Sibling Support to Adolescent Girls in Emergencies

Teenage girls singing together.
25 July 2022

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About SSAGE

Mercy Corps and the Women’s Refugee Commission have developed the Sibling Support to Adolescent Girls in Emergencies (SSAGE) toolkit, made possible by funding from the United States Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. SSAGE aims to reduce violence against adolescent girls in humanitarian settings through a 12-week gender-focused, family-based life skills curriculum that is used simultaneously with adolescent girls, their male and female caregivers, and older male siblings.

SSAGE seeks to learn from and complement the rich technical resources developed by a number of development and humanitarian organisations working with adolescent girls and their families. While SSAGE shares important similarities with other approaches targeting girls and their families, it is unique for three main characteristics: 

  1. The explicit engagement of the older male siblings of adolescent girls. 
  2. The simultaneous engagement of adolescent girls, male and female caregivers, and older male siblings to create a “layering” effect within families. 
  3. The recommended application of human-centred design techniques to contextualise the SSAGE curricula through participatory means. 

Through SSAGE, Mercy Corps and the Women’s Refugee Commission seek to contribute to the global toolkit for GBV, child protection, and youth actors working with adolescent girls in humanitarian settings and the larger knowledge base around violence prevention within families.