“Tuseme” innovation strategies for achieving gender equality and social inclusion in refugee and internally displaced communities

 

There is a persistent gender gap and exclusion of girls and women from education systems in Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia, especially in refugee and internally displaced persons (IDP) communities. Such exclusion denies girls access to employment as well as economic and societal engagement.

The project’s goal is to develop children’s skills and agency,,support them to overcome barriers in their education, and make positive choices in their lives. The project will further develop and adapt an initiative called “Tuseme” (“let’s speak out” in Swahili), an empowerment process that has been demonstrated to enhance girls’ self-esteem, leadership, and social and life skills, and promote a positive attitude among boys towards girls’ education. Developed in 1996, Tuseme was mainstreamed into Tanzanian secondary education in 2005 and rolled out in 16 other sub-Saharan African countries, benefiting over 80,000 students.

The project will develop a revised Tuseme model that can be deployed in refugee and IDP camps in the three project countries. The project’s mixed methodology, co-created with beneficiaries and relevant stakeholders, explores different combinations of the Tuseme model with two other successful innovations (gender-sensitive schools and gender-responsive pedagogy) and aims to further adapt and refine the model for other refugee and IDP contexts. The project is expected to benefit girls, trainers and communities in and around refugee camps as well as researchers and policymakers.

This initiative is supported under the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) Knowledge and Innovation Exchange, a joint endeavour between the GPE and IDRC to connect expertise, innovation and knowledge to help low- and middle-income countries build stronger education systems and accelerate progress toward the Sustainable Development Goal on education.