Publication: Empowering Adolescent Girls in Uganda
Date
2013-01
ISSN
Published
2013-01
Author(s)
Bandiera, Oriana
Buehren, Niklas
Burgess, Robin
Gulesci, Selim
Rasul, Imran
Sulaiman, Munshi
Abstract
The productive potential of adolescent
girls in Uganda is critically limited by the reciprocal
relationship between low health, education and employment
indicators. With little incentive to attain relevant skills
training, girls choose to have children early and become
engaged in risky behavior, further hampering their ability
to generate income. To address these challenges, we
evaluated the impact of a BRAC program that simultaneously
provided livelihoods training to run small-scale
enterprises, and education on health and risky behaviors.
After tracking 4,888 girls over a period of two years, the
author found that the program had strong positive impacts on
economic, health and agency outcomes for the girls. The
program increased the likelihood of participants engaging in
income-generating activities by 32 percent; self-reported
routine condom use by those who were sexually active
increased by 50 percent; fertility rates dropped by 26
percent; and there was a 76 percent reduction in adolescent
girls reporting having had sex against their will during the
past year.
Citation
“Bandiera, Oriana; Buehren, Niklas; Burgess, Robin; Goldstein, Markus; Gulesci, Selim; Rasul, Imran; Sulaiman, Munshi. 2013. Empowering Adolescent Girls in Uganda. Africa Region Gender Practice Policy Brief;No. 4. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/25458 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”