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Girls' adolescence in Burkina Faso : a pivot point for social change

BRADY, Martha
SALOUCOU, Lydia
CHONG, Erica
2007

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As closer attention is paid to the lives of adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa, girls are found to be clearly disadvantaged, compared with their male counterparts. In Burkina Faso it is estimated that 74 percent of girls aged 15-19 cannot read. Burkinabé girls are frequently married at a young age, and more than one-third of married girls find themselves in polygamous unions as second or third wives, married to much older men. Understanding and recognising girls' realities is an important first step in planning appropriate and meaningful interventions for them. Girls who are unmarried, "promised," engaged, or married face different constraints and merit different program approaches. This report aims to fill gaps in our knowledge regarding adolescent Burkinabé girls so as better serve the needs of this most vulnerable population

The effect of a livelihoods intervention in an urban slum in India : do vocational counseling and training alter the attitudes and behaviour of adolescent girls?

MENSCH, Barbara S
et al
2004

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This paper examines whether an experimental intervention for girls aged 14-19 that provided reproductive health information, vocational counseling and training, and assistance with opening savings accounts in slum areas of Allahabad in Uttar pradesh, India, had an effect on their attitudes and behaviours. A quasi-experimental pre- and post-test design was used in which adolescent girls were compared with girls of the same age residing in control-area slums. Although the livelihoods program was acceptable to parents and feasible to implement, the project had only a minimal impact on the behaviour and attitudes of adolescent girls taking part in the project. Girls exposed to the intervention were significantly more likely to have knowledge of safe spaces, be a member of a group, score higher on the social skills index, be informed about reproductive health, and spend time on leisure activities than were the matched control respondents. No effect was found on gender role attitudes, mobility, self-esteem, work expectations, or on number of hours visiting friends, performing domestic chores, or engaging in labour market work

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