Empowering Adolescent Girls through Safe Spaces and Accompanying Measures in Côte d’Ivoire

Othmane Boulhane, Claire Elise Boxho, Désiré Kanga, Estelle Koussoubé and Léa Rouanet

No 10721, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: This paper uses a cluster-randomized controlled trial to examine the effects of a large-scale girls’ empowerment program on sexual and reproductive health and empowerment outcomes in Côte d’Ivoire. The analysis evaluates the impacts of safe spaces—where adolescents and young women receive life skills training and sexual and reproductive health education—implemented either alone or in conjunction with accompanying mea-sures, including livelihood support interventions, husbands’ and future husbands’ clubs and engagement of community and religious leaders. One year after interventions ended, safe spaces alone improve knowledge, attitudes, and SRH behavior but not economic outcomes or decision-making. When combined with husbands’ clubs, safe spaces yield substantially greater impacts across multiple domains including economic outcomes and decision-making. The combination of safe spaces, husbands’ clubs, and leaders’ engagement yields the largest impacts. However, combining safe spaces with liveli-hood support significantly increases pregnancy, and leaders’ engagement yields mixed results. These findings underscore that adolescent-centered interventions are valuable but insufficient for structural empowerment. Systematic engagement of male household gatekeepers and leaders is critical.

Date: 2024-03-13
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