Exploring the Intersection of Adolescent Girls’ Reproductive Health and Economic Empowerment

1. Exploring the Intersection of Adolescent Girls’ Reproductive Health and Economic Empowerment Joy Cunningham Senior Technical Officer, Research Utilization FHI 360

2. Adolescent girls face multiple sexual and reproductive health challenges and economic disparities

3. Sexual and Reproductive Health of Adolescent Girls Adolescent girls face: • Increased vulnerability to HIV and other STIs • High rates of sexual violence • High rates of pregnancy • Increased risk of maternal mortality and morbidity • High rates of early marriage

4. Economic Inequality Among Adolescent Girls • 70% of out-of-school youth are girls • Young women are less likely to be employed than young men • Young women earn lower wages than young men • Adolescent girls have more household responsibilities than boys • Social and gender norms hinder economic opportunity • Social isolation reduces adolescent girls’ ability to find work

5. Economic disparity is both a cause and a consequence of negative sexual and reproductive health outcomes

6. Economic Disparity is a Cause of Negative SRH Outcomes Girls with low socioeconomic standing (SES) are at risk of: • Intergenerational relationships • Early marriage • Transactional sex • Sexual violence • Intimate partner violence

7. Negative SRH Outcomes are a Cause of Economic Disparity Early and unintended pregnancy • Girls who become pregnant are more likely to leave school early, bear more children at shorter intervals, and have a lower income throughout their lifetime HIV infection • Possible cognitive impairment with long-termARV use • Inability to work because of illness • Stigma surrounding HIV can affect the ability to find and keep work • Vulnerability among females is exacerbated by the informal nature of work

8. IYWG and Economic Empowerment for YSRH FHI 360 manages the technical content for USAID’s Interagency Youth Working Group (IYWG) • YouthLens brief on the intersection of economic empowerment and youth sexual and reproductive health • Upcoming e-forum discussion on multisectoral programs for youth • New topic pages on IYWG.org underway— Livelihoods, Conditional Cash Transfer

9. Today’s Panel • Population Council’s "SiyakhaNentsha" initiative • ICRW and CARE Ethiopia’s TESFA initiative • Restless Development’s Youth Empowerment and Right to Return programs • FHI 360’s STRIVE program