2. TARA pilot
Transformative Action for Rural Adolescents (TARA) pilot is an 18-month intervention launched in November 2019 in Rohtas district of Bihar with funding support from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and GAP Inc. PCI in coordination with ICRW and Gap Inc. customized the PACE curriculum for the intervention to be consistent with local context and needs of the focus group. The initial contextualizing of PACE++ curriculum and training material on life skills including gender and empowerment, self-efficacy, employability, entrepreneurship, and health and nutrition was done by PCI. The process entailed redesigning of the modules in a simple and easy way to understand The TARA pilot was implemented in two selected blocks of Rohtas district in Bihar. The pilot mobilized a total of 1205 adolescent girls (initially organized in 47 adolescent groups) and trained them on various aspects such as empowerment, employability, adolescent health and nutrition. The average attendance of adolescents in the PACE++ sessions was 86%. Prior to community roll-out, the training facilitators and supervisors also went through an induction training for improving their understanding about the project and also their ability to deliver the PACE++ curriculum. The training involved both classroom teaching (theory and practice) as well as field-based learning for comprehending session delivery in community settings. The introductory module relied on description of the core concept and encouraged discussion on the subject through use of videos on stories and stereotypes. This served as ice-breaking sessions to allow greater interaction between the adolescent girls and the community facilitators. For mobilization purposes, the PCI team made household visits for rapport building and information sharing about the TARA program. Each module was delivered only after trainings of the community facilitators which included theory sessions, group practice sessions and also field based piloting and learning for appropriate delivery of the sessions. The sessions were primarily conducted during the weekends at convenient timings to facilitate greater participation. Overall, the intervention aimed at 100 hours of direct and indirect contact with the adolescents through module sessions, club activities including sharing of information and materials on the various modules. The monitoring of the intervention was done by the project team at the district and the block level with a quality assurance checklist developed to review the conduct of the session. Feedback to community facilitators was also provided based on the monitoring to enhance efficiency of the facilitators and consequently improve training outcomes.The village-level organizations (VO) and self-help group (SHG) forums (JEEViKA groups under the State Rural Livelihood Mission (SRLM) in Bihar) were also involved in this initiative. Given the vast network of SRLM, there was a high probability of engaging adolescents through active engagement with the SRLM network. In particular, the JEEViKA staff and cadres were oriented along with village organizations referred to as the Social Action Committee (SAC) regarding the rationale and objectives of the TARA project. The self-help group members as part of the JEEViKA were sensitized for gender equity and women empowerment concerns to motivate greater participation of adolescents from their household and neighborhood. The out-of-school adolescents were also approached through Nonetheless, it is worth mentioning that the TARA pilot was not devoid of the disruptions caused due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This affected the planned activities and necessitated some re-designing of the project strategy to connect with the adolescent groups. In particular, the size of the adolescent groups was reduced from 20–25 members to 10–15 members per group. This implied requirements of additional time and human resources to ensure delivery of the adapted PACE curriculum. Also, there was continuous effort to provide support and motivation, through online channels, to enable the adolescent groups to face the challenges posed by the pandemic. PCI initiated several activities (such as drawings, poems, writing essays, motivational stories etc.) for de-stressing and prevention from COVID-19.With some improvements in COVID-19 situation and lockdown relaxation, the TARA pilot field activities were re-started in October 2020. During the post-COVID period, participation and leadership abilities among adolescent girls was encouraged through celebration of international girl child day (11