Creating Opportunities Through Mentoring, Parental Involvement and Safe Spaces - Ethiopia
Condition: Sexual Assault; Interpersonal Relations; Marital Status; Domestic Violence
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The study is a randomized controlled trial of COMPASS, an intervention for adolescent girls
      in three refugee camps in Ethiopia. The study design will employ a two group wait-list
      cluster randomized controlled trial where girls will be invited to participate in the COMPASS
      program, assigned to groups of approximately 20 for the purposes of the program, complete a
      pre-test baseline assessment, and will then be randomized by group to the intervention or
      control condition. In addition, qualitative research will address additional questions of
      acceptability, processes of change and best practice.

      Groups in three refugee camps - Sherkole, Bambasi, and Tongo - will be randomized to
      determine whether the participants receive the intervention or are placed on the wait-list
      immediately following the baseline. Those that do not get the curriculum during the study
      will receive it following the endline phase of the study so as to not create tensions or
      jealousies.

      The intervention, the COMPASS program, will involve a structured intervention for girls
      between the ages of 13-19 that is intended to engage adolescent girls, those who are
      influential in their lives, service providers and other stakeholders, with the ultimate goal
      of co-creating environments in which girls are valued and safe. The program is centered on
      establishing or supporting community-supported safe spaces for girls where they can come and
      gather among themselves and participate in a structured life-skills curriculum.
    

Detailed description: 
      The study assessment will employ a mixed methods approach with most data collection occurring
      at pre-test/baseline and post-intervention. Quantitative survey methods will be used to
      evaluate attitudes towards a host of topics related to physical and financial assets and
      health-related behaviors. Survey questions will be administered using Audio Computer Assisted
      Self-Interviewing (ACASI). Quantitative methods will be used to yield statistical measures of
      the scale of changes in attitudes, skills, and behaviors due to the intervention.

      Qualitative methods at baseline will include focus group discussions with caregivers and
      participatory methods with girls to assess topics such as self-esteem, empowerment, safety,
      and resilience. Endline qualitative methods include in-depth interviews with caregivers, and
      small-group warm-up activities with adolescent girls, followed by in-depth interviews.
    

Intervention name(s): COMPASS; No intervention
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): COMPASS (Creating Opportunities through Mentoring, Parental involvement and Safe Spaces) is a program for 13-19 year old girls in three refugee camps in Ethiopia. The program is a structured intervention that is intended to engage adolescent girls, through life skills training and establishing or supporting community-supported safe spaces for girls where they can come and gather among themselves and participate in a structured life-skills curriculum.; Wait list control group will not receive an intervention. After the follow-up study, the wait-list control group will receive the regular COMPASS program
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: Adolescent Health; Ethiopia; Sexual Violence