Abriendo Oportunidades—Community-based group mentoring to promote indigenous adolescent girls’ well-being: Impact findings from a cluster-RCT in Guatemala
Document Type
Article (peer-reviewed)
Publication Date
5-16-2024
Abstract
Purpose: We evaluated Abriendo Oportunidades (AO), an intervention for indigenous adolescent girls that builds knowledge, life skills, and social support, contributing to multiple education, safety, health, and social outcomes. Methods: We conducted a cluster-randomized control trial (CRCT) in 40 communities (20 control and 20 intervention). The primary domains were school enrollment, marriage, and experience of physical violence; secondary were financial literacy, sexual and reproductive health (SRH) knowledge, social capital, and gender norms. In AO, young women mentors facilitated groups of indigenous girls aged 12-17 using a culturally affirming life skills curriculum. Results: 1209 girls were interviewed at baseline and 1148 at endline. Among 613 eligible girls in the intervention communities, 49% enrolled in a group. After 12 months, we found small positive standardized program effects on two domains: marriage and violence. Measured at a 90% confidence level, AO girls were less likely than control to report ever being married (-0.034 standard deviations (SDs), p<0.10), or experiencing physical violence in past 12 months (-0.056 SDs, p<0.10). Effects on school enrollment, financial literacy, SRH knowledge, social capital and gender norms were positive, but not statistically significant (β, ≤ 0.10 [SDs]). Findings were consistent for Intent-to-Treat (ITT) and Treatment of the Treated (TOT) analyses. Conclusions: The findings on child marriage and physical violence suggest AO’s positively contributes to girls’ and their households. This is consistent with existing evidence supporting girls’ groups and interventions for indigenous youth. Further engagement with indigenous girls, their households, and communities is needed to identify appropriate packages of interventions.
Recommended Citation
Hallman, Kelly, Angel del Valle, Ajejandra Aponte, Alejandra Colom, Elizabeth Vásquez, Sarah Blake, and Corinne White. 2024. "Abriendo Oportunidades—Community-based group mentoring to promote indigenous adolescent girls’ well-being: Impact findings from a cluster-RCT in Guatemala," SSRN, http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4830322.
DOI
10.2139/ssrn.4830322
Language
English
Project
Abriendo Oportunidades (“Opening Opportunities”)
