Description and analysis of the USAID girls' education activity in Guatemala, Morocco, and Peru

Proyecto Global in Guatemala had mixed success in implementing the interventions designed to achieve the intermediate results established by USAID. The project: mobilized regional and local leadership to promote girls' education; broadened local community participation to promote girls' education: and strengthened teacher performance to improve girls' primary school education. However, little progress on the national level was made beyond the Basic Education Strengthening (BEST) project in strengthening the performance of public and private sector institutions in promoting girls' education; improving knowledge to implement policies, strategies, and programs for girls' education; and mobilizing national leadership to promote girls' education. As a result, sustained improvements in enrollment and completion rates for girls in primary school are at best localized in El Quiche. Guatemala's average enrollment and completion rates have not substantially improved since the beginning of Proyecto Global. This should not be surprising, however, since the Government of Guatemala asked Proyecto Global to limit its geographic focus, and the project focused efforts in El Quiche. The GEA in Morocco successfully implemented interventions to achieve the intermediate results established by USAID. It has strengthened the performance of public and private sector institutions in promoting girls' education; improved knowledge to implement policies, strategies, and programs for girls' education; mobilized national, regional, and local leadership to promote girls' education; and broadened local community participation to promote girls' education. USAID Morocco data tracking indicates substantial increases in girls' enrollment in the particular areas where the Mission is providing resources either through GEA or its Morocco Education for Girls (MEG) project. This data set is too limited to extrapolate to trends in the general population, although the Ministry of Education claims that considerable progress is being made. It is too early to conclude whether girls' completion rates for primary school have improved substantially. If GEA/Morocco is judged on the success of its agendas at the national and local levels, substantial progress has been made in each of the six project tasks (policy legitimization, building constituencies, realigning and mobilizing resources, designing and modifying organizational structures, mobilizing action, and monitoring systemic change). There is no question that project activities have raised awareness about the problems associated with rural girls' education nationally and within the local pilot areas. GEA has directly affected the level and tenor of national discourse on girls' education and has been instrumental in consolidating a varied constituency that is actively engaged in advancing reform at all levels. In Peru, the New Horizons project has successfully implemented interventions to achieve the intermediate results established by USAID. It has strengthened the performance of public and private sector institutions in promoting girls' education; improved knowledge to implement policies, strategies, and programs for girls' education; mobilized national, regional, and local leadership to promote girls' education; broadened local community participation to promote girls' education; and strengthened teacher performance to improve girls' primary school education. It is too early to say whether these efforts have led to sustained improvements in enrollment and completion rates for girls in primary school. Preliminary information indicates that Peru has made measurable progress in these national goals since the beginning of the project. New Horizons/Peru has made substantial progress in each of the six project tasks. It has raised awareness about the problems associated with rural girls' education and has raised the issue to the national level. The most important factors determining the success of a girls' education project are the people and organizations that take leadership roles. In addition, three key factors affect GEA's ability to influence systematic change on behalf of girls' education: (1) tailoring the approach to the political context; (2) linking change at the local, regional, and national Levels; and (3) maximizing in-country control over project activities. See PN-ACP-188 for lessons learned.