Adolescent Girls in Zambia : Executive Summary
Adolescence (defined here as 10 to 19 years of age) is a time of transition that fosters both challenges and opportunities. Choices made during adolescence not only have immediate consequences but also greatly influence the economic opportunities, health outcomes, and skill sets attained later...
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| Format: | Brief |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2016
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10986/24576 |
| Summary: | Adolescence (defined here as 10 to 19 years
of age) is a time of transition that fosters
both challenges and opportunities. Choices
made during adolescence not only have
immediate consequences but also greatly
influence the economic opportunities, health
outcomes, and skill sets attained later in life.
Yet adolescence is also a period when social
norms create pathways defined largely by
gender. During adolescence, gendered roles
and responsibilities often create opportunities
for males, but curtail them for girls. Zambia’s persistently
high fertility combined with decreasing
mortality is not only causing high population
growth but also creating a large share of
youth dependents, giving way to higher
dependency ratios which result in low
investments in human capital and productivity.
In Zambia, adolescents make up a
substantial 24 percent of the population,
and the already large number of adolescents
is expected to more than double in the
upcoming decades from 3.7 million to
9.8 million in 2050, adding challenges for
society to provide health, education and job
training services to prepare them for a
productive future. |
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