Our Results
Overview of Evidence Based
Girl Power Project® Impact:
As of 2019, JLMC has reached over 6,000 girls in 96 communities in Central Uganda with the Girl Power Project curriculum. JLMC has engaged in data collection around the impact of the Girl Power Project for two separate research studies.
Research Study One: In September 2015, JLMC began gathering data internally for a monitoring and evaluation framework designed to measure the efficacy of the 2 year long Girl Power Project curriculum in shifting the attitudes and behaviors of girls who were educated with the Girl Power Project program.
Research Study Two: in September 2017, JLMC engaged an objective third party, Texas A&M University, to assess the impact of the Girl Power Project at the community level - on boys, parents, teachers, administrators and community leaders. To Learn about the successful outcomes of the research, review the addendum included.
Research Study One - Internal Research Findings on Girl Power Project’s Impact on Girls:
The two year study adopted a quasi experimental phase in design to evaluate the projects causal impact on outcomes. Within this study Empowerment is defined as a process of change where women and girls obtain the ability to transform themselves and others, make decisions in every dimension of their lives, hold institutions accountable, shape the choices that are on offer, and believe they are entitled to do so.
A survey was designed to measure girls personal empowerment via their demonstration of knowledge and attitudes based on Girl Power Project curriculum.
The survey questions were administered to two cohorts of girls (treatment and control) at two points and (treatment) at three points. Over 750 girls participated in the study.
Midway through the study, the preliminary results were clear. The girl Power Project was working. The treatment group outperformed the control group across all critical indicators.
92% of girls can explain how a girl or woman becomes pregnant
compared to 74% of girls at the beginning of the program and 76% of girls not trained in the program
81% of girls can identify risks of early marriage
compared to 40% of girls at the beginning of the program and 50% of girls not trained in the program
93% of girls have a higher attitude regarding their self esteem
compared to 61% of girls at the beginning of the program and 76% of girls not trained in the program
“Without Girl Power, I wouldn’t have known that my body belongs to me.”
— Naluzze Joyce, age 14
62% of girls can identify that spousal abuse is not justified
compared to 26% of girls at the beginning of the program and 43% of girls not trained in the program
61% of girls can identify
bad touches
compared to 21% of girls at the beginning of the program and 21% of girls not trained in the program
60% of girls can identify ways to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS
compared to 37% of girls at the beginning of the program and 38% of girls not trained in the program
38% of girls can identify ways she can try to protect herself from rape
compared to 8% of girls at the beginning of the program and 15% of girls not trained in the program
I learned that every child has a right to live a violence-free life.
— Nakalema Joyce, age 13
In the second year of Girl Power Project programming, participants receive club sessions designed to put their mentorship and leadership skills into practice, strengthen their learning and provide additional information. JLMC found at the end of the second year, girls retained the information they had learned in the first year and gained additional assets.
Six dimensions of empowerment have increased in girls trained by the Girl Power Project®. Survey questions were designed, grouped and summed into indices for each dimension of empowerment.
Girls trained by the Girl Power Project® have increased their power within, power with and power to. Each question on the survey measured a girls expression of at least one of these three forms of power.
JLMC learned many lessons from the internal evaluation and immediately began implementing recommendations to further strengthen GPP programming. Moreover, JLMC is carrying out a continuous longitudinal study of 25 randomly selected girls from the Girl Power Project. These girls were selected in 2015 and will be followed for several more years, so JLMC can measure whether or not they have stayed in school, avoided early marriage, pregnancy and disease.
Study 2: Texas A&M External Research Findings
on Impact of Girl Power Project on Communities:
In order to further explore the impact of the Girl Power Project at the community level, Just Like My Child Foundation (JLMC) and Texas A&M University (TAMU) partnered to evaluate how engaging and empowering community members with knowledge of human rights and children's rights can enhance the success of the Girl Power Project. For a girl to live an empowered life, her community -- parents, teachers, law enforcement, government officials, men and boys -- must be supportive and actively involved.
Four post-graduate students from TAMU – two from the Bush School of Government and Public Service and two from TAMU's Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communications were interned in Luwero, Uganda during the summer of 2018 to evaluate whether engaging adults and boys in the Girl Power Project contributes to improved conditions for a girl to live an empowered life. This investigation focused on the resulting relationships that a girl has both in and outside her home - with her neighbors, school teachers, local police/authorities, adult role models, and other members in her community.
The students conducted 143 interviews with 7 stakeholder groups (including JLMC staff; Community Legal Volunteers; Girl Power Advocates; Teachers; Parents; Partners; and Untrained Others) in 17 communities and collected 2,669 responses.
The Texas A&M study revealed Girl Power Project community impact as evidenced by an increase in:
community awareness and advocacy for girl’s education
community knowledge and agency to respond to violence against girls
community awareness and dialogue on women’s equality
assumption of responsibility by community leaders with regards to girl’s issues
range of gender roles within the community
capacity of community members to parent their children
With these internal and external monitoring and evaluation outcomes demonstrating that the GPP® is effective in empowering girls and their communities, JLMC is now poised and committed to sharing the research widely through presentations and publication as well as identifying and working with strategic partners to support the scaling up of the Girl Power Project, a proven and sustainable model of success for girls empowerment.