Intentional Programming for Adolescents in Emergencies: A Case Study on Implementing the I'm Here Approach in Yemen Open Access
Davis, Jennifer (2017)
Abstract
Background: Adolescents face distinct challenges during an emergency, yet they are frequently overlooked in humanitarian response. By weakening social structures and protection mechanisms, conflict and displacement exacerbate existing vulnerabilities and reinforce gender inequalities which place girls at greatest risk. The I'm Here Approach, developed by Women's Refugee Commission (WRC) and inclusive of Population Council's Girl RosterTM, is a set of steps and tools designed to help humanitarian actors identify, engage, and be accountable to the most vulnerable adolescents in an emergency. In December 2016, Mercy Corps, with support from WRC, implemented the I'm Here Approach across six crisis-affected communities in Yemen's southern Governorate of Aden.
Objectives: This special studies project aimed to assess the feasibility, adaptability and utility of Mercy Corps' implementation of the I'm Here Approach in Yemen.
Methods: The project used a case-study approach and drew upon a variety of sources including field notes, key informant interviews, direct observations and experiences, and outputs from implementation. Analysis involved consolidating, reducing, interpreting, and linking data across sources in order to draw conclusions.
Results: Over the course of five weeks, the Mercy Corps Yemen field team reached 876 households in 6 walkable communities, identified 455 adolescent girls and 567 adolescent boys (ages 10-17), and engaged 650 adolescent girls, boys and caregivers in focused conversations around needs and fears. Convening girls with similar vulnerability and capacity profiles proved to be both an opportunity to gather information about priority needs and concerns, and a first step in building girls' social assets. Disclosures of sensitive information during implementation emphasized that the steps and tools are not without risk to participants. These risks highlighted the importance of implementation timing, the distinction of the approach as a programming tool vs. an assessment, and the need to continuously reflect on overarching ethical questions, such as whether the benefits to implementation outweigh the risks.
Discussion: By documenting successes, challenges and lessons learned, project findings can be used to inform future practice and strengthen Mercy Corps' and the broader humanitarian community's capacities to identify and integrate adolescents' needs into humanitarian action and make programming more inclusive of their participation as agents of change.
Table of Contents
ACRONYMS 1
DEFINITION OF TERMS 2
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 3
1.1 RATIONAL 3
1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT 7
1.3 PROJECT PURPOSE 8
1.4 SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT 8
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 10
2.1 DEFINING ADOLESCENCE 10
2.2 ADOLESCENTS | VULNERABILITIES & CAPACITIES 10
2.3 ADOLESCENTS IN HUMANITARIAN EMERGENCIES 11
2.4 FALLING SHORT | HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE 13
2.5 TOWARDS A MORE INCLUSIVE RESPONSE 14
2.6 YEMEN'S HUMANITARIAN CRISIS 16
CHAPTER 3: METHODS 19
3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN 19
3.2 COLLECTION OF DATA & INFORMATION 19
3.3 ANALYSIS 21
3.4 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS 22
3.5 STRENGTHS & LIMITATIONS 22
CHAPTER 4: CASE STUDY 24
4.1 SUMMARY OF IMPLEMENTATION 24
4.2 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 25
CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION 41
5.1 DISCUSSION 41
5.2 CONCLUSION 42
REFERENCES 43
APPENDICES 48
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