Final Evaluation: Building Capacities of Vulnerable Girls in Schools to Address SGBV and SRHR Issues (Zambia) 

Location: Zambia  

Grantee: Zambia National Women’s Lobby  

Grant period: January 2020 – July 2023  

Grant amount: USD 632,075  

Authors/editors: Patricia Mphanza Ndhlovu and Engwase Banda Mwale  

Publication year: 2023  

The Zambia National Women's Lobby, a women’s organization that supports women and girls to proactively accept leadership roles, implemented the “Building Capacities of Vulnerable Girls in Schools to Address Sexual and Gender-Based Violence and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Issues” project from January 2020 to June 2023, supported by the UN Trust Fund.  

The goal was to empower schoolgirls to act against sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and champion sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), by improving their access to essential information and by building teachers’ capacity to council these girls, as well as informing the community in target districts on SGBV and SRHR issues.  

The final evaluation found that the project was highly effective.  

Main findings of the evaluation:  

• A large proportion of girls that participated in the project were empowered with information and skills on SGBV and SRHR. This resulted in improved confidence levels and assertiveness among the girls in the Girls’ Leadership Clubs.  
• While some key participants reflected on the inadequacy of a three-year project to effect lasting change, the project’s interventions were recognized to have helped reduce girls’ vulnerability to child marriage and teenage pregnancy.  
• Capacity-building interventions for teachers in the target schools were highly successful to prevent SGBV and improve SRHR, and were a positive example for replication by other practitioners.