Document Type

Case Study

Publication Date

2013

Abstract

Investing in adolescent girls is crucial in the developing world where a large and growing proportion of the population is under the age of 24. Research has demonstrated that adolescent girls face serious challenges around the time of puberty including withdrawal from (and lack of safety in) public spaces, loss of peers, leaving school, pressure for marriage or liaisons as livelihood strategies, and internalization of harmful gender norms. Investments need to be made at critical moments in early adolescence. While policymakers and development professionals have acknowledged the need to make investments in the poorest girls in the poorest communities early enough to make a difference, less is known about how to go about reaching them. This case study demonstrates the steps involved in designing, implementing, and evaluating a targeted, evidence-based intervention for a vulnerable subgroup of adolescent girls. Drawing upon an example of a Population Council research and intervention initiative for migrant adolescent girls in domestic service in urban Burkina Faso—known as Filles Éveillées (Girls Awakened)—we illustrate a process that can be replicated in other settings with other vulnerable subgroups of adolescent girls.

DOI

10.31899/pgy11.1001

Language

English

Comments

Also available in French

Project

Filles Eveillées (“Girls Awakened”)

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