Program Design and Evaluation for Vulnerable Children and Adolescents: Lessons from South Africa

Catalog description

This immersive course in Cape Town, South Africa equips students to design, implement, and evaluate ethical, effective programs for highly vulnerable children and adolescents (VCA) in sub-Saharan Africa. Emphasizing populations affected by HIV—such as orphans and children living with HIV—the course applies rights-based, protection, and ecological systems frameworks. Students examine health, education, protection, and economic strengthening interventions, and strategies for family engagement and inclusive service delivery. Through case studies, field visits, assignments, and engagement with local organizations, students examine multi-sectoral interventions that account for operational and ethical realities. Students develop competencies in program design, adaptive monitoring and evaluation, and stakeholder engagement. The course prepares students to contribute to context-sensitive, evidence-informed VCA programming and research in low-resource settings.