Adolescent Girls in Malawi: Executive Summary

doi:10.1596/K8889

Publication:
Adolescent Girls in Malawi: Executive Summary

dc.contributor.author	World Bank Group
dc.date.accessioned	2016-06-21T18:35:27Z
dc.date.available	2016-06-21T18:35:27Z
dc.date.issued	2016-05
dc.description.abstract	Adolescence is a time of transitions that foster both challenges and opportunities. Indeed, choices made during adolescence not only have immediate consequences but also greatly influence the economic opportunities, health outcomes, and skill sets attained later in life, and yet it is the same period when social norms create pathways largely defined by gender. Poverty and ethnic minority status can further magnify gender discrepancies for youth worldwide, as reductions in household spending on education, health care, and nutrition are often more likely to affect adolescent girls than boys. In Malawi, adolescents make up 24% of the total population, a substantial proportion that is expected to become higher than neighboring countries if current trends continue. The high prevalence of child marriage and teenage pregnancy among Malawian girls greatly contributes to the high fertility and population growth trends, and is also closely interrelated with a range of economic and socio-cultural determinants that perpetuate a vicious cycle for the poorest and most vulnerable girls and have costly consequences for them and for the nation as a whole. In order to initiate the potential for a demographic dividend, Malawi will need to initiate a demographic transition. Reducing child marriage and teenage pregnancy can significantly contribute to the fertility declines needed to accelerate this demographic transition and would lead to better life outcomes for adolescent girls and better opportunities for the next generation. Accordingly, this series of policy briefs focuses on four key areas of interventions (or pillars) as follows: (i) maintaining girls in school; (ii) equipping out-of-school girls with skills; and (iii) beginning a family and supporting girls to adopt healthy lifestyles; and (iv) addressing the child development needs of children born to teenage mothers.	en
dc.identifier.doi	10.1596/24570
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/10986/24570
dc.language	English
dc.language.iso	en_US
dc.publisher	World Bank, Washington, DC
dc.relation.ispartofseries	Policy Brief: Malawi;
dc.rights	CC BY 3.0 IGO
dc.rights.holder	World Bank
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/
dc.subject	ADOLESCENT
dc.subject	DEMOGRAPHIC DIVIDEND
dc.subject	EARLY MARRIAGE
dc.subject	FERTILITY
dc.subject	GIRLS EDUCATION
dc.subject	SCHOOL
dc.subject	SKILLS
dc.subject	TEENAGE PREGNANCY
dc.title	Adolescent Girls in Malawi	en
dc.title.subtitle	Executive Summary	en
dc.type	Brief	en
dc.type	Fiche	fr
dc.type	Resumen	es
dspace.entity.type	Publication
okr.crossref.title	Adolescent Girls in Malawi
okr.date.disclosure	2016-06-24
okr.doctype	Publications & Research
okr.doctype	Publications & Research::Brief
okr.identifier.doi	10.1596/K8889
okr.identifier.doi	10.1596/24570
okr.identifier.internaldocumentum	K8889
okr.identifier.report	106498
okr.imported	true
okr.language.supported	en
okr.pdfurl	sftp://107.21.26.223:22//sftp/production/okr_delivery/1873559/K8889.pdf	en
okr.region.country	Malawi
okr.topic	Gender::Gender and Education
okr.topic	Gender::Gender and Health
okr.topic	Health, Nutrition and Population::Adolescent Health
okr.topic	Health, Nutrition and Population::Reproductive Health
okr.topic	Social Development::Children and Youth
okr.topic	Education::Secondary Education
okr.unit	Education Global Practice, GED01; Health, Nutrition, and Population Global Practice