What is the impact of economic asset-building and/or protecting programmes for girls in low- and lower-middle income countries, and fragile states? What are girls’ and young women’s views and experiences of participating in such programmes?
This systematic review finds that a modest but growing evidence base suggests that providing girls and women with access to economic assets and developing their skills can improve their ability to generate an income, increase the amount they save, support school participation and increase overall sexual health knowledge. However, it concludes that claims that this will increase their economic standing in society overall, lead to better further educational or career choices or improve long-term sexual health outcomes cannot be made.
The studies reporting on girls and young women’s views suggest that social, practical and financial support is required if they are to maintain safe and active economic participation in society.
Eighteen relevant studies were explored in-depth to verify whether the evidence supported the hypothesis that supporting access to economic assets for females at an early age increased their chances of moving out of poverty and increased their ability to participate in economic growth in adulthood. The review focused on three types of economic asset intervention: educational incentives, livelihood programmes, and reproductive health programmes.
Studies on the impact of programmes on educational outcomes showed that although there are positive findings for young women’s school participation, educational incentive programmes can actually have a negative impact on boys’ participation in school. Additionally, evidence from four studies suggested that livelihood and reproductive health programmes can improve young women’s knowledge and attitudes about STIs and protecting oneself from unwanted pregnancy.
However, despite the changes in attitude and knowledge, there is no evidence that these interventions increase young women’s condom and contraceptive use. This indicates that although some evidence suggests that young women will exercise more power in their sexual relationships due to increased reproductive health awareness, there is no definitive evidence to support this.
Despite the limited rigorous evidence that exists to support economic interventions that specifically target young girls and women, there has been increased support from the international development community to address the challenges that exist in the lives of young girls and young women.
This review highlights the need for further high quality research that enables better monitoring, evaluation and assessment of the impact of economic asset-building programme interventions. These studies will need to be long term in order to assess the extent to which these outcomes are maintained or improved in adulthood.
