EN
The purpose of the current study was to explore the transformative role of education
sponsorship program provided by Concern for the Girl Child (CGC) to female
orphaned and vulnerable children in Uganda. The specific objectives of this study were
(i) to explore aspects of OVC’s agency that have been developed by the education
sponsorship program; (ii) to evaluate how the CGC education sponsorship program has
facilitated the development of OVC’s agency; (iii) to assess the challenges that OVC
experienced which undermined the development of their agency. Data were collected
by the means of in-depth interviews with current and past Concern for the Girl Child
(CGC) beneficiaries and with key informant interviews with CGC staff members as
well as contact teachers in the program schools. Data analysis was facilitated by
inductive coding and the Capability Approach (CA) theoretical framework. Concern
for the Girl Child (CGC), is a local Non Governmental Organization (NGO) that
operates in Kampala city and Luwero district, Uganda. The study findings show that
the CGC education sponsorship program had developed their personal agency that
manifested in increased self-esteem; the ability to explicate alternatives of choices;
being responsible for their personal choices and family; and taking actions to make
changes for others. CGC facilitated the development of agency among the sponsored
female OVC by encouraging them to make critical choices; assigning challenging tasks
to beneficiaries, allowing and welcoming beneficiaries’ voices in decision making, and
cultivating positive relationships with beneficiaries. However the CGC education
sponsorship program experiences some challenges which undermined the full
development of their agency. These findings suggest important implications for social
work practice, social work education, policy development and further research.