Bringing Comprehensive Sexuality Education to Every Adolescent in Madagascar

How Projet Jeune Leader worked with Spring Impact to design and test a partnership model for civil society organisations

Strategy | Lean Testing | Youth Education | Madagascar

Projet Jeune Leader (PJL) delivers a holistic program of comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) to improve the health and promote the wellbeing of young adolescents in Madagascar.

While exploring a potential partnership with government to roll out their programme across public schools in Madagascar, PJL recognised that, even if this partnership were to be successful, many rural young people, particularly those outside of the formal education system — such as those who are incarcerated, homeless, or have specialist needs — would still be left out.

Challenge

With growing interest from NGOs and CSOs to replicate their programme, PJL partnered with Spring Impact to design a scale strategy and develop a model that other organisations could use to reach young people outside of the formal education system, in a way that complements their scale-up through government.

PJL had developed and refined its CSE model in three regions, with strong community and school support.

But scaling nationally required a different approach: one that would allow PJL to explore multiple pathways to reach all adolescents, while ensuring quality.

They needed help designing a delivery model that others could use, testing it quickly, and building their team’s skills to lead this next phase of scale.

OUTCOMES

15 civil society organisations trained

to deliver the CSE curriculum to more adolescents

Scaling to 40+ civil society organisations

to expand reach and capacity to serve more communities

OUR APPROACH

Spring Impact supported PJL over three phases to build a practical partnership model:

Clarified how NGO and CSO partnerships fit into PJL’s overall scale strategy, and how these partnerships can be leveraged to reach adolescents outside the formal education system
Designed a scalable model and tested key assumptions using lean methods
Provided advisory support as PJL refined systems and processes for long-term delivery

This work is helping PJL move from strategic ambition to implementation at scale.

“Through this collaboration, our team not only developed critical skills in strategic planning and lean testing, but also experienced a shift in mindset towards scalability and sustainability.”

— Maia Ramarosandratana, Executive Director, Projet Jeune Leader

Our process

1. Clarifying the scale strategy

Through a series of workshops, we helped PJL define the problem they were seeking to solve, target youth segments beyond public schools, and clarified PJL’s goals for impact at scale.

Together, we mapped:

The role of NGO and CSO partners in contributing to PJL’s scale ambitions
What support and oversight would be required
What types of partners PJL should be working with

2. Designing an effective partnership model

PJL needed a framework that could guide selection of delivery partners and set clear expectations.

We worked with the team to clarify their value proposition to potential partners and co-design the model: outlining partner roles and responsibilities, support mechanisms, and quality assurance processes so the model could work across different geographies and institutions.

3. Testing and refining through lean methods

We trained the PJL team in lean testing, helping them validate critical assumptions underpinning the model.

Using short, structured tests, they were able to quickly gather data, learn, adapt, and build confidence in their approach before expanding further.

4. Advisory support for implementation

As PJL moved into implementation, working in partnership with 15 CSOs across Madagascar, we provided input on key systems and processes, from onboarding and training through to monitoring and partner management.

Our goal was to build PJL’s internal capacity to lead and adapt the model as it scaled.

RESULTS

Nationwide rollout underway
PJL is now scaling up to work with 40+ CSOs and NGOs across Madagascar, reaching an estimated 2000 young people.

Stronger delivery model
The team now has a tested, structured model for delivering its solution through a social franchising model, backed by real-world learning and supported by internal systems.

Improved internal capability
The PJL team is equipped to continue testing, adapting, and improving its approach ensuring quality as the program reaches more young people.

“The biggest change we experienced was a motivated and competent internal team to take the torch forward with scaling our impact.”