Youth Activities

Adolescent period is the time of transition from childhood to adulthood when a young person experiences a number of drastic changes in their body, mind and the way they relate to the world, both for boy and girl. Whilst gender norms are shaped from early childhood, adolescence is a critical time to influence gender norms in shaping education and work opportunities, distribution of power and resources, health and wellbeing. It is a time of exceptional brain development where adolescents develop new skills and gain more advanced thoughts and emotions. With new abilities and insight, adolescents are often curious, creative and great innovators. But, due to the societal structure, especially in low-income communities, girls have less opportunity than boys, as the girls particularly face a range of risks and vulnerabilities, like lack of social security, high rates of gender-based violence, school dropout, lack of IGA opportunity and lack of agency and participation that challenge their healthy development.

To mitigate the challenges, active engagement of boys in girl’s empowerment is crucial towards gender equality through gender sensitive approach by transforming gender roles and gender identities promoting mutual understanding, respect and friendly relationship between boys and girls. But it is really challenge especially in conservative society to initiate adolescent empowerment program in mixed group.

Adolescent and Youth Club in Tea garden and Haor communities in Bangladesh, an initiative of Educo Bangladesh, an approach to take this challenge involving boys as a catalyst to unleash their potentiality, especially for the girl’s empowerment. The objective of the program is to create healthier relation building and promoting behavioral change of boys towards gender-based violence and equitable dignity of boys and girls. Project is being exploring the good practices that can be re-shape the future programming of adolescent empowerment.  

# ALOY ALOW Project

# Bangladesh