ObjectivesFund scope
Adolescent girls in Malawi are at a serious disadvantage because of age, gender, income, marital status, and geographic location. Not only do they face the possibility of becoming young mothers or being married off, but they also drop out of school more frequently than their male peers, encounter higher rates of gender based violence (GBV), and are more likely to acquire sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS.
These socio-economic hurdles mean adolescent girls are less likely than boys to have basic literacy and mathematics skills, which affects their access to employment and income opportunities. While Malawi’s education sector has improved in the past decades, challenges remain to ensure a high quality of education and basic skills for girls.
The United Nations Joint Programme on Girls’ Education is a multi-sectoral intervention targeting different factors affecting girls’ access to education or their ability to complete school. The programme takes education, nutrition, and sexual and reproductive health rights into account in a holistic manner by integrating life skills, gender equality, social positioning and community engagement into all initiatives.
The programme, implemented by the Government of Malawi in collaboration with UNFPA, UNICEF and WFP, is in its second phase and reduces poverty by improving quality education and basic life skills for in- and out-of-school adolescent girls in the districts of Dedza, Mangochi and Salima.
Strategic and results framework
The goal of the joint programme is to reduce poverty through improved quality education for adolescent girls in three districts of Malawi. This is achieved by focusing on three strategic objectives and nine complementary outcome/thematic service package areas.
The first strategic objective ensures adolescent girls remain in, and complete, primary school. To do so, the programme provides diversified nutritious school meals and adolescent nutrition, makes schools safe from violence and provides sexual and reproductive health rights and services (SRHR). The programme ensures that adolescent girls and boys are nurtured in all-inclusive and gender sensitive environments and communities that are supportive and engaged in promoting girls’ education.
The second objective is comprised of three outcomes focusing on out-of-school youth. The aim is to provide them with basic life skills, such as basic numeracy and literacy, SRHR, and vocational competencies.
The third strategic objective is continued collaboration with stakeholders to strengthen government structures at national and district levels in the effective, design, implementation and monitoring of girls’ education programs in Malawi.
Efforts like these improve access to, and the quality of, education for girls by increasing their opportunity to complete primary school and transition to secondary school.
> $55M 
$55M - $25M
$25M - $5M
< $5M
