Yes I Do Alliance Program SUMMARY 
Millions of adolescent girls are facing a limited future because of early marriage, teenage pregnancies and female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C). By changing the attitude of community members and other key persons and informing adolescent girls and boys, this project empowers adolescents to stand up for their sexual reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Through education and economic empowerment, supported by the relevant legislation and policies, the project gives alternatives beyond EM, teenage pregnancies and FGM/C. The project will be implemented between 2016 and 2020 by Plan International Netherlands, together with partners Amref, Rutgers, Choice, KIT and the Netherlands’ Embassies in the relevant countries. It will be carried out in Ethiopia, Kenya, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Indonesia and Pakistan. The programme has a specific joint budget for learning & linking and research to support programme development and assessing and justifying the Theory of Change. Problem description 
Millions of adolescent girls in developing countries suffer major right violations and have limited future perspectives
because of child marriages (CM), teenage pregnancies (TP) and Female Genital Mutilation/cutting (FGM/C).
These issues have common root causes, are mutually reinforcing and require a joint approach.
CM, FGM/C & TP are human rights violations, and are manifestations of deeply rooted gender inequality and social norms, poverty and limited economic perspectives, inadequate access to (comprehensive sexuality) education and Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (ASRHR) services, and voiceless youth.
CM, FGM/C & TP are interrelated issues that involve high health risks and all human rights violations of adolescent girls, and impede socio-economic development in a great number of developing countries.
Following lessons learnt from current programmes of the Yes I Do Alliance partners, the Yes I Do Alliance will address the issues of CM, FGM/C & TP with a programme, applying a mix of intervention strategies adapted to the specific contexts of the target countries: Ethopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Pakistan and Indonesia. Project background 
The Yes I Do alliance has selected seven focus countries, namely Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique,
Pakistan and Indonesia. The main criteria for selection were: prevalence of Child Marriage and/or FGM/C and/
or Teenage Pregnancies; track record and current programmes that the Yes I Do programme can build on; number
of alliance members that work in the country, and intended programmes of other alliances. Selection criteria also included ranking on the gender inequality index and secondary education rates for girls and boys as well as poverty rates and levels of adolescent sexual and reproductive health services and information.  Although communities in the YES I DO countries often seem to disapprove of CM in practice parents in rural settings often marry off their daughters before a girl is 18. Despite the fact that communities are often knowledgeable about marriage laws that criminalizes underage marriages, child marriages still take place. CM and TP are interlinked and major contributing factors for young girls to drop out of school. In three YES I DO countries  FGM/C is strongly supported by social norms, customs and traditions and also practiced. End beneficiaires 
Girls in seven countries in general between 10 - 20 years of age. Boys and men will also be included as part of the project interventions. Project plan 
The Alliance in the Netherlands consists of 5 organisations that combine their experience and expertise to jointly implement the programme. Plan Nederland is the lead organisation and provides experitise on girls rights and CM and has a strong community based approach. Amref has a track record on CM and FGM/C, they work with alternatives for FGM/C (alternative rites of passage). CHOICE  partners implement Meaningful Youth Participation (MYP) in programmes and organisations, CHOICE also works on youth led advocacy.  KIT is a strong research partner on adolescent SRHR and provides academic experts on SRHR. Rutgers is a renowned SRHR expert / advocacy organization. In the programme they roll out Comprehensive Sexuality Education and egaging men and boys by using a gender transformative approach (GTA). The programme works with a Theory of Change which has been contextualized per country.  The country alliances jointly implement the contextualized ToC. Each country has a local Alliance with a dedicated lead organization , a steering committee and operational teams. The  YIDA has a full M&E Plan including indicator framework, which has been adjusted for each country. The research component of YIDA investigates the interlinkages between CM, TP and FGM/C and looks at the effectiveness of the intervention strategies. To find out what works, how and why, to prevent or mitigate the impact of CM, TP and FGM/C, mixed-methods research containing a baseline, midline and endline will be carried out. Operational research studies are conducted in all countries to assess assumptions and study knowledge gaps and research themes. In the countries and in the Netherlands, linking and learning takes place on subjects such as MYP, GTA or Economic Empowerment.  Porgramme management is supported by the YIDA Desk. The Desk ensures consistency and good partnership and is staffed by the Alliance Coordinator, the M&E Coordinator(s), Finance-Administrative Officer and Communication Officer. Sustainability  
Sustainability of the programme is ensured by setting up strong in-country alliances and where possible build on existing prgrammes. The programme in the countries have strong links to other programmes and networks working on CM, TP and |FGM/C.  By implementing (operational) research and linking and learning the YIDA builds the capacity of partners both in the Netherlands and in the 7 YES I DO countries on CM, TP and FGM/C.