ESD Global, Inc.

Empowerment Self-Defense, an evidence based intervention, helps individuals avoid danger and de-escalate conflict; confidently participate in social and economic systems; increase self-efficacy in problem-solving; and builds physical self-defense skills to address inter-personal violence.  Participants learn in cohorts and continue to support each other– physically, economically, and socially and strengthen the ability to advocate through a two-year mentorship. OUTCOMES: ESD’s proven outcomes include improved: educational achievement, economic participation, mother and baby health, mental health, community sustainability.  ESDG’s peer-to-peer program is replicable and reaches exponential growth after four years.  Including natural attenuation, starting with sixty women, ten years of scaling by 25% / year, ESDG’s programs in a region can reach 7.2 million women. 

The Elevate Prize would enable ESDG to catalyze scaling by:  increasing outreach, programming and expanding staffing to ensure that leadership comes from the region. Second, we would adapt curricula for specific audiences, especially those oppressed or marginalized (e.g. persons with physical or cognitive differences; LGBTQIA; migrants (People on the Move-POTM). Finally,  ESDG would improve its staffing supports to create a pipeline of regional leaders and increase capacity to advocate for programmatic and policy changes.

Founded in 2017, ESD Global's mission is to establish Empowerment Self-Defense as a key violence prevention strategy for individuals and marginalized communities to interrupt, respond to, and heal from violence. We do this by teaching individuals how to teach ESD.  After a week-long Level 1 training, individuals are certified to teach ESD. Across four year of teaching, additional training, and mentoring, the teachers become senior instructors to help others learn to teach ESD.  Each person who takes a Level 1 training commits to teach 100 women in their first year.  This is how the intervention scales exponentially.  ESD Global has programs and staff across the world and staff members have experience and knowledge of local, regional and national networks.  ESD has performance measures to evaluate program effectiveness.  With the Elevate potential,  we are looking to impact Africa, specifically countries where individuals live on less than $5/day.

GOALS NEAR TERM (3-5 yrs):  Implement ESD in 100 countries.   GOALS LONGER TERM:  Work globally with government and business to make violence prevention and ESD skills a regular part of sustainable community development.  Build specialized POTM programs for refugee and migrant environments where exploitation and violence are rampant.

Gender Based Violence (GBV).  ESD is proven to increase: efficacy, ability to avoid danger, and deescalate conflict. ESD improves social, academic and economic participation; changes norms around GBV. 

OUTCOMES: 

EFFICACY: Feelings powerfulness rose 70.46% to 94.23%.

PARTNER:  Ability to state needs to partners during conflict grew 48.84% to 73.08%.

WELLBEING:  Selfsufficiency grew 55%-75%;  Confidence in recognizing danger grew 77% to 91%.

 DECISIONS: Confidence in making money increased 61% to 100%.  

PHYSICAL PROTECTION: Confidence in protecting oneself grew:  27% to 65%; Confidence protecting from rape grew 27.75% to 72.55%; Confidence in using voice to deter attackers: grew 50% to 90.3%.

Goal: Create networks to bring ESD worldwide.  ESD students become ESD teachers, ESD teachers become instructors through four year learning. Prospects: Women 15-50.  

Partners: ESDG contacts and  grassroots that reach national and regional partners for change around GBV and women’s empowerment. 

Process: Four instructors train 60 to teach in communities. Each new teacher teaches 100 students/yr.  Teachers receive mentoring, instruction, and support in promoting ESD. Year2 students are recruited. Year1’s students assist with Year2 instruction as a part of ongoing learning.  Persistence among teachers is 75%. By Year 4, first-year teachers are senior instructors to train teachers. 

GRASSROOTS PEER EDUCATION: Locally based and trained provide training that is exponentially scalable and meets 14 of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Reduced costs, stronger networks and cohorts for community change, stronger learning and behavior change, and reinforcing positive social norms. 

ADDRESSING GBV: solves other problems not directly connected to it. 

 MULTI-SECTOR RESULTS

Education: Improved safety, increased:  school attendance and completion, literacy and food security.

 Health: Reduced female genital mutilation, increased birth weights, delayed parenthood, improved maternal outcomes. 

 Employment: Increased community cohorts around work and collaborative economics, increased numbers of women working, more opportunities for trainers. Increased literacy increases access to employment. 

Family and social services: reduced violence against women, reduced female genital mutilation, increase confidence and assertion at home, improved basic living conditions. Increased economic power at the individual and community levels.

 Civic Engagement: Stronger confidence and voice to state opinions and wants. Stronger community-based female cohorts to advocate. 

ADVOCACY

Increase in local, regional and national networks. Increase knowledge and support from mentors in how to advocate for changes.  Increase awareness and change in peer norms around GBV. Increased confidence to further support women holding political office. Change of discriminatory laws.  

HOW:  ESD leads to improved self confidence among individuals and improved living conditions through reduced violence.  These factors lead to increased advocacy in community which may result in changes in discriminatory laws. 

 Increased efficacy and education leads to delayed pregnancy and parenthood, which means lower birth rates and better health outcomes.  These realities create improved economic opportunities, reduced use of natural resources, which leads to decreased global warming.  More specifically ESD leads to: 50% less likelihood of rape, victimization, or attack of any sort; Less likelihood of experiencing depression or alcohol abuse; 46% more likely to finish school; 52% have used skills to stop an assault on another person.

 STEPS ANNUAL CYCLE

• Form regional partnerships to conduct outreach to identify communities and leaders.
• Host trainings with other organizations to create a resource network.
• Each ESD graduate teaches 100 women and identifies future instructors
• ESD graduates received mentoring and training over 2-4 years (75% persistence) and support ESD in the community.
• Graduates work in cohorts to address local issues or policies.

By Y4, graduates are now senior instructors and running their own cycles of ESD in the region, forming cohorts, mentoring, etc.