What do we still need to learn about supporting adolescent girls’ education in Zimbabwe? A report on three Evidence Cafés with education stakeholders

This report documents discussions and highlights from three Evidence Cafés on adolescent girls’ education, held in Zimbabwe in June 2024. The Evidence Cafés were co-hosted by The Open University, UK, and Plan International Zimbabwe, and drew on data generated by the Supporting Adolescent Girls’ Education (SAGE) Programme. SAGE was a £11.9m Girls Education Challenge (GEC) project in Zimbabwe, led by Plan International UK, and funded by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). Between 2018-2023 it facilitated 13,000 girls’ transition into formal school, vocational training or employment. The purpose of the Evidence Cafés was to disseminate and discuss key learnings about adolescent girls’ education with stakeholders operating in diverse spaces across the education landscape in Zimbabwe. SAGE generated a huge amount of evidence on how to support adolescent girls’ education. The Evidence Cafés were an opportunity to share this with stakeholders, provide opportunities for them to use it in their work, and generate feedback on where it could be strengthened for meaningful take-up across community and policy spaces.