Reaching the Girls Left Behind: Investing in Adolescent Girls in Kenya

1
Reaching the Girls Left Behind Investing in
Adolescent Girls in Kenya

• Presenter
• Forum
• Date

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Why is investing in adolescent girls so
important?

• What little policy attention and investment
  there is in adolescents does not reach the most
  vulnerable girls
• Investing in the most vulnerable adolescent
  girls is a key development and social justice
  strategy investments in girls are particularly
  urgent if national Millennium Development Goals
  are to be met with respect to
• Building a strong economic base, reversing
  inter-generational poverty (Increased female
  control of income has far stronger returns to
  human capital and other investments than
  comparable income under male control)
• Achieving universal primary education (the most
  deprived sector is rural girls)
• Promoting gender equality (gender based violence
  and harmful traditional practices drive high and
  unwanted fertility, maternal mortality, and HIV)
• Reducing maternal mortality and related infant
  mortality (selective of youngest and first time
  mothers)
• Reversing the rising tide of HIV in young people
  (girls and young women, including child mothers,
  are likely to bear an increasing and
  disproportionate share of HIV infections)
• Reducing rapid population growth (eliminating
  child marriage could have a synergistic impact on
  all three elements of future population growth)

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Policy Context and Legal Framework

• Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
  signatory
• Kenyan Children's Rights Act (2001)
• Convention on the Elimination of all forms of
  Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) signatory
• Kenya Poverty Reduction Strategy
• Youth centered policy attention toward universal
  primary and secondary education employed youth
  youth-headed households

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Who are the most vulnerable girls?

• Girls (10-14) who are not in school and not
  living with either parent
• Girls (10-14) living with neither parent or
  living with only one parent (usually their
  mother)
• Girls who are not in school, not at grade for
  age, or otherwise at risk for leaving school
• Married girls (10-19)
• Girls living in districts where significant
  proportion of girls are married as children (e.g.
  10 under 15 40 under 18)
• Girls living in districts where a high proportion
  of first sex is forced or tricked (e.g. over 10)
• Girls living in districts with high rates of HIV
  or other serious illnessputting them at risk of
  disease having to cope with social and economic
  stressors of disease
• Girls in domestic service or other potentially
  exploitative work

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PHOTO of beneficiaries or program

• All data, graphs and maps are drawn from the 2003
  Kenya Demographic and Health Survey, unless
  otherwise noted

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Where are the girls living, and with whom do they
live?

• In Kenya, most 10-19 year olds live in rural
  areas
• Girls 10-14
• 85 live in rural areas
• Boys 10-14
• 87 live in rural areas
• Girls 15-19
• 79 live in rural areas
• Boys 15-19
• 84 live in rural areas

• 20 of girls, and 19 of boys 10-14 live apart
  from both their parents
• 31 of girls, and 30 of boys 10-14 live with
  only one parent (usually with their mother)

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Social isolation among young girls greatly
increases their vulnerability to exploitation

• In Kenya
• 3 of all girls 10-14 are not in school and not
  living with either parent
• In urban areas, girls are twice as likely as boys
  to be out of school and living with neither
  parent
• In some regions up to 9 of girls are socially
  isolated
• In general
• Social isolation increases the vulnerability to
  exploitation
• Girls not in school and not living with either
  parent are at exceptionally high risk of poor
  health and social outcomes and have less access
  to social and youth services¹
• ¹Bruce, Judith and Kelly Hallman. 2008. "Reaching
  the girls left behind," Gender and Development
  16(2) 227245

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In addition to the educational experience
out-of-school girls lose out on critical social
opportunities and friendships with same sex peers

• In Kenya
• 15 of all school-aged girls are not in school
• In some regions up to 72 of school-aged girls
  are not in school
• In all regions, girls are more likely than boys
  to be out of school

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School enrollment differsoften drasticallyby
gender, age, and area of residence (Percent
Enrolled in School)

• In Kenya, urban girls have the lowest school
  enrollment overall
• School drop-out increases among both rural and
  urban girls between ages 10 and 11

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School Enrollment among 15-19 Year Olds

• In Kenya, only 15 of 15-19 year old girls are
  attending secondary school
• Half of all girls 15-19 are not in school in
  urban areas 65 are not in school

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Percent of 15 Year Old Girls In Grade 6 or Below

• In Kenya, 37 of 15 year olds girls are in grade
  6 or below
• In general, girls who are significantly behind
  are more likely to be married and have children,
  engage in sexual activity and less likely to
  access basic health and other services²
• ²Lloyd, Cynthia B. 2004. Schooling and
  Adolescent Reproductive Behavior in Developing
  Countries, paper commissioned for the United
  Nations Millennium Project. New York Population
  Council. http//www.unmillenniumproject.org/docume
  nts/CBLloyd-final.pdf

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Child Marriage among 20-24 Year Old Females

• Marriage under age 18 is considered illegal child
  marriage according to CRC and CEDAW- Kenya is
  signatory to both
• In Kenya
• Up to 16 of girls are married by 15 in some
  regions
• 27 of rural and 19 of urban girls are married
  by 18
• In general
• Child marriage is often justified by gender norms
  and economic conditions
• Being out of school at 10-14 is a risk factor for
  child marriage in some settings
• What investment there is in girls usually stops
  at marriage
• Married girls are rarely in school and the
  youngest first time mothers and their children
  are at particularly high risk of poor outcomes³
• ³Haberland, Nicole. 2007. Supporting Married
  Girls, Calling Attention to a Neglected Group
  Transitions to Adulthood, Brief 3. Population
  Council

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Illiteracy among Females (15-24) Married by 15

• In Kenya, illiteracy rates among girls married by
  15 are as high as 62 nationally, 14 of 15-24
  year old girls are illiterate
• In general illiteracy rates are higher for girls
  married by 15 than for their unmarried peers
• Policy has often given more attention to
  unmarried girls than to the rights of schooling
  for married girls

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Females 15-24 that have Experienced Physical
Violence

• In Kenya, 44 of all 15-24 year old females
  have experienced physical violence, in some
  regions up to 70 have experienced violence
• In general, gender based violence is justified
  by cultural norms
• Most violence happens at the hands of partners

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HIV Prevalence and Testing among Females 15-24
Years Old(Percent of females (15-24) who have
had an HIV test in the past year)

• In Kenya, HIV prevalence among 15-24 year old
  females is between 4.6 and 8.4 while for men
  it is 0.8 and 2.5 (31 ratio)4
• Only 4 of 15-19 year olds and 10 of 20-24 year
  olds had an HIV test in the past year
• In general, in Sub-Saharan Africa the HIV
  epidemic is increasingly affecting young, poorer
  females
• 4Epidemiological Fact Sheet on HIV and AIDS
  Kenya 2008 http//www.who.int/GlobalAtlas/predefin
  edReports/EFS2008/index.asp

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Delivery Assistance among 20-24 Year
OldsAssistance Varies by Mothers Residence

• In Kenya, 75 of urban 20-24 year olds while only
  40 of rural 20-24 year olds received assistance
  from a health professional at last birth

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Our Mission
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The Girls We Are Most Interested In, and Why

• Who are they?
• What are the conditions and status that most
  concern the organization?

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The Specific Conditions our Program Addresses at
the Level of the Girl
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Our Interventions Include

• Input
• Intensity (How often, how many)

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At the Level of Girls We Hope to

• Expected Results at the level of the girls

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Resources Needed to Do Our Work
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Additional Resources Bruce, Judith and Erica
Chong. 2006. "The diverse universe of
adolescents, and the girls and boys left behind
A note on research, program and policy
priorities," background paper to the report
Public Choices, Private Decisions Sexual and
Reproductive Health and the Millennium
Development Goals. New York UN Millennium
Project.  offsite PDF www.unmillenniumproject.org
/documents/Bruce_and_Chong-final.pdf Chong,
Erica, Kelly Hallman, and Martha Brady.  2006. 
Investing When it Counts Generating the evidence
base for policies and programmes for very young
adolescents. New York  UNFPA and Population
Council. http//www.popcouncil.org/pdfs/InvestingW
henItCounts.pdf Lloyd, Cynthia B. 2004.
Schooling and Adolescent Reproductive Behavior
in Developing Countries, paper commissioned for
the United Nations Millennium Project. New York
Population Council. http//www.unmillenniumproject
.org/documents/CBLloyd-final.pdf Meyers, Carey.
2000. Adolescent Girls' Livelihoods. Essential
Questions, Essential Tools A Report on a
Workshop. New York and Washington, DC Population
Council and the International Center for Research
on Women.  www.popcouncil.org/pdfs/adoles.pdf   Bu
ilding Assets for Safe, Productive Lives A
Report on a Workshop on Adolescent Girls'
Livelihoods.  www.popcouncil.org/pdfs/BuildingAsse
ts_Oct05.pdf   Promoting Healthy, Safe, and
Productive Transitions to Adulthood, series of
briefs all available at www.popcouncil.org/gfd/TA_
Briefs_List.html