Project Brief :
WHO defines health as -a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity and points out that adolescence is the period in human growth and development that occurs after childhood and before adulthood, from ages 10 to19.
IDF with the support of CorStone implementing a action research project in 40 schools of 2 blocks in Patna district to test Girls First effect on overall ‘quality of life’ in physical, psychological, social and educational domains, a multi- arm cluster-randomized controlled action. The aim is to demonstrate that when the girls are provided with the ‘Girls First’ emotional resilience curriculum along with the health curriculum the former will add value and show better outcomes.
In rural Bihar, girls face high rates of gender-based violence and are often forced to drop out of school and marry by age 14. At present, more than 3,000 at-risk adolescent girls are completing Girls First, a peer support-group program, empowering them to improve their mental and physical health, prevent early marriage and pregnancy, and advocate for their education and health rights.
More than 3000 schoolgirls have gone through the process of 24 sessions by a well-trained program facilitators who take sessions in facilitation mode in the schools of Maner and Bihta blocks of Patna