The practical framework is built around a CSE scale-up trajectory and follows four key areas where CSOs can make a valuable contribution to scaling up CSE. Here, we provide a summary of the key steps. The framework itself provides more details and practical suggestions on what CSOs can do to support CSE scale-up. A summary of the framework is provided in Fig. 1.

CSE scale-up framework for civil society organisations (taken from [13])

The framework starts with conducting a self-assessment. This self-assessment will allow a CSO to identify how it can best support CSE scale-up, as this depends on a range of factors, including the country context, the CSO’s relationship with government, its skills, expertise and capacity, its comparative advantage vis-à-vis other stakeholders, and its relationship with different stakeholders. CSOs need to consider these and other questions when deciding if they should support CSE scale-up and how they can best do this, as well as to identify whether they require additional skills and capacity.

In the next paragraphs, we will highlight key elements of the framework and present how CSOs can contribute to scaling up CSE supported by examples from Indonesia.

Stage 1: Make the Case. This stage is about understanding the context and building the case for CSE through a thorough situation analysis. This analysis can be done by a CSO and can serve as the basis for engaging in dialogue (stage 2) and developing a scale-up plan (stage 3). The situation analysis includes identifying the need for CSE, key partners, champions, and opposition, assessing the policy, legal and socio-cultural context, understanding the status of CSE and assessing the educational system and its capacity. Frequently, CSOs have a longer history of working in a particular community or geography, have an established basis of trust there, and existing relationships with the local leadership. This can be a good base to work out a cost-effective and contextually supportable local implementation model for CSE that details how the CSE intervention is embedded in policies and how it can be implemented effectively (sometimes referred to as ‘pilot model’).

In Denpasar (Bali) and Semarang (Central Java) in Indonesia, the Setara programme is implemented by local branches of Perkumpulan Keluarga Berencana Indonesia (PKBI, the Indonesian Family Planning Association), in close collaboration with Rutgers Indonesia and the city governments. The program was introduced as a way to help implement city government priorities and policies such as the ‘child-friendly schools’ policy, and ‘prevention of child sexual abuse’ [14]. Setara was positioned as a solution to address the problems that these policies want to address. Through their longstanding work in the communities in these cities and the existing relationships with their city's leadership, PKBI managed to engage in meaningful discussions about the goals, content and evidence of effectiveness with the relevant government offices in their city, resulting in a memorandum of understanding for joint coordination and implementation. Denpasar and Semarang then continued to serve as an example (‘pilot model’) for other cities and for the national government and Ministry of Education on how policies could be operationalized through decentralized systems.

Stage 2: Engaging in dialogue. This step focuses on building support for CSE. For the scale up of CSE, leadership, ownership and capacity of government decision-makers and civil servants is critical. CSOs can contribute by identifying and engaging with allies and champions from both the legislative and administrative branches of the curriculum development, teacher training and education standards units within the Ministry of Education as well as those who directly influence them. Key success factors include the perceived credibility and trustworthiness of the organizations and individuals advocating for CSE and their personal networks and connections across these cadres. The way in which CSE is framed also has a significant influence on its acceptability and the success of ensuring political ownership. Finding an entry point for CSE involves presenting CSE as a solution to contextual issues of concern and linking it to the existing priorities and KPIs of relevant institutional stakeholders. These frames are to be further supported by evidence. Evidence demonstrating the contextual need, effectiveness, financial resources, capacity and institutional changes required for CSE scale-up. Collaborations with universities and research institutions can often provide such evidence to support the rationale and provide legitimacy to the messages.

In the Setara program, Rutgers Indonesia and PKBI collaborated with the University of Gadjah Mada, center of reproductive health (UGM-CRH) to evaluate the program in Semarang and Denpasar, using the Global Early Adolescent Study (GEAS) Survey. The evaluation was technically supported by John Hopkins University, Karolinska Institutet and Rutgers [15]. Having these research partners studying the intervention helped to create legitimacy to the intervention, enhanced transparency and provided entry points to engage in dialogue about the intervention through sharing of research results with multiple stakeholders, including schools and representatives from relevant government offices (organized in ‘Local Advisory Committees'). This also brought the opportunity to bring in youth voices into the dialogue. Having UGM-CRH present about Setara's effectiveness helped to create space for a more neutral, ‘scientific’ dialogue about CSE instead of the otherwise often moral values-loaded discourse. UGM-CRH leadership was also frequently consulted by the national government as expert on Reproductive Health issues, providing an entry point to bring in CSE as a strategy to address several reproductive health priorities. Finally, Rutgers Indonesia and PKBI facilitated exchange visits to promote the Semarang and Denpasar models. They engaged media, teachers and faith leaders into these visits and built out a pool of champions for CSE. First on the city level, and later also on the national level.

Stage 3: Establish building blocks. Once political support for CSE has been established, the more practical building blocks for scaling up CSE need to be put in place. These include, amongst others, identifying all implementation partners and their roles and responsibilities (making sure CSE has an ‘institutional home’ within the education ministry), setting up coordination mechanisms, estimating the costs (what does the program cost per person, what funding is currently available and its source, as well as the funding gap and possible resource mobilization strategies), agreeing on the curriculum, delivery model (including the linkages with services and community support mechanisms) and the to be used materials, the phased roll-out plan, and clear targets. Often a Memorandum of Understanding between the CSOs, government and other collaborating institutions and organizations is a good basis for developing such a costed workplan.

In Indonesia, Setara also included a costing evaluation for its implementation in Denpasar and Semarang. The results of this evaluation were used by the implementation partners to reflect on their cost-efficiency and how they could reduce costs, and to make insightful the cost-categories. Political support for Setara had grown through the process and the city governments were now committing to further rolling out Setara to other schools in their city. Data from the costing study helped to guide division of tasks between PKBI and government departments, including who would finance what, and for lobbying budgets at the cities government level.

Stage 4: Implementation and scale-up. In this stage, the scaling plan is put into action, and CSE is integrated into existing educational systems. Teachers delivering CSE in the classroom will require training, as well as school principals, district and provincial education cadres and syllabi and examination developers. Lecturers at teacher training institutes will require training to enable a roll-out of in-service and pre-service training, and gatekeepers such as parents will need sensitization. Tools such as the annual school census, teacher lesson and school inspection forms and the Education Management Information System often need to be adapted to include CSE components and indicators [16]. Scale-up takes time and needs to be phased. Advocacy and alignment between CSOs and the government are critical to maintaining CSE in the face of opposition.

On the national level, Rutgers Indonesia, in collaboration with UNFPA, positioned itself as a technical partner to the government in achieving their key performance indicators. Political commitment was established to roll out the government-owned Reproductive Health Education curriculum, or the Setara curriculum, as a formally approved alternative, to 250 cities by 2025. A Memorandum of Understanding was established between the ministries of Health and Education, UNFPA and Rutgers Indonesia, including co-financing and division of tasks, with Rutgers Indonesia responsible for the training of teachers. Rutgers Indonesia signed memoranda of understanding with 6 district governments to jointly implement Setara with these districts’ education offices, incorporating the CSE program as a vital component of the government’s policies and strategies to reduce the prevalence of child marriage, teenage pregnancy and sexual and gender-based violence. Phase 1 (making the case and identifying partners and policies) was repeated with these districts through engaging various stakeholders and jointly thoroughly analyzing the need for CSE and developing implementation plans. Youth engagement played an important part in this process, where students provided real-life experiences of SGBV in their schools. On the national level, Rutgers Indonesia and UGM are currently facilitating workshops with government and CSE stakeholders to look at possibilities of integrating indicators for quality of implementation into the national education and management system. During COVID-19 school closures, Rutgers Indonesia developed digital solutions to continue to provide CSE to students and supporting teachers to address (digital) implementation challenges. Through the collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Rutgers Indonesia can bring in these innovations and lessons to further improve implementation at scale.