Girl-Led Research and Action (GLRA) manual
The Girl-Led Research and Action (GLRA) manual highlights the power in girls in conducting their own research, and how it can help us to understand the critical gaps that affect teenage girls, and help to challenge traditional power structures that silence their voices.
Executive summary
The Girl-Led Research and Action (GLRA) manual is the result of a collaboration between ActionAid Bangladesh, ActionAid Ethiopia, ActionAid Nigeria, ActionAid Sierra Leone, ActionAid Yappika and ActionAid UK, supporting the implementation of two phases of girl-led research and action across five countries between 2021 and 2025. You can read the first report and second report now.
The GLRA methodology centres adolescent girls as leaders in conducting research and advocacy on issues affecting their lives. The manual provides a framework for girls to design and lead their own research processes, analyse structural inequalities, and develop advocacy strategies for change.
The GLRA approach employs intersectional and decolonial feminist participatory frameworks, recognising that adolescent girls face distinct challenges shaped by multiple, intersecting identities including race, class, sexuality, disability, and geographic location. Rather than treating girls as research subjects, this methodology positions them as researchers, writers, and advocates who can identify pressing issues, propose solutions, and influence decision-makers.
This manual highlights the power in girls in conducting their own research, and how it can help us to understand the critical gaps that affect teenage girls, and help to challenge traditional power structures that silence their voices. Across different contexts, adolescent girls have demonstrated remarkable capacity for leadership. Adolescent girls are best positioned to identify the most pressing issues affecting their lives, connect with their peers, and propose relevant and actionable solutions. To achieve this effectively, ActionAid has facilitated girl-led research and action (GLRA) methodology that prioritise girls' knowledge, experience, strategies and solutions to their own challenges. The manuals are inherently adaptable and have proven effective across diverse settings; from urban and rural communities, as tools for both research and sensitisation.
