Empowering Adolescent Girls in a Crisis Context: Lessons from Sierra Leone in the Time of Ebola

Bandiera, Oriana; Buehren, Niklas; Goldstein, Markus; Rasul, Imran; Smurra, Andrea

doi:10.1596/32115

Cited by 9 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Girls in the COVID-19 cohort were also three times as likely to drop out of school. During Ebola many countries employed school closures as a policy response to contain the outbreak; however, long after schools reopened, school enrolment of young girls remained significantly lower than pre-Ebola 33 34. These impacts disproportionately affect lower income and more marginalised students and particularly older adolescents who take on additional paid or unpaid work during crises 35 36.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on adolescent pregnancy and school dropout among secondary schoolgirls in Kenya

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

IntroductionSecondary school closures aimed at limiting the number of infections and deaths due to COVID-19 may have amplified the negative sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and schooling outcomes of vulnerable adolescent girls. This study aimed to measure pandemic-related effects on adolescent pregnancy and school dropout among school-going girls in Kenya.MethodsWe report longitudinal findings of 910 girls in their last 2 years of secondary school. The study took place in 12 secondary day schools in rural western Kenya between 2018 and 2021. Using a causal-comparative design, we compared SRH and schooling outcomes among 403 girls who graduated after completion of their final school examinations in November 2019 pre-pandemic with 507 girls who experienced disrupted schooling due to COVID-19 and sat examinations in March 2021. Unadjusted and adjusted generalised linear mixed models were used to investigate the effect of COVID-19-related school closures and restrictions on all outcomes of interest and on incident pregnancy.ResultsAt study initiation, the mean age of participants was 17.2 (IQR: 16.4–17.9) for girls in the pre-COVID-19 cohort and 17.5 (IQR: 16.5–18.4) for girls in the COVID-19 cohort. Girls experiencing COVID-19 containment measures had twice the risk of falling pregnant prior to completing secondary school after adjustment for age, household wealth and orphanhood status (adjusted risk ratio (aRR)=2.11; 95% CI:1.13 to 3.95, p=0.019); three times the risk of school dropout (aRR=3.03; 95% CI: 1.55 to 5.95, p=0.001) and 3.4 times the risk of school transfer prior to examinations (aRR=3.39; 95% CI: 1.70 to 6.77, p=0.001) relative to pre-COVID-19 learners. Girls in the COVID-19 cohort were more likely to be sexually active (aRR=1.28; 95% CI: 1.09 to 1.51, p=0.002) and less likely to report their first sex as desired (aRR=0.49; 95% CI: 0.37 to 0.65, p<0.001). These girls reported increased hours of non-school-related work (3.32 hours per day vs 2.63 hours per day in the pre-COVID-19 cohort, aRR=1.92; 95% CI: 1.92 to 2.99, p=0.004). In the COVID-19 cohort, 80.5% reported worsening household economic status and COVID-19-related stress was common.ConclusionThe COVID-19 pandemic deleteriously affected the SRH of girls and amplified school transfer and dropout. Appropriate programmes and interventions that help buffer the effects of population-level emergencies on school-going adolescents are warranted.Trial registration numberNCT03051789.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on adolescent pregnancy and school dropout among secondary schoolgirls in Kenya

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The study found that group membership decreased the amount of time adolescent girls spent with men, decreased out-of-wedlock pregnancy by 7.5 percentage points, and increased school attendance by 8.5 percentage points. In a follow-up analysis, the positive effects persisted in higher human capital accumulation (increased school enrolment at higher levels of education) over time for group members ( Bandiera et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Women's groups, covariate shocks, and resilience: An evidence synthesis of past shocks to inform a response to COVID-19

Walcott

Schmidt

Kaminsky³

et al. 2023

Gates Open Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Interventions with women’s groups are increasingly seen as an important strategy for advancing women’s empowerment, health, and economic outcomes in low- and middle-income countries, with the potential to increase the resiliency of members and their communities during widespread covariate shocks, such as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Methods: This evidence synthesis compiles evidence from past shocks on women’s group activities and the extent to which women’s groups mitigate the effects of shocks on members and communities. We reviewed 90 documents from academic databases, organizational reports, and additional gray literature, and included literature diverse in geography, type of women’s group, and shock. Results: The literature suggests that covariate shocks tend to disrupt group activities and reduce group resources, but linkages to formal institutions can mitigate this impact by extending credit beyond the shock-affected resource pool. Evidence was largely supportive of women’s groups providing resilience to members and communities, though findings varied according to shock severity, group purpose and structure, and outcome measures. Further, actions to support individual resilience during a shock, such as increased payment flexibility, may run counter to group resilience. The findings of the evidence synthesis are largely consistent with emerging evidence about women’s groups and COVID-19 in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Conclusions: We finalize the paper with a discussion on policy implications, including the importance of sustainable access to financial resources for women’s group members; equity considerations surrounding the distribution of group benefits and burdens; and the potential for meaningful partnerships between women’s groups and local governments and/or non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to enhance community response amidst crises.

show abstract

“…Some previous studies provide an indication of how effective protection for adolescent girls might look like. The “Empowerment and Livelihood for Adolescents (ELA)” programme targeted at adolescent girls to alleviate the harmful impacts of school closures in Sierra Leone during the Ebola epidemic in 2013–16 might be a useful example [ 52 ]. ELA provided safe spaces for girls to socialise with each other and receive vocational training – thereby reducing the time spent with men and the risk of early pregnancies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Association between public health emergencies and sexual and reproductive health, gender-based violence, and early marriage among adolescent girls: a rapid review

2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background As COVID-19 continues to impact lives and livelihoods around the world, women and girls are disproportionately affected. Crisis situations and related response measures, such as lockdowns, school closures, and travel restrictions, often exacerbate the adversities and human rights violations faced by adolescent girls. We conducted a rapid review to synthesise evidence on the impact of public health emergencies (PHEs) related to gender-based inequalities among adolescent girls. Methods We systematically searched five major databases. Records were imported into the online screening tool Rayyan, and 10% of the records were triple screened for eligibility. We included qualitative, mixed-methods, and quantitative studies that assessed the relationship between PHEs and any of the following outcomes: (1) gender-based violence, (2) early/forced marriage, and (3) sexual and reproductive health. Due to the heterogeneity of included study designs, no meta-analysis was performed, and studies were summarised narratively. Findings Out the initial 6004 articles, 11 studies met our eligibility criteria. Five of these assessed the impact of natural disasters and six were focused on consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Seven studies focused on the impact of PHEs on gender-based violence, three focused on sexual and reproductive health, and only one study looked at early marriage. The main impacts highlighted by the studies included (1) increases in physical, psychological, and sexual abuse, (2) increase in the occurrence of teenage pregnancy, (3) poor menstruation hygiene management, and (4) occurrence of early marriages. Mechanisms underlying these impacts were PHE-specific response strategies like home confinement, closure of schools, the worsening of families’ financial situation such as the inability to pay for school fees or day-to-day living costs, and the disempowerment of and increased workloads for adolescent girls. Conclusion Although evidence on the impact of COVID-19 on gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive health, and especially forced or early marriage of adolescent girls is limited, results from studies on other PHEs indicate that during crises, these detrimental outcomes are exacerbated. Findings from our review have important implications for policies and programs providing life skills training, financial literacy training, credit support, and safe spaces for adolescent girls.

show abstract

Empowering Adolescent Girls in a Crisis Context: Lessons from Sierra Leone in the Time of Ebola

Cited by 9 publications

References 0 publications

Impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on adolescent pregnancy and school dropout among secondary schoolgirls in Kenya

Impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on adolescent pregnancy and school dropout among secondary schoolgirls in Kenya

Women's groups, covariate shocks, and resilience: An evidence synthesis of past shocks to inform a response to COVID-19

Association between public health emergencies and sexual and reproductive health, gender-based violence, and early marriage among adolescent girls: a rapid review

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About