (ii)the lack of guiders who have received special training for the Project which isdeemed essential for its successful implementation.

a. It is recommended that either the number of training Project should be expanded or thatthe special training sessions unique to the Girl Guide Shield Project should be integratedinto the very general training Projects of the regular guiding movement. One nationalofficer emphasising the overlapping qualities and content of specific and general Projectsstated that 'the girl guide is the girl child'. Certainly many school girls indicated that theywould like to become guides if given the opportunity; in one school at least half the girlpupils wanted to become guides.

b. It is recommended that the present plans to extend the Project to younger girls in juniorguides and to older girls in senior guides be expedited in order that these age groupsreceive some of the same benefits as the current target group of 11 to 16 years. At thepresent time senior guides new to the movement miss out on this valuable Project.

c. It is recommended that any practical constraints on the supply of materials and trainingfor this Project be overcome and that there be a costing of future supplies of materialsand training to gauge the funds needed for the continuation of this creative, cost-effectiveand sustainable Project.

d. It is recommended that funds be acquired to facilitate the translation of communicationkits for guide badges and training materials into the English language to encourage thereplicability of this project by other girl guide movements where it is culturallyappropriate.



2.B For Girls

The low status and restricted roles of girls in Pakistan is such that guides offer a unique andimportant opportunity for school girls to meet and mix with their peers, to participate in extra-curriccular activities and to acquire much-needed new knowledge and skills not yet part of theeducation curriculum. It is estimated that and some 10 to 15 per cent of Pakistan's girls havebecome guides hence it is a general recommendation of this report that more formal ways befound to extend the messages and methodologies of the Girl Child Shield Project to girls outsideof the guide movement.

a. Within schools it is recommended that, in addition to the present informal ways in whichguides and their companies have communicated some of the Project messages to theirpeers, more formal mechanisms based on school assemblies and classroom meetings beinstituted to extend the messages and methodologies to fellow-pupils.

b. It is recommended that where appropriate the PGGA should lobby for the incorporationof key messages and activities of the Girl Child Shield Project into the national educationcurriculum at different levels and in various forms.

c. It is recommended that further ways be found to extend the benefits of the Project to girlswho have never entered or who drop-out of school and whose needs are paramount inany Project of outreach.



Conclusion

The Girl Child Shield Project has fulfilled both its practical and strategic objectives. Practically,it has initiated a Project which meets the basic needs of girls by extending their knowledge ofhealth education, child rights and girl child issues and by increasing their skills incommunication and collective activities. More strategically, the Girl Child Shield Project hasequipped and encouraged guides to become role models and agents of change in their families,schools and communities and as such has contributed to positive changes in perceptions andattitudes towards girls by their peers, families and communities.

In sum, in initiating and implementing the Girl Child Shield Project, UNICEF and the PGGAare to be complimented on establishing an innovative and cost-effective project for and insupport of the girl child and involving of her family, school and community. This unique Projecthas evolved a sustainable and replicable approach which could serve as a potential role modelwithin and outside of the girl guide movement in Pakistan and in other societies wherediscrimination against young girls remains severe.



References

1. For Project Structure See Appendix 1.

2. For summaries of the content of the six badges see Appendix 2 from PGGA-UNICEF,Giving Girls a New Vision:A Girst Assessment Reprot for Punjab (1985-1998), Lahore,1999,pp14-18.

3. PGGA, The Girl Child Shield Project, Islamabad, 2001(mimeo)

4. PGGA, First All-Pakistan Senior Guide Camp, Shinkiari, 17-27 July 1999, Islamabad,1999.

5. See UNICEF-PGGA Project Co-operation Agreements, 1997-8 and 1999-2001.

6. For badge designs see Appendix 3.

7. For Methodology see Appendix 4.

8. For sample of management structure see Appendix 5.

9. For project costs per girl see Appendix 6

10. For case studies see PGGA-UNICEF, Giving Girls a New Vision:The Girl Child ShieldProject: Progress Report 1999, Islamabad 1999 and PGGA-UNICEF, Report fromPunjab, op cit.

11. PGGA, Annual Report 1998-9, Islamabad, p.81.

12. For sample training schedules see PGGA, Annual Report, op cit; Pgga-UNICEF,Progress Report, op.cit; PGGA-UNICEF, Report from Punjab, op cit.

13. See PGGA-UNICEF, Progress Report, op cit p.10.

14. PGGA, 2001 op cit. p.1.

15. UNICEF-Pgga, op cit.

16. PGGA, Annual Report, op cit. pp 81-5; PGGA-UNICEF, Progress Report, op cit.pp52,65-7.



Orientation of HeadMistresses

Training of Teachers & Guiders on Girl Guides ShieldProject

All guides in a Guide Company acquire 4 badges

Shield giving ceremony

Girls share information with families & neighbors

Guides participate in badge activities

Increased Awareness on Rights Issue

FFL CR Team Building Education Girl Child Communication

Information sharingwith parents

Liaison with Education Dept.

Compulsory Any two badges

Annex - 1



SUMMARIES OF THE SIX BADGES

1. Interpersonal Communication Badge (compulsory)

May girls grow up to be insecure, shy and submissive, with feelings of inferiority and lowself-esteem. They tend to think of themselves as second class citizens, lacking basic rights,dependent on others and having no personal goals in life.

One of the important goals of the Girl Child Shield Project is to enable girls to overcomefeelings of inferiority, insecurity and shyness and to increase their self-esteem and sense ofworth. Girls need to be able to relate to others in a confident and positive manner. TheInterpersonal Communication Badge enables guides to achieve these objectives.

On completing this badge, guides improve their listening skills and are able to communicateeffectively with their peers, their families and communities. This helps motivate them toimprove their situation and status. Guides learn to increase their tolerance towards other,reduce their submissive and aggressive behaviors and become more assertive.

In order to attain this badge, guides participate in a number of activities. They learn toidentify their communication barriers and reduce their use. They learn the skills ofparaphrasing and perception check. They learn to use positive and avoid negative listeningbehaviors, and they learn about their assertive rights.

Written tests are conducted to assess the use or absence of communication barriers ininterpersonal situations. Practical tests are also conducted in the use of listening techniques ina group and between two persons. A written test is given to assess the understanding of thedifference between submissive, aggressive and assertive behaviors

2. Facts for Life Badge (compulsory)

Many children are unable to grow up in a healthy environment in this country and manymothers are unaware of the health and nutritional needs of their children. Often illnesses are aresult of a lack of knowledge and practice of good habits of hygiene. As a result childrenoften fall prey to diseases like diarrhea and hepatitis. Other diseases are caused by theabsence of vaccination and the lack of iodine in the diet of children.

The interpersonal Communication Badge enables guides overcome their insecurityand shyness and to increase their self-esteem and sense of worth .. this will motivate

them to improve their situation and status

Annex - 2



The booklet "Facts for Life" was designed to help families improve their nutritional practices,avoid illnesses, treat illnesses in a proper way and save the lives of children. On completingthis badge, guides learn about essential health and nutrition of mothers and children and thehygiene status of households. The badge also provides information regarding childdevelopment and promotes the use of iodized salt.

In order to attain this badge, guides do the following compulsory activities: pass a test basedon the booklet "Facts for Life", fill a survey form by interviewing members of their ownhouseholds and attendants (ayah, gardener, chowkidar, sweeper) of their school, provideinformation to households lacking such knowledge and bring salt from their home everymonth to have it checked for iodine. In addition, they do one of the following: conduct testingof salt for iodine for other girls, organise a drama on the importance of cleanliness andwashing hands and show it to their classmates, or hold a drawing competition on the subjectof the prevention and treatment of malaria.

3. Rights of the Child Badge

Children in Pakistan are often denied their fundamental rights - the right to health, education,leisure, play etc. In order to enable children to achieve their rights, it is important for bothchildren and their families to know what rights children have.

On completing this badge, guides familiarise themselves with the rights and responsibilitiesof children, become aware of the rights of children which are being given or denied to them,and take steps - especially at the school level - to enable children to achieve their rights.

Guides participate in the following compulsory activities: clustering, rights andresponsibilities games and rights in conflict cartoons. In addition, they do one of thefollowing: organise one of the activities they have done for five girls of their school orcompany: collect stories, news and pictures from newspapers and magazines about violationsof the rights of children and display it in their area or school which are being denied.

Written tests are conducted to assess if guides are familiar with rights of the child andwhether they know the steps necessary to help children attain their rights. In addition, thematerials prepared by them for display are also checked.

The Facts for Life Badge teaches guides essential health messages for the entire family,including good practices for the health and nutrition of mothers and children. It also

encourages them to use iodized salt in their homes and communities

The Rights of the Child Badge familiarises guides with the rights and responsibilities ofchildren so that they become aware of the rights which are being given or denied to them….With increased awareness they can take steps to enable other children to achieve their rights



4. Education Badge

A large number of girls in Pakistan never go to school at all. It is important for girls who dogo to school to understand the situation of children who are unable to receive an education. It is also important for them to think of ways to help such children get a proper education.

On completing this badge, guides become aware of the educational opportunities for childrenin Pakistan and learn about ways to enable out-of-school children to get an education.

Guides participate in the following compulsory activities: read the booklet “Meena CountYour Chiks” and see the video, conduct an activity called “The Test”, view the video “MeenaSmiles”, and participate in the activity “Perspectives About Child Labour”. In addition,patrols do one of the following activities: organise one of the child rights activities in theirschool or company meeting; help a girl who has either dropped out of school or is not goingto school despite being more than five years old to get an education; stage a drama or puppetshow about a girl who wants to study but is unable to do so because of various reasons; orwrite a poem on the importance of education for children.

Written tests are conducted to see if the guides understand the nature and causes of genderdiscrimination and the steps that can be taken to reduce such discrimination. Displays oftextbook analysis and scripts of dramas are also checked.

5. Girl Child Badge

Girls in Pakistan tend to be deprived of the opportunities to get a healthy diet, to receive aneducation, to play and to have leisure. From birth, they are discriminated against andconsidered to be less welcome than boys. The purpose of this badge is to enable guides tobecome aware of the discriminatory practices against girl children in their communities, andto enable them to take action to improve the situation of the girl child.

Guides participate in the following compulsory activities: watch a video “Meena – Dividingthe Mango”, identify the nature and effects of social discrimination against girls, and analysea textbook for gender discrimination. In addition, patrols either prepare a drama or puppetshow depicting what can be done to improve the situation of a disadvantaged girl or prepare achart on the life of a working girl based on an interview of an illiterate girl.

The Education Badge makes guides aware of the educational opportunities for children inPakistan and encourages them to think of ways to help less fortunate children get a proper

education

The Girl Child Badge enables guides to become aware of the discriminatory practicesagainst girl children in their society and encourages them to take action to improve the

situation of the girl child



Written tests are conducted to see if guides understand the nature and causes of genderdiscrimination, and the steps to reduce such discrimination. Displays on textbook analysisand scripts of dramas are also checked for this purpose.

6. Working Together Badge

The goals of the Girl Child Shield Project cannot be achieved individually. It requires a teameffort. Thus it is important that guides learn to work in harmony towards well-defined,collective goals. They should be able to make realistic plans, and be able to work out waysof achieving these plans in a well-coordinated manner. The Working Together Badge isdesignated to enable guides to achieve this objective.

On completing this badge, guides increase their motivation to work as a team. They becomefamiliar with the principles of working as a team, learn to plan as a group and carry outactivities as a team.

Guides do any two of the following:participate in an activity on "CooperativeSquares", participate in the activity "MakingBoats" or participate in the role play on"Conflict Resolution" In addition, each patrolplans and implements an activity to achievean objective related to any badge in the GirlChild Shield Project.

Written tests are conducted to check whetherguides have understood the importance ofteam work, the principles of team work andthe methods of resolving conflicts. Theiractivity plans and their implementation arealso checked.

The Working Together Badge teaches guides to work together in harmony towards welldefined, collective goals. Guides learn to work as a team, plan as a group and carry out

activities together

GUIDE'S MOTTO:-"BE PREPARED AND DO A GOOD

TURN EVERY DAY"



GIRL CHILD SHIELD PROJECT BADGES

Interpersonal CommunicationBadge (Compulsory)

Facts for Life Badge(Compulsory)

Team Building Badge Girl Child Badge

Child Rights Badge Education Badge

Annex - 4

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Methodology

This report is based on an examination of available documentation on the project, interviewsand group disucssions with national, provincial and local executing agencies, project staffand project participants and observations of many different project activities in a range oflocations and circumstances in May 2001.

A. Documents Reviewed

− Advocacy, publicity and badge materials and training modules for project

− Hafeez, Sabebha, The Girl Child in Pakistan UNICEF Islamabad 1993.

− PGGA, Girl Guiding in Pakistan 1947-85, Lahore, 1988

− PGGA, First All-Pakistan Senior Guide Camp, Shinkiari, 17-27 July 1999,Islamabad, 1999.

− PGGA, Annual Report 1998-9, Islamabad 1999.

− PGGA, The Girl Child Shield Project, Islamabad, 2001(mimeo)

− PGGA-UNICEF, Giving Girls a New Vision: A Girls Assessment Report for Punjab(1985-1998), Lahore, 1999,

− PGGA-UNICEF, Giving Girls a New Vision:The Girl Child Shield Project : ProgressReport 1999, Islamabad 1999.

− UNICEF, Children and Women in Pakistan: A Situation Analysis 1998 , Islamabad1998.

− UNICEF, Report of Advocacy and Communication Project, UNICEF Islamabad, 27June 2000.

− UNICEF-PGGA Project Co-operation Agreements, 1 Dec. 1996-31 Dec. 1996; 1 July1997- 31 Dec. 1998; August 1999-2001.

− UNICEF-PGGA Project Co-operation Agreements 2000-1 NWFP,Baluchistan, Sindh.

− UNICEF-Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation, Supplementary FundingProposal 1998-2001.

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B. Number of Project Sites Visited

− National Co-ordinator Girl Child Shield Project, Islamabad− Headquarters of PGGA, Lahore− FGG High School No.1, Chaklala, Cantt/Garrison Islamabad− PGGA Girl Guide Shield Project Camp, Lahore, Punjab− Haripur School, Girl Child Shield Project, NWFP.− Community Camp Site, Kalla Village, AJK− Women's College, Kotli, AJK− Senior Guide Concert, Kotli, AJK− Barali Village School Guide Company, AJK.

C. Categories of Interviews/Group Discussions(May 2001)

− National Staff of PGGA, Lahore.− National Girl Child Shield Project Co-ordinator, Islamabad− Provincial Girl Child Shield Project Staff, NWFP,Punjab and AJK.− Local provincial project leaders and managers, NWFP,Punjab and AJK− Present Girl Child Shield Project participants− Girl Guide Companies− Family members of Girl Child Shield project participants− Community leaders of Project Sites− Teachers at School Project Sites− Headmistresses at School Project Sites



How the Project is Managed

Project ManagerPunjab Headquarters

Data Planning Training Documen-tation

PublicRelations

Monitoring /Assessment

Supported by ProvincialCommissioner and ExecutiveCommittee Girl Guide Professional

staff, facilitation andco-ordination supportby UNICEF.

8 Divisionssupported by Voluntary Girl Guide Professional

staff, facilitation andco-ordinator supportby UNICEF

26 Districtsvoluntary support by PGGAGuiders,Trainers, AssessmentCommittee member

70 TehsilsH/M Guiders and AssessmentCommittee members

700 Schools andGuide Companies

40,000 Guides Reachedso far since 1995

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Girl Child Shield ProjectTotal Cost of inputs

per girl

Total input costs− Project Supplies− Transportation− Training− Operation &

Administrations− Documentation Costs

Us $ 10.00per Girl Guide

Annex - 6