Somali Girls Education Promotion Programme (SOMGEP)

The SOMGEP-T project supported 32,862 girls and was implemented in Somalia.

Educational outcomes in Somalia and Somaliland are poor, and particularly poor for girls from rural and nomadic communities. Early marriage and extreme poverty are the main barriers to girls’ education, with poverty exacerbated by drought and conflict. Other barriers include pastoralism, displacement, being over age for their grade, a high degree of exposure to violence/conflict, orphan status, disability, belonging to a minority clan and having an illiterate mother (who is often experiencing financial hardship as a female head of household). In addition, social norms tend to place low value on girls’ education, placing higher value on her role in the home, and as a wife.

The project supported girls living in rural and remote areas, the majority of whom lacked access to education beyond primary level. It improved the quality and relevance of learning and supported girls’ transition into secondary education and employment. The project used an integrated approach that included: training teachers in formal schools; providing tailored accelerated learning programmes for early primary and upper primary/lower secondary; training community committees; addressing economic barriers faced by parents and gendered barriers at the community level; and developing girls’ leadership skills to boost classroom participation and shift traditional gender roles.

Main activities

• Training and coaching teachers on subjects-specific methodologies and remedial education.
• Providing an alternative learning programmes and remote learning materials to enable marginalised girls to continue their education.
• Training and supporting Community Education Committees to lead social mobilisation campaigns to encourage pastoralists/minority communities to bring their children to school and actively participate in their education
• Establishing Village Saving and Loan Associations (VSLA) which supported the diversification of livelihoods for pastoralist women and empowering mothers through adult literacy and financial literacy classes and business coaching.
• Collaborating with teachers, women mentors and Girl’s Empowerment Forum girls to ensure that adolescent girls from pastoralist and minority communities and girls with disabilities with mental health challenges were identified and supported.

The project in numbers

Lessons learned

Supporting children with disabilities requires a ‘whole school’ approach. A ‘whole-school approach’ includes mainstreaming knowledge and awareness about various forms of disabilities both at school and community levels, inclusive classroom practices as well as flexible health support for children with disabilities, and other forms of treatable conditions that prevent them from accessing and remaining in school.  

VSLAs participants were better able to meet the costs of education. Households participating in VSLAs enhanced their ability to meet girls’ education costs and were able to provide them with school materials (shoes, uniforms, books, school fees and other needs). As a result of considerable collective effort by VSLA members, social funds provided funds and materials for the construction of girl friendly toilets, and the provision of sanitary pads and school materials for less privileged school children.  

Community Education Committees (CECs) positively impacted student and teacher attendance. CECs played an integral role in providing oversight of the school management, resource mobilisation, and supporting initiatives that improved student and teacher attendance. The CECs took proactive steps to monitor teacher attendance and teaching quality. School improvement planning processes improved and evidence showed that CEC monitoring of teacher and student attendance were some of the key predictors of improved learning outcomes.  

Livelihood interventions help mitigate the poverty barrier to education. In the Somali context, it is important to embed livelihood interventions in education programming to build the income of poor communities and work with them to invest part of the income in girls’ education.