Adolescent Girls in Zambia : Introduction and Overview

Adolescence is a time of transitions that foster both challenges and opportunities. Indeed, 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, and yet it is the same perio...

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Main Authors:	Naudeau, Sophie, Hasan, Rifat, Bakilana, Anne
Format:	Brief
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2016
Subjects:	ADOLESCENT TEENAGE PREGNANCY FERTILITY DEMOGRAPHIC DIVIDEND EARLY MARRIAGE SKILLS SCHOOL GIRLS EDUCATION
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/24597

id	okr-10986-24597
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-245972021-04-23T14:04:22Z Adolescent Girls in Zambia : Introduction and Overview Naudeau, Sophie Hasan, Rifat Bakilana, Anne ADOLESCENT TEENAGE PREGNANCY FERTILITY DEMOGRAPHIC DIVIDEND EARLY MARRIAGE SKILLS SCHOOL GIRLS EDUCATION Adolescence is a time of transitions that foster both challenges and opportunities. Indeed, 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, and yet it is the same period when social norms create pathways largely defined by gender. Poverty and ethnic minority status can further magnify gender discrepancies for youth worldwide, as reductions in household spending on education, health care, and nutrition are often more likely to affect adolescent girls than boys. In Zambia, adolescents make up 24% of the total population, a substantial proportion that is expected to become higher than neighboring countries if current trends continue. The high prevalence of child marriage and teenage pregnancy among Zambian girls greatly contributes to the high fertility and population growth trends, and is also closely interrelated with a range of economic and socio-cultural determinants that perpetuate a vicious cycle for the poorest and most vulnerable girls and have costly consequences for them and for the nation as a whole. In order to initiate the potential for a demographic dividend, Zambia will need to initiate a demographic transition. Reducing child marriage and teenage pregnancy can significantly contribute to the fertility declines needed to accelerate this demographic transition and would lead to better life outcomes for adolescent girls and better opportunities for the next generation. Accordingly, this series of policy briefs focuses on four key areas of interventions (or pillars) as follows: (i) maintaining girls in school; (ii) equipping out-of-school girls with skills; and (iii) beginning a family and supporting girls to adopt healthy lifestyles; and (iv) addressing the child development needs of children born to teenage mothers. 2016-06-23T22:53:21Z 2016-06-23T22:53:21Z 2015-11 Brief http://hdl.handle.net/10986/24597 English en_US Policy Brief Zambia; CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Brief Zambia
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	English en_US
topic	ADOLESCENT TEENAGE PREGNANCY FERTILITY DEMOGRAPHIC DIVIDEND EARLY MARRIAGE SKILLS SCHOOL GIRLS EDUCATION
spellingShingle	ADOLESCENT TEENAGE PREGNANCY FERTILITY DEMOGRAPHIC DIVIDEND EARLY MARRIAGE SKILLS SCHOOL GIRLS EDUCATION Naudeau, Sophie Hasan, Rifat Bakilana, Anne Adolescent Girls in Zambia : Introduction and Overview
geographic_facet	Zambia
relation	Policy Brief Zambia;
description	Adolescence is a time of transitions that foster both challenges and opportunities. Indeed, 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, and yet it is the same period when social norms create pathways largely defined by gender. Poverty and ethnic minority status can further magnify gender discrepancies for youth worldwide, as reductions in household spending on education, health care, and nutrition are often more likely to affect adolescent girls than boys. In Zambia, adolescents make up 24% of the total population, a substantial proportion that is expected to become higher than neighboring countries if current trends continue. The high prevalence of child marriage and teenage pregnancy among Zambian girls greatly contributes to the high fertility and population growth trends, and is also closely interrelated with a range of economic and socio-cultural determinants that perpetuate a vicious cycle for the poorest and most vulnerable girls and have costly consequences for them and for the nation as a whole. In order to initiate the potential for a demographic dividend, Zambia will need to initiate a demographic transition. Reducing child marriage and teenage pregnancy can significantly contribute to the fertility declines needed to accelerate this demographic transition and would lead to better life outcomes for adolescent girls and better opportunities for the next generation. Accordingly, this series of policy briefs focuses on four key areas of interventions (or pillars) as follows: (i) maintaining girls in school; (ii) equipping out-of-school girls with skills; and (iii) beginning a family and supporting girls to adopt healthy lifestyles; and (iv) addressing the child development needs of children born to teenage mothers.
format	Brief
author	Naudeau, Sophie Hasan, Rifat Bakilana, Anne
author_facet	Naudeau, Sophie Hasan, Rifat Bakilana, Anne
author_sort	Naudeau, Sophie
title	Adolescent Girls in Zambia : Introduction and Overview
title_short	Adolescent Girls in Zambia : Introduction and Overview
title_full	Adolescent Girls in Zambia : Introduction and Overview
title_fullStr	Adolescent Girls in Zambia : Introduction and Overview
title_full_unstemmed	Adolescent Girls in Zambia : Introduction and Overview
title_sort	adolescent girls in zambia : introduction and overview
publisher	World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate	2016
url	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/24597
_version_	1764457145184550912

Adolescent Girls in Zambia : Introduction and Overview

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