Adolescent Girls Program in Upper Egypt: Final Narrative Report I.	Project Summary

Adolescence is a critical formative and transitionary period especially in girls’ lives: decisions made, and experiences undergone during adolescence can lay the foundation for later life outcomes and trajectories. Adolescent girls in rural Upper Egypt are particularly vulnerable to child, early and forced marriage (CEFM), have poor access to social and health services, and low knowledge levels on sexual and reproductive health (SRH) matters.  Another harmful practice which persists in Egypt is female genital mutilation and cutting (FGM/C). While declining within younger generations, rates of FGM/C in Egypt are still high: according to the 2014 SYPE, 73% of girls aged 13-17 years were cut, compared to 88% of women aged 30-35 years.

Few comprehensive programs in Egypt to empower adolescent girls and combat child marriage have been rigorously evaluated or strategically implemented to generate robust evidence.  Accordingly, it is essential to understand how to improve adolescent girls’ wellbeing and to determine the relative influence of contextual social and economic factors in improving their sexual and reproductive health and overall wellbeing. The initial project included conducting three qualitative to further our understanding of contextual social and economic factors that influence adolescent girls sexual and reproductive health as well as conducting a rigorous evaluation of a comprehensive package of interventions that are implemented by UNFPA and the National Council for Women for the empowerment of adolescent girls in rural Upper Egypt (Noura program).  This report describes activities that were undertaken by Population Council (PC) over the last 34 months to complete the above three qualitative studies and quantitative evaluation of the program. II.	Completed activities 

The following activities were completed during the period Jan 2012 -October 2023: 

•	Qualitative studies: Two qualitative studies were completed to further our understanding of socio-economic and cultural factors that influence adolescent girls (SRH) in rural Upper Egypt. The first study titled “Menstruation and Adolescent Girls’ Daily Lives in Rural Upper Egypt” and the second titled “Exploring the Role of Men in Child Marriage Decision-making in Rural Upper Egypt”.  Both studies were conducted in rural Assiut and Souhag in collaboration with Women’s Association for Health Improvement (WAHI).  Choice of topics for the two studies as well as research methodology were made in consultation with an Advisory Group of locally renowned experts in adolescent girls research and programs including UNFPA staff who are involved in the implementation of the Noura program.  Arabic and English research briefs summarizing results of the two studies were produced. English and Arabic copies of the two briefs are sent by e-mail.  The third study was not completed as per the Netherlands Embassy’s letter dated August 9 notifying PC of closure of the agreement with the Council given that a quantitative evaluation will not be conducted as described below. 
•	Quantitative evaluation: PC developed an evaluation protocol including evaluation methodology and questionnaires.  Arabic and English versions of the questionnaires were shared with UNFPA upon their request.  However, NCW refused to have an impact evaluation since the project document that was submitted by UNFPA to NCW and which has gone through a lengthy process of government approvals had no mention of such evaluation. In a meeting which PC Country Director had with Dr. Maya she indicated that she did not want to delay initiation of program activities until security approvals are obtained for an impact evaluation.  In the meantime, she welcomed collaboration with PC on identifying research topics to be studied under this project, reporting on international best practices and documenting success stories, challenges and lessons learned from implementing the Noura program.  However, PC’s proposal to modify activities under the agreement with the NL Embassy was rejected as per the letter dated August 9, 2023. 

●	Dissemination activities: The above two studies were presented at a round table discussion that was held on October 30, 2023 under the title “Supporting Health and Social Needs of Adolescent Girls in Egypt: From Research to Action”.  The event was attended by nearly participants representing government agencies, embassies, UN agencies and NGOs.  Meeting agenda and round table discussion report were sent by email.  Select photos that were taken at the RTD were sent by email.   Moreover, an electronic copy of the two research briefs has been posted on the Population Council’s website.  Also, copies have been printed and are yet to be distributed to key local and international stakeholders in Egypt.  

III.	Challenges and lessons learned 

•	Inability to secure NCW’s support for the quantitative evaluation was the biggest challenge that we faced under this project.  The main lesson to be learned is to secure government’s provision approval before signing an agreement with the donor.  However, securing approval from one government entity does not guarantee CAPMAS approval for conduct of the evaluation.  
•	Although the round table discussion was a big success as per participants’ testimonials, we would have liked to have a private sector on the panel to discuss possible strategies for making sanitary pads available for underprivileged adolescents girls.  Unfortunately, all our attempts to invite representatives from manufacturing companies were not successful.  Perhaps one on one meetings to share the study with them before the event and to agree on possible questions would have been helpful.