Adolescent girls face a multitude of hazards during their transition from childhood to adulthood ranging from school dropout, to child marriage, to adolescent childbearing, to physical and mental health problems, to gender based violence. In response to these risks, there has been an increase in the number and types of interventions targeting adolescent girls in low-and middle-income countries. Such interventions are wide ranging in their approaches and include, among others, safe spaces, vocational training, school based interventions, cash transfers, information campaigns and health-services. Rigorous evaluations of these interventions generally indicate positive, albeit modest, effects across a wide-range of capabilities. Promising as findings from these studies are, the evidence relies mostly on short-term follow-up data, which leaves open the question of whether such programs can substantively improve thewellbeing of their beneficiaries well after the cessation of support. If the aim of these programs is to not only increase current welfare for adolescents, but actually to improve their lives in the long-run by making investments in their human and physical capital during an important period of transition in their lives, then it is important to find out whether the short-term improvements are ephemeral or sustained. The welfare of these adolescents as adults – as well as their families – will improve only if the interventions altered their life trajectories. Understanding these sustained effects becomes particularly important when one is tackling inherently long-run issues such as economic empowerment.

Sustained Effects on Economic Empowerment of Interventions for Adolescent Girls: Existing Evidence and Knowledge Gaps

Resource Key: XLIXLFV8

Document Type: Report

Creator:

Author:

  • Sarah Baird
  • George Washington University
  • Berk Özler
  • World Bank

Creators Name: {mb_resource_zotero_creatorsname}

Place:

Institution:

Date: 2016

Language: en

Adolescent girls face a multitude of hazards during their transition from childhood to adulthood ranging from school dropout, to child marriage, to adolescent childbearing, to physical and mental health problems, to gender based violence. In response to these risks, there has been an increase in the number and types of interventions targeting adolescent girls in low-and middle-income countries. Such interventions are wide ranging in their approaches and include, among others, safe spaces, vocational training, school based interventions, cash transfers, information campaigns and health-services. Rigorous evaluations of these interventions generally indicate positive, albeit modest, effects across a wide-range of capabilities. Promising as findings from these studies are, the evidence relies mostly on short-term follow-up data, which leaves open the question of whether such programs can substantively improve thewellbeing of their beneficiaries well after the cessation of support. If the aim of these programs is to not only increase current welfare for adolescents, but actually to improve their lives in the long-run by making investments in their human and physical capital during an important period of transition in their lives, then it is important to find out whether the short-term improvements are ephemeral or sustained. The welfare of these adolescents as adults – as well as their families – will improve only if the interventions altered their life trajectories. Understanding these sustained effects becomes particularly important when one is tackling inherently long-run issues such as economic empowerment.

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