C4ED assessed UNICEF and IKEA Foundation’s programs targeting gender norms, school enrollment, and child marriages in India, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
In cooperation with the IKEA Foundation, UNICEF implemented adolescent empowerment programs in India, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. These programs entailed several strategies to change attitudes and behaviors surrounding gender-discriminatory traditional norms and practices, to address social issues such as low school enrolment, child marriages and teenage pregnancies.
C4ED assumed the evaluation of the program in India, which entailed a review of the impact evaluation strategy, endline data collection and analysis, and results report and dissemination. A mixed-method approach was employed to holistically evaluate the impact of the program on enrolment, child marriage and early pregnancy outcomes. Additionally, behavioral changes through an enhancement of knowledge and understanding on harmful traditional practices and increased intra- and inter-generational interaction to promote gender transformative norms and practices, were also evaluated. Additionally, C4ED conducted a synthesis review to analyze the cross-country findings on the impact of the programs in the three target countries and identified evidence-based practical implications.
