Ongoing Learning, Adaptation, and Progress: Updates from Our Partnerships with Other CSOs

Last year, we tried something new: a social franchising partnership approach.

The idea is simple. We partner with Malagasy civil society organizations (CSOs). We train and support them to deliver our comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) program to their adolescent constituents. 

We’ve just wrapped up the pilot year and a second cohort of CSOs has just started implementing the program! So, it's the perfect moment to pause and reflect on what we’ve learned so far.

This first phase confirmed that: 

• There’s real need and strong demand for this comprehensive sexuality education program among Malagasy CSOs. 
  

• The program's success depends on committed, energetic Educators who bring the program to life with fidelity.
  

• After just one year, we’re already seeing positive shifts in adolescents’ knowledge and behaviors across the first cohort’s 15 partner organizations.

We also ran into a few limitations during this pilot year. 

One challenge was the efficiency of recruiting and onboarding partners. Out of the CSOs we contacted, only half decided to sign on. Many hesitated because of limited organizational capacity, concerns about costs or administrative work, the level of requirements, or even initial uncertainty around the program’s topics. How can we improve this process without negotiating each partnership on a case by case basis? 

Another limitation was around curriculum accessibility. We know that adolescents with disabilities are disproportionately exposed to violence and are more likely to face barriers in accessing sexual and reproductive health information and services.  Yet very few life skills or sexuality education programs are designed with adolescents with disabilities in mind — our own curriculum included. This was confirmed further during our outreach, where we met a CSO working with adolescents with autism. They were excited about a potential partnership, but our curriculum isn’t yet adapted to their specific needs. How can we make our curriculum more inclusive? 

Adaptation 1: Partnering with Networks of CSOs

We explored two options. We could partner with international NGOs in Madagascar that already work with strong local CSO networks. We could also connect with state-led networks that oversee centers serving adolescents across the country. 

In the end, we decided to do both! 

Our first partnership is with SOS Children’s Villages through their QUAPEM  project, which aims to improve support for adolescents in centers overseen by the Ministry of Population. At the start of this school year, we trained 27 new Educators from their centers, and another group is scheduled for early 2026.

This network approach has many advantages: 

✅ Expand our program to new regions (two already!)  

✅ Share financial, human, and logistical resources across the network of centers

✅ Facilitate implementation monitoring 

✅ Strengthen partner centers’ engagement

✅ Coordinate data reporting more effectively for quicker learning

“The CSE program has been extremely valuable for the SOS Children’s Villages Madagascar centers that implemented it. They are highly motivated to continue offering it to their young people during the 2025–2026 school year. The topics covered directly addressed the realities and needs of today’s adolescents—such as sexual and reproductive health, responsibility, and active listening. We hope to keep this positive momentum going, strengthen our collaboration even further, and explore new opportunities to continue supporting the protection of children’s rights.” - Landy Rakotondrasoa, QUAPEM Project Manager, SOS Children’s Villages Madagascar

Adaptation 2: Extending Our Curriculum for Adolescents with Autism

Together with AU.Fé.M  (the federation of centers for autistic youth) and Autisme Madagascar, we’re adapting our CSE curriculum so it can be used with autistic adolescents in specialized centers, and shared with parents and trained volunteers across their regional branches.

Working with two Malagasy autism specialists, Educators from the Federation, and volunteers from Autisme Madagascar, we focused our adaptations on three key areas: 

1. making the learning content more accessible to adolescents with autism, 

2. using teaching methods adapted to different cognitive profiles, 

3. paying closer attention to sensory environments and strengthening collaboration between Educators and parents.

Now we’re moving on to the next step: training the Educators who will bring this adapted curriculum to adolescents with autism!

“I’m the mother of an autistic teenager. For years, I looked for a place that could offer my daughter sexual and reproductive health education adapted to her needs, but I never found one. I even ended up creating something myself using online resources. Today, I’m so happy to be part of this initiative! I’m convinced that the education offered by Projet Jeune Leader is essential, especially for autistic youth. I’m really excited to help make it more widely available. I’m sure it will help many young people and parents!” — Lanto, consultant supporting the adaptation of our curriculum 

We thank Grand Challenges Canada, funded by the Government of Canada, for its support to the project ‘Growing Together: Promoting Inclusive Comprehensive Sexuality Education for Malagasy Adolescents’.”