Crises do not impact everyone equally; not everyone has access to the same information, resources, or social networks to navigate a crisis safely. According to real‐time evaluations, one of the populations that is the most marginalized and consistently overlooked by humanitarian actors is adolescents, particularly adolescent girls. A default, one‐size‐fits‐all reflex persistently bundles adolescent girls’ needs and vulnerabilities with those of younger children or adult women. This status quo approach compromises adolescent girls’ safety and well‐being. In addition, it disproportionately sidelines the most vulnerable girls who are least likely to safely access lifesaving services or targeted programs.

I’m Here is an operational approach and complementary set of tools that support humanitarian actors to reach the most vulnerable adolescents and be accountable for their health, safety, and well-being. The Approach urges practitioners to go beyond seeing adolescents as a homogenous group, and to advocate for multisectoral action to meet the needs of different sub-groups of adolescents. Since 2014, the I’m Here Approach has been used in over 30 communities across 10 humanitarian settings. The Approach has been used by numerous humanitarian actors. However, there is a need for more widespread dissemination of information regarding the Approach, its tools, and how it can be used in varying contexts to meaningfully include and respond to adolescents affected by crisis or displacement.

For more resources, view:

I’m Here Approach Playbook
The Building Assets Toolkit
Adolescent Girls Community of Practice

Webinar Series Goal

The overall goal of this webinar series is to raise awareness within the humanitarian community on how current practice can change to a more deliberate approach that responds to adolescents’ context-specific needs, priorities, and assets. This shift requires awareness of field-tested, gender-synchronized tools that enable humanitarians to intentionally identify adolescent girls’ and boys’ unique, gender-specific vulnerabilities, risks, and capacities, and then link the most vulnerable and isolated adolescents to life-saving services and adolescent-focused programming. The I’m Here Approach aims to generate actionable information that incentivizes humanitarian actors to refine their operations and programming for adolescents. Through this webinar series, participants will understand how the Approach and its tools can be used for meaningful change in the humanitarian sector.

Webinar 1: Introducing the I’m Here Approach

Thursday, November 12, 2020
9-10 a.m. EST (14:00-15:00 UTC)
Speakers: Julianne Deitch (Senior Advisor, Adolescent Health and Protection, Women’s Refugee Commission); Sophie Soares (Staff Associate, Adolescent Girls Programming, Population Council); Julisa Tambunan (GirlSPARKS Co-Founder, Mercy Corps)

Registration closed. Thank you to all participants for attending! Watch the video below of the recorded webinar.

Webinar 2: Lessons learned from field implementation of the I’m Here Approach

Tuesday, November 24, 2020
11 a.m.-12:15 p.m. EST (16:00-17:15 UTC)
Speakers: Amy Ibold (Sr. Advisor, Adolescent Girls and Youth, Mercy Corps), Andrew Agbenyi (Senior MEL Officer, Mercy Corps Nigeria), Sarah Chreif (CP/GBV Specialist, DRC Lebanon)

Registration closed. Thank you to all participants for attending! Watch the video below of the recorded webinar.

Webinar 3: Reaching Isolated Adolescents in Cox’s Bazar

Wednesday, December 16, 2020
9 a.m. EST (14:00 UTC | 20:00 Bangladesh time)
Speakers: Dr. Daniel Hossain (Deputy Director, Partners in Health and Development), Kabita Islam (Adolescent Program Manager, Partners in Health and Development), Dr. Nasrin Akter (Senior Reproductive Health Manager, International Rescue Committee), Dr. Tasnova Sadneed, (RMNCAH Consultant, World Health Organization)

Registration closed. Thank you to all participants for attending! Watch the video below of the recorded webinar.