News from AGALI

December 20, 2011

Welcome to our inaugural

bimonthly update on all things AGALI!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM AGALI

We have been very busy over the last several months with workshops in Guatemala and Malawi, grantmaking and technical assistance, and a recruitment trip to Liberia to interview candidates for AGALI 2012.

Malawi REHALI Workshop and Seed Grants

Building on the August 2011 AGALI advocacy training in Malawi, 18 AGALI 2010 and 2011 Fellows reconvened for a workshop focusing on budgetary advocacy for reproductive health (RH) in early November. This Reproductive Health Advocacy & Leadership Initiative (REHALI) workshop strengthened the capacity of two generations of AGALI Fellows in budgetary analysis, RH budgeting at the local and national level, and in development of budgetary advocacy strategies to advance RH. Co-facilitators Grace Malera, Executive Secretary of the Malawi Human Rights Commission, and Elita Yobe, AGALI 2010 Fellow, led a facilitated proposal development process that allowed participants to develop draft budgetary advocacy proposals that they then submitted to PHI for funding consideration.

PHI is awarding $5,000 seed grants to the strongest budgetary advocacy proposals developed during the REHALI workshop. The funded projects will work to increase budgetary allocations for RH services at the local level in several critically under-resourced districts in Malawi.

Guatemala Institutional Strengthening Workshop

In mid-November, 22 AGALI Fellows and key staff from their institutions came together in Guatemala City for a two-day Institutional Strengthening (IS) Workshop. Facilitated by the internationally-recognized health and human rights advocate Dr. Mirna Montenegro, the workshop focused on political mapping in the post-election context and on budgetary advocacy for girls' reproductive health. The workshop, which took place only days after the national elections brought a conservative government to power, provided Fellows and key staff of their organizations with a timely opportunity to strategize and develop new approaches to reproductive health advocacy for girls with the incoming administration.

Grantmaking

Between September and November, AGALI awarded $80,000 in seed grants to partner organizations in Liberia, Malawi and Honduras. In Liberia and Malawi, AGALI grants are sustaining select current grantees for a second year of advocacy work on behalf of adolescent girls. In Malawi, AGALI support also launched four new initiatives advocating on a range of issues critical to girls, including harmful traditional initiation practices and girl-friendly school facilities. You can read more information about our grantees here: AGALI Malawi Awards Press Release.

Honduras Coalition 2011

In Honduras, AGALI is supporting the work of the Advocacy Coalition for Adolescent and Youth Sexual and Reproductive Rights to improve girl-friendly implementation of the regional Ministerial Declaration "Prevention through Education." Here is a link to a video the Coalition just released supporting the implementation of the Ministerial Declaration that highlights the opinions of civil society representatives, students, teachers and parents.

Honduras Documentary - Ministerial Declaration "Prevention through Education"

Liberia Interviews and Site Visits

After an outreach process that generated over 80 applications, Program Manager Emily Teitsworth, traveled to Liberia in early December to interview 45 of the strongest candidates for AGALI 2012. Over the course of two weeks, Emily conducted interviews, participated in meetings to strategize on advocacy for implementation of the newly-passed National Children's Act, and conducted site visits with AGALI grantees HOPE and THINK. On the last day of her trip, Emily also watched the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony from the Monrovia airport as the Nobel Committee recognized the peace-building work of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and women's rights activist Leymah Gbowee. In January, AGALI and UNF staff will select 18 new AGALI Liberia Fellows to participate in a Spring 2012 advocacy training and proposal development process.

Liberia Recruitment Trip

The Adolescent Girls' Advocacy & Leadership Initiative (AGALI) promotes global health and development by enhancing the capacity of Latin American and African leaders to improve the health, education, and livelihoods of adolescent girls and young women.

Implemented by the Public Health Institute (PHI), AGALI strengthens the ability of senior leaders to improve adolescent girls' human rights, health, and socio-economic well-being, while simultaneously empowering young women to develop their own solutions to the obstacles they face.

For more information on AGALI please visit: www.agaliprogram.org or please contact Emily Teitsworth at: eteitsworth@phi.org