Empowering Adolescent Girls in a Crisis Context : Lessons from Sierra Leone in the Time of Ebola
In Sierra Leone, the empowerment and livelihoods for adolescents (ELA) initiative sought to enhance adolescent girls’ social and economic empowerment by providing life skills training, livelihood training, and credit support to start income-generat...
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| Format: | Brief |
| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2019
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/848841562216765266/Empowering-Adolescent-Girls-in-a-Crisis-Context-Lessons-from-Sierra-Leone-in-the-Time-of-Ebola http://hdl.handle.net/10986/32115 |
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okr-10986-321152021-05-25T10:54:41Z Empowering Adolescent Girls in a Crisis Context : Lessons from Sierra Leone in the Time of Ebola Bandiera, Oriana Buehren, Niklas Goldstein, Markus Rasul, Imran Smurra, Andrea GENDER INNOVATION LAB AFRICA GENDER POLICY ADOLESCENT GIRL WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT LIFE SKILLS TRAINING REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH ACCESS TO FINANCE EBOLA LABOR MARKET FEMALE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION CONTRACEPTIVES SCHOOL ENROLLMENT GENDER GAP WOMEN AND YOUTH EMPLOYMENT In Sierra Leone, the empowerment and livelihoods for adolescents (ELA) initiative sought to enhance adolescent girls’ social and economic empowerment by providing life skills training, livelihood training, and credit support to start income-generating activities. The Ebola crisis occurred during the project, resulting in curbed implementation. In contrast, younger girls (12 to 17 years old) who resided in communities that benefitted from the program in high Ebola disruption areas were more likely to be in school and saw their numeracy and literacy levels improve. However, as younger women spend less time with men in the presence of ELA, men likely shift their attention to older girls: the evaluation finds an increase in unwanted and transactional sex by older girls in areas highly exposed to the Ebola crisis. As the program was implemented, the Ebola epidemic hit Sierra Leone. First, in an effort to stem the spread of the disease, the government-imposed quarantines, limited travel, and closed public spaces such as markets in certain areas, which significantly impacted the economic activities of men and women. Second, schools were closed for an entire academic year. Finally, Sierra Leone’s limited health resources were diverted into caring for patients and preventing the spread of the epidemic, limiting their ability to attend to other issues such as sexual and reproductive health. These results show how safe spaces interventions can be effective even in the face of large-scale shocks such as Ebola crises as seen in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda, as well as other shocks constraining economic and social life, by buffering girls from the adverse effects of crises. 2019-07-17T19:41:27Z 2019-07-17T19:41:27Z 2019-07 Brief http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/848841562216765266/Empowering-Adolescent-Girls-in-a-Crisis-Context-Lessons-from-Sierra-Leone-in-the-Time-of-Ebola http://hdl.handle.net/10986/32115 English Gender Innovation Lab Policy Brief;No. 34 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Brief Africa Sierra Leone |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English |
| topic |
GENDER INNOVATION LAB AFRICA GENDER POLICY ADOLESCENT GIRL WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT LIFE SKILLS TRAINING REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH ACCESS TO FINANCE EBOLA LABOR MARKET FEMALE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION CONTRACEPTIVES SCHOOL ENROLLMENT GENDER GAP WOMEN AND YOUTH EMPLOYMENT |
| spellingShingle |
GENDER INNOVATION LAB AFRICA GENDER POLICY ADOLESCENT GIRL WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT LIFE SKILLS TRAINING REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH ACCESS TO FINANCE EBOLA LABOR MARKET FEMALE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION CONTRACEPTIVES SCHOOL ENROLLMENT GENDER GAP WOMEN AND YOUTH EMPLOYMENT Bandiera, Oriana Buehren, Niklas Goldstein, Markus Rasul, Imran Smurra, Andrea Empowering Adolescent Girls in a Crisis Context : Lessons from Sierra Leone in the Time of Ebola |
| geographic_facet |
Africa Sierra Leone |
| relation |
Gender Innovation Lab Policy Brief;No. 34 |
| description |
In Sierra Leone, the empowerment and
livelihoods for adolescents (ELA) initiative sought to
enhance adolescent girls’ social and economic empowerment by
providing life skills training, livelihood training, and
credit support to start income-generating activities. The
Ebola crisis occurred during the project, resulting in
curbed implementation. In contrast, younger girls (12 to 17
years old) who resided in communities that benefitted from
the program in high Ebola disruption areas were more likely
to be in school and saw their numeracy and literacy levels
improve. However, as younger women spend less time with men
in the presence of ELA, men likely shift their attention to
older girls: the evaluation finds an increase in unwanted
and transactional sex by older girls in areas highly exposed
to the Ebola crisis. As the program was implemented, the
Ebola epidemic hit Sierra Leone. First, in an effort to stem
the spread of the disease, the government-imposed
quarantines, limited travel, and closed public spaces such
as markets in certain areas, which significantly impacted
the economic activities of men and women. Second, schools
were closed for an entire academic year. Finally, Sierra
Leone’s limited health resources were diverted into caring
for patients and preventing the spread of the epidemic,
limiting their ability to attend to other issues such as
sexual and reproductive health. These results show how safe
spaces interventions can be effective even in the face of
large-scale shocks such as Ebola crises as seen in
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda, as well as
other shocks constraining economic and social life, by
buffering girls from the adverse effects of crises. |
| format |
Brief |
| author |
Bandiera, Oriana Buehren, Niklas Goldstein, Markus Rasul, Imran Smurra, Andrea |
| author_facet |
Bandiera, Oriana Buehren, Niklas Goldstein, Markus Rasul, Imran Smurra, Andrea |
| author_sort |
Bandiera, Oriana |
| title |
Empowering Adolescent Girls in a Crisis Context : Lessons from Sierra Leone in the Time of Ebola |
| title_short |
Empowering Adolescent Girls in a Crisis Context : Lessons from Sierra Leone in the Time of Ebola |
| title_full |
Empowering Adolescent Girls in a Crisis Context : Lessons from Sierra Leone in the Time of Ebola |
| title_fullStr |
Empowering Adolescent Girls in a Crisis Context : Lessons from Sierra Leone in the Time of Ebola |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Empowering Adolescent Girls in a Crisis Context : Lessons from Sierra Leone in the Time of Ebola |
| title_sort |
empowering adolescent girls in a crisis context : lessons from sierra leone in the time of ebola |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2019 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/848841562216765266/Empowering-Adolescent-Girls-in-a-Crisis-Context-Lessons-from-Sierra-Leone-in-the-Time-of-Ebola http://hdl.handle.net/10986/32115 |
| _version_ |
1764475817073573888 |