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

Reaching the Girls Left Behind: Investing in Adolescent Girls in Ghana . Presenter: Forum: Date:. 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

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

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  1. Reaching the Girls Left Behind: Investing in Adolescent Girls in Ghana Presenter: Forum: Date:

  2. 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)

  3. Policy Context and Legal Framework • Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) signatory • Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) signatory • Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy • Ghana Vision 2020 • Youth centered policy attention toward education and employment

  4. 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 only with 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 a 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 (e.g. over 10%) • Girls living in districts with high rates of HIV or other serious illness—putting them at risk of disease; having to cope with social and economic stressors of disease • Girls in domestic service or other potentially exploitative work

  5. PHOTO of beneficiaries or program… • All data, graphs and maps are drawn from the 2003 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey, unless otherwise noted

  6. Where are the girls living, and with whom do they live? • In Ghana, most 10-19 year olds live in rural areas • Girls 10-14: • 58% live in rural areas • Boys 10-14: • 61% live in rural areas • Girls 15-19: • 47% live in rural areas • Boys 15-19: • 54% live in rural areas • 29% of girls, and 23% of boys 10-14 live apart from both their parents • 32% of girls, and 33% of boys 10-14 live with only one parent (usually with their mother)

  7. Social isolation among young girls greatly increases their vulnerability to exploitation • In Ghana: • 7% of girls 10-14 are not in school and not living with either parent • In some regions up to 15% are not in school and not living with either parent • 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 an d 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): 227–245

  8. In addition to the educational experience, out-of-school girls lose out on critical social opportunities and friendships with same sex peers • In Ghana: • 37% of all school-aged girls are not in school • In some regions up to 60% of school-aged girls are not in school • In all regions, girls are more likely than boys to be out of school

  9. School enrollment differs—often drastically—by gender, age, and area of residence (Percent Enrolled in School) • Rural girls have the lowest school enrollment overall • School drop-out increases among both rural and urban girls around age 13

  10. School Enrollment among 15-19 Year Olds • In Ghana, only 34% of rural girls are attending secondary school • Over half of all girls 15-19 are not in school

  11. Percent of 15 Year Old Girls In Grade 6 or Below • In Ghana, 28% of 15 year olds 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/documents/CBLloyd-final.pdf

  12. Child Marriage among 20-24 Year Old Females • Marriage under age 18 is considered illegal child marriage according to CRC and CEDAW- Ghana is signatory to both • In Ghana: • 12% of girls are married by age 15 in some regions • 39% of rural and 18% of urban girls are married by age 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

  13. Illiteracy among Females (20-24) Married by 15 • In Ghana, the illiteracy rate among girls married by 15 is as high as 82%; 34% of 15-19 year olds and 52% of 20-24 year olds 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

  14. HIV Prevalence and Testing among Females 15-24 Years Old(Percent of girls 15-24 who have had an HIV test in the past year) • In Ghana, HIV prevalence among adults 15-49 is 1.9%; prevalence among 15-24 year old females is 1.3%, while for men it is 0.4% (a ratio of 3:1)⁴ • Only 1.5% of 15-19 year olds and 3.5% 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: Ghana 2008 http://www.who.int/globalatlas/predefinedReports/EFS2008/full/EFS2008_GH.pdf

  15. Delivery Assistance among 20-24 Year Olds Varies by the Mother’s Residence • In Ghana, only 31% of 20-24 year olds and 77% of urban 20-24 year olds received assistance from a health professional at their last birth

  16. Our Mission

  17. The Girls We Are Most Interested In, and Why: • Who are they? • What are the conditions and status that most concern the organization?

  18. The Specific Conditions our Program Addresses at the Level of the Girl:

  19. Our Interventions Include: • Input: • Intensity: (How often, how many girls)

  20. At the Level of Girls We Hope to: • Expected Results at the level of the girls

  21. Resources Needed to Do Our Work:

  22. 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/InvestingWhenItCounts.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 Building Assets for Safe, Productive Lives: A Report on a Workshop on Adolescent Girls' Livelihoods.  www.popcouncil.org/pdfs/BuildingAssets_Oct05.pdf Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood, series of briefs all available at www.popcouncil.org/gfd/TA_Briefs_List.html

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