Girls on the Move: Adolescent Girls & Migration in the Developing World

1 Prepare and equip girls before they migrate Migrant girls need education, good health, and life skills before they move so they can navigate risks and opportunities in their new lives. Maximize girls' chances of successful migration by preparing them with education, knowledge of their human rights, life skills training, and information about what they will encounter during the journey and on arrival. Equip girls with personal documentation to facilitate their access to health and education services and social benefits in their new communities. 2 Ensure a smooth landing: a safe place to stay and social connections A girl's new environment can be risky without the guarantee of a safe place to stay and a reliable connection to trusted individuals on arrival. Migrant girls may be immediately absorbed into an urban environment when they arrive, essentially hidden from programs and excluded from support services. Develop mechanisms to identify migrant girls immediately on arrival before they fall into harm's way. Then connect them to safe places to stay and services and networks to help them thrive— such as migrant groups, employee networks, and neighborhood associations of the poor. 3 Create time and space for migrant girls to meet friends and mentors Migration disrupts girls' social networks, leaving some isolated and vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. Rebuilding migrant girls' social networks is essential to their safety and well-being. Reduce isolation by connecting migrant girls to dedicated safe spaces 1 where they can meet peers and female mentors, expand their social networks, and receive training, education, and referrals to health and other services. 4 Make services " migrant girl friendly " A significant number of people in selected groups of international interest – including children in exploitative and dangerous employment, the urban poor, and of course migrants – are migrant adolescent girls. But services for these groups rarely recognize the unique needs of adolescent girls nor of migrants. Adapting initiatives to integrate migrant girls is a relatively low-cost way to improve their access to opportunities. Design programs with age, gender, and migration status in mind so migrant girls can benefit from child protection, education, and economic empowerment activities. 1 " Safe space " programs provide girls with a place where they are respected and where they can develop life and livelihood skills, form friendships and gain peer support, enjoy freedom of expression and movement, and receive support and education from trusted female mentors …