A Better Future for Rural Girls: Manager's Briefing Kit was a limited-edition CD-ROM that is no longer available in print. All of the content from this resource has been enabled here in pdf.

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Rural girls are the most disadvantaged group in many West African countries; they are much more likely to lack education, access to health services and the means for economic self-sufficiency than rural boys or their urban sisters, and they have very little decision-making power in their daily lives. As rural environments often are characterised by resistance to change, rural girls also face greater pressures than their urban sisters to adhere to traditional practices and customs, many of which reinforce their subordination, including early marriage (and childbearing) and female genital cutting (FGC).

Despite the enormous challenges that rural girls face, few of the rural health and development programmes and projects in French-speaking Africa are aimed specifically at rural girls. To bridge this gap, Family Care International and UNFPA conducted participatory research with girls, boys, their families and local leaders in three rural communities: Soula, Burkina Faso, M’Biénina, Mali, and Méouane, Senegal, to identify the challenges that rural girls face and come up with strategies to address their many needs. Education, means of livelihood, and reproductive health are the three main areas of intervention identified as essential to the advancement of rural girls’ development.

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Resources from the Manager's Briefing Kit:

Experience-sharing Workshop Reports (Mali, Burkina Faso, Senegal):
These reports are the record of three-day experience-sharing workshops held by FCI in Mali, Senegal and Burkina Faso with representatives from governments, local and international non-governmental organizations and international agencies actively working in areas related to the health and social development of rural girls. The workshops provided an opportunity for the groups to share the goals and objectives of the Rural Girls Initiative and to exchange valuable information about their own strategies and programs already being implemented to address the health and socioeconomic needs of rural girls. These workshops generated considerable enthusiasm and were viewed by participants as having been an unprecedented occasion to share information and ideas about their respective programs with girls. [Available in French only]

L’Avenir appartient à celles qui se lèvent tôt : Une boîte-à-images pour les filles en milieu rural [Seize the Future: A Flipchart for Rural Girls]
Includes 12 themes addressing the specific health-related and socioeconomic concerns of rural girls, such as avoiding unwanted sexual activity, communicating with parents and spouses, responding to gender dynamics, and setting goals and working to achieve them. Each theme includes full-color illustrations, key talking points, and activities to guide discussions with rural girls and the decision makers in their lives.

Participatory Needs Assessment Reports:
To further enhance the development of the strategy paper, FCI conducted participatory needs assessments in three villages: Soula, Burkina Faso, M’Biénina, Mali and Méouane, Senegal. In each village, researchers met with rural girls as well as various community members, including parents, girls’ spouses, administrative and religious leaders, education professionals, health professionals, financial experts and others who knew the communities well. What emerged from the assessments was a compelling portrait not only of the girls’ daily lives and struggles, but of their hopes, dreams and ambitions.
[Available in English and French]

Rural Girls Strategy Document: Turning “Remote Dreams” into Possibilities: Strategies for Building a Better Future for Rural Girls in Francophone Africa
Rural girls are in desperate need of advocates who can sound a “call to action” to invest in their futures. This strategy paper translates recommendations and findings from FCI’s experience-sharing workshops and participatory needs assessments into a series of program strategies and approaches to address the special concerns and needs of girls aged 10-22 living in rural settings of French-speaking West Africa. 

Field guide for participatory research with young people: This comprehensive field guide helps researchers use innovative, participatory techniques to explore needs, perceptions, attitudes and behaviors of girls and young women aged 10-22 in rural settings. Intended for use in the field by those carrying out participatory needs assessments, the guide provides information on the purposes of participatory needs assessments, main underlying concepts, main steps in implementing a needs assessment, and recommended methods and instruments to use and/or adapt when treating a variety of themes.   ______________________

Developed by Family Care International.
Funded by the generous support of UNFPA within the context of the inter-regional project
INT/01/PAS "Meeting the Participation and Development Rights of Adolescent Girls".