Girl-led teen movement in Jharkhand
150 adolescent girls under ‘Ab Meri Baari’ are leading various initiatives to create a nation-wide movement for raising awareness on adolescent priorities such as education, nutrition, health, sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR), skilling, safety and creation of agency for empowerment.
These girl champions finalized the priorities of adolescents in the state after discussing the key challenges faced by them at a convening in Ranchi last month. Tools like village mapping sheets, social audits and plans for community meetings were created with the help of partner non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academics and researchers. These tools will help generate data and highlight gaps in the current government schemes and strategies for adolescents’ empowerment in Jharkhand.
Adolescents in Jharkhand face multi-dimensional challenges which limit them from fulfilling their aspirations. National Family Health Survey (NFHS) and Unified District Information on School Education (UDISE) data shows that 38% of women aged 15-24 in Jharkhand were married before 18, as compared to the national average of 27%; and 22% of girls in Jharkhand did not transition from primary to secondary school as compared to 11% of girls nationally.
Equipped with the tools to assess effectiveness of government schemes for adolescents, 150 girl champions from various districts of the state are now meeting multiple government officers, on-ground health workers and community leaders to improve accountability, access and quality of Rashtriya Kishore Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK), Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Menstrual Hygiene Scheme (MHS).
By end-August, over 200 letters expressing their challenges will be shared with local government authorities, on-ground workers and community leaders. In September, a bus tour travelling through Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi will take the message of Ab Meri Baari to adolescents in respective states.
Ab Meri Baari is a part of 10to19 Dasra Adolescents Collaborative (DAC), a high-impact platform that unites social organizations, funders, technical experts and the government to empower and positively impact the lives of millions of adolescents in Jharkhand and other disadvantaged areas in India.
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