Adolescence is a distinctly challenging and critical time for girls, during which they face immense social barriers that limit them from leading safer, healthier and more self-sufficient lives. Humanitarian crises, which rupture existing key community and state structures such as health care, education and social services, and break up or displace families and communities, render adolescent girls even more vulnerable. Adolescent girls living in crisis-affected communities, including refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), are at increased risk of gender-based violence (GBV), including sexual violence and exploitation, intimate partner violence and early and forced marriage.
To respond to the specific needs of adolescent girls in humanitarian settings and to address the gap in evidence of what works to promote the health, safety and empowerment of adolescent girls, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) has invested in a robust adolescent girl programming and research agenda. As part of this effort, the IRC partnered with Columbia University over a three year period (2014–2017) to develop, implement and evaluate the Creating Opportunities through Mentoring, Parental Involvement and Safe Spaces (COMPASS) program, funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID). COMPASS was implemented with refugees living in camps on the Sudan/Ethiopia border, conflict-affected communities in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and displaced populations in north-west Pakistan.
The IRC developed and implemented the interventions used in COMPASS by building on existing programming and resources on adolescent girls and GBV, as well as adapting them for the complex contexts of diverse humanitarian settings. COMPASS was implemented by IRC’s Women’s Protection and Empowerment (WPE) program teams, with support from IRC researchers and technical advisors, and evaluated by Columbia University.