Try to find spaces for activities that adolescent girls and boys can access easily and safely, and set them up in ways that make them comfortable and attractive for adolescents. In some cases you may have a dedicated space established for your programme or intervention, such as a child-friendly space or youth centre. But it may also be possible to ‘borrow’ space from or share space with other places in your community, such as those recommended below.

Read the Creating a safe space tool linked below for more suggestions and strategies.

Find and use available spaces

It may be possible to find safe, accessible spaces for introducing the Adolescent Circles approach within your entry-point programme or other institutions. These could be classrooms, playgrounds, youth centres or child-friendly spaces, places of worship, or other community meeting spaces where there is comfortable space available, at least during some hours of the day. (As an added advantage, parents and adults may feel more confident about their children spending time in programmes and institutions that are familiar and trusted.)

Follow the adolescents

Find out where your target adolescents live, where they spend time and what they do on a daily basis. Consider holding activities in locations where they already gather or spend long periods of time (e.g. waiting for facilities, food distribution or work), or rotating activities between various locations to serve adolescent girls and boys living in different places.

Be creative!

Explore possibilities for moving beyond permanent spaces or borrowing or adapting spaces that may be more accessible to marginalized adolescents. Consider using spaces such as vacant lots, parks, fields or shady spots under trees, or ‘borrowing’ space from other programmes, local businesses, places of worship or community halls. Consider organizing activities in private homes as a way to include adolescents who face physical, social or security barriers to moving freely outside their homes

Think about access and safety

Identify spaces that are safe, accessible and convenient, and that don’t place adolescents at risk, or cost too much money or time to reach. Consider access and safety for specific groups, such as those with disabilities, girls, or adolescents living in remote conditions, and identify safe routes and transportation options.

Examine the spaces

Make sure that the spaces are safe and conducive to the types of activities that adolescent girls and boys find helpful and interesting. Adolescents should be able to participate in activities comfortably, safely, and without too much distraction or interference. Ideally, you should be able to run high-energy activities with adolescents such as running, jumping, and shouting, as well as quiet, low-intensity activities involving concentration and relaxation.

Make your spaces welcoming and safe

Where possible, provide support to adolescents to decorate their activity spaces and to make them their own. This could involve hanging up artwork, photos, or posters listing useful services and programmes for adolescents in the community.

If you are sharing space with another programme or institution, consider establishing “adolescent only” time. This may make adolescents more comfortable if they are meeting in a child-friendly space that is typically associated with younger children, or a place of worship or business usually used by adults. Establishing separate times for adolescent girls and boys to use the space may make programmes more accessible in some contexts.

You also need to make sure that you work around barriers to adolescents’ attendance by organising your activities at times that suit them, and by providing clear schedules and establishing routines. Consult with adolescents and adults in the community to identify suitable times that don’t conflict with other activities or responsibilities, and be ready to adapt your schedule as you go.

To organize activities at times that suit adolescents:

Organise activities when adolescent girls and boys are available.

Organise your sessions at times that don’t conflict with adolescents’ daily activities such as school, household chores, meals, washing, praying, rest, or playing. Instead, target times of the day when adolescent girls and boys may be unoccupied (and possibly bored) or engaging in unhealthy behaviours such as hanging around dangerous areas, drinking alcohol or smoking.

Develop and share a schedule of activities

Develop a schedule that outlines the time, duration and type of activities to be offered, including times for specific groups of adolescents to participate (e.g. girls- only times). Take into account any traditional, religious or annual holidays that might interfere with your sessions, as well as seasonal activities such as harvesting.

Communicate and disseminate the schedule of activities throughout the community, and make sure that you remember to also inform the most vulnerable adolescents and their families.

Be flexible!

If adolescents can’t attend activities, find out why, and consider varying your schedule. For example, you could run sessions in the evenings or on weekends to encourage particular groups of adolescents to attend.

Create structure and routine

Once you start your sessions, organise them in a way that provides adolescents with structure and routine. This can be comforting for adolescent girls and boys who are coping with difficult experiences and adjusting to a lot of change in their lives.

Schedule activities at consistent, well-announced times and make sure adolescents know when there are changes to the programme, such as a new time or place to meet. Follow a predictable sequence in sessions and activities, so that adolescents feel comfortable participating.

Things will change as you move ahead with your intervention. The security situation can transform overnight, adolescents’ daily schedules and responsibilities may change, your intervention may expand or reduce in size, and adolescent girls and boys may move into and out of the community. Be ready to vary the time and place of your sessions so that adolescents can continue to attend activities safely and easily, and so that you can accommodate new participants.