Launching adolescent girls’ safe space in Village 5 at Azraq Camp

Establishing a new girls’ caravan as part of Mercy Corps Safe Space Expansion for Adolescent Girls in Azraq Camp Village 5 

Thousands of Syrian girls are navigating adolescence while displaced in Jordan. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) latest data, approximately 9,479 Syrian girls aged 11 to 17 are growing up in Za’atari Camp and over 3,000 teenage girls live in Azraq Camp. Girls often face social norms that limit their decision-making and mobility and thus, their social and economic opportunities. When girls have less of a voice in their lives, they are more at risk of early marriage and social isolation. The restrictions can take a toll on their mental health and wellbeing.

Mercy Corps works with girls to identify solutions to self-identified problems in a way that builds girls’ agency and supports gender equitable, inclusive households and communities. In Za’atari Camp, Mercy Corps partners with adolescent girls to address a major gap: accurate, adolescent-friendly information about menstruation, puberty and growing up. Through Wisdom and Information on Sexual Education by Girls (WISE Girls), a cohort of teen peer educators design interactive, story-driven puberty education sessions and deliver them to younger teen girls (tweens), helping them safely navigate menstruation and their changing bodies and lives in the camp.

In December 2020, Mercy Corps took the first step in expanding our work with adolescent girls by installing and furnishing a new girls’ safe space in Azraq Camp’s Village 5. The caravan was designed by girls themselves and has furniture, a private bathroom and a small kitchen to ensure physical safety and privacy. The new girls’ space, an expansion of Mercy Corps’ ISHRAK program, will host WISE Girls peer educators plus caregiver dialogues on adolescence and gender norms. The caravan and safe space program was made possible with funding from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China (Taiwan).

“Here, [when I was young] I used to live freely. I used to go and play outside. It did not matter if I am playing with a boy or a girl. Now the rules over my life are set; [my parents would say:] ‘You cannot go out.’ Before, I used to open the door and simply leave the house. Nowadays, I only study most of the time, and I can use the phone to listen to music sometimes. Harassment is everywhere, it is dangerous outside.” 

‑ Hiba, a 17-year-old who lives in Azraq Camp

In February and March 2020, Mercy Corps conducted a qualitative study with adolescent girls in Village 5 in Azraq Camp. Hiba was one of the girls who shared with us the challenges she faces everyday in her community. Using a participatory research approach, the girls told us about their limited knowledge of menstruation and puberty, and their need for self-care. These girls and many like them need a safe space to meet, learn and grow. The first step to expanding our work was to have this girls-only space.

Part of giving girls a sense of leadership in the program, Mercy Corps will have young girls contribute to designing and adapting new activities. Moving forward, the program will invite a group of adolescent young girls, young women, and ISHRAK’s female volunteers to a workshop to design the new space and arrange priorities for current and new activities based on adolescent girls’ preferences and decisions. Through ISHRAK, Mercy Corps proudly adopts Human-Centered techniques that prioritize girls’ ideas, voices and leadership and puts them in the lead, thereby, reinforcing girls’ empowerment and agency.