Project Details
Description
As a group, adolescent girls of the Global South face a number of real-life problems that inspired this research.
When girls are considered within international development programming it is typically to deal with problems such as early marriage, gender-based violence, unintended pregnancies or diseases.
Programmes for girls tend to focus on others - their parents, in-laws, brother and overlook the potential in helping girls to help themselves (Sewall-Menon et al, 2012). Sport may be a new approach to help girls address the real-life problems they face, and this research explored if and how one sport for development and peace (SDP) programme realises the broad claims the SDP movement makes about the possibility of sport as a tool for change in the lives of girls. In reflecting on notions of empowerment, it considers themes of urbanisation, mobility and sporting and public spaces.
The University of Brighton's research on the potential of girls' empowerment through sport included The Goal-Delhi programme, led by Dr Megan Chawansky, from the University of Brighton and Dr Payoshni Mitra, an independent researcher based in Kolkata.
Their research explored changes in Goal participants after completing the 10-month programme, which combined netball training with life skills modules on health and hygiene, communication skills, and financial literacy. This kind of programming was able to give them legitimate, safe and supervised access to a sport that otherwise might well be missing from their lives.
"Research tells us that adolescent girls can reap the benefits of sport participation. The girls we interviewed told us that they felt healthier and stronger from their participation," said Dr Chawansky.
An equally important element to this programme is the way that the community sport coaches (CSCs) not only teach netball skills, but also become tangible role models for the girls. Through interactions with the CSCs, girls were subtly encouraged to reconsider previously accepted limitations that they had placed on themselves.
The project aimed
> To document how girls in Goal-Delhi incorporate learnings from sport and the curriculum into their daily lives.
> To establish if and how sport contributes to the empowerment of girls within the Goal-Delhi programme.
> To add the voices and experiences of girls to the SDP academic literature base.
> To provide data that will enhance the delivery of the Goal-Delhi programme and Goal programming worldwide.
When girls are considered within international development programming it is typically to deal with problems such as early marriage, gender-based violence, unintended pregnancies or diseases.
Programmes for girls tend to focus on others - their parents, in-laws, brother and overlook the potential in helping girls to help themselves (Sewall-Menon et al, 2012). Sport may be a new approach to help girls address the real-life problems they face, and this research explored if and how one sport for development and peace (SDP) programme realises the broad claims the SDP movement makes about the possibility of sport as a tool for change in the lives of girls. In reflecting on notions of empowerment, it considers themes of urbanisation, mobility and sporting and public spaces.
The University of Brighton's research on the potential of girls' empowerment through sport included The Goal-Delhi programme, led by Dr Megan Chawansky, from the University of Brighton and Dr Payoshni Mitra, an independent researcher based in Kolkata.
Their research explored changes in Goal participants after completing the 10-month programme, which combined netball training with life skills modules on health and hygiene, communication skills, and financial literacy. This kind of programming was able to give them legitimate, safe and supervised access to a sport that otherwise might well be missing from their lives.
"Research tells us that adolescent girls can reap the benefits of sport participation. The girls we interviewed told us that they felt healthier and stronger from their participation," said Dr Chawansky.
An equally important element to this programme is the way that the community sport coaches (CSCs) not only teach netball skills, but also become tangible role models for the girls. Through interactions with the CSCs, girls were subtly encouraged to reconsider previously accepted limitations that they had placed on themselves.
The project aimed
> To document how girls in Goal-Delhi incorporate learnings from sport and the curriculum into their daily lives.
> To establish if and how sport contributes to the empowerment of girls within the Goal-Delhi programme.
> To add the voices and experiences of girls to the SDP academic literature base.
> To provide data that will enhance the delivery of the Goal-Delhi programme and Goal programming worldwide.
Key findings
The project:
> Provided empirical data on the impact of the Goal-Delhi project with respect to changes in knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours;
> Identified potential areas of development and refinement for the Goal-Delhi project; and
> Offered insights for the Goal project and Women Win as they develop and support girl-centred SDP initiatives in and outside of Delhi.
> Provided empirical data on the impact of the Goal-Delhi project with respect to changes in knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours;
> Identified potential areas of development and refinement for the Goal-Delhi project; and
> Offered insights for the Goal project and Women Win as they develop and support girl-centred SDP initiatives in and outside of Delhi.
| Short title | Goal-Delhi |
|---|---|
| Status | Finished |
| Effective start/end date | 1/09/13 → 31/08/14 |
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