Exploring the Intersection of Adolescent Girls’ Reproductive Health and Economic Empowerment

Joy Cunningham Senior Technical Officer, Research UtilizationFHI 360

Adolescent girls face multiple sexual and reproductive health challenges and

economic disparities

Sexual and Reproductive Health of Adolescent Girls

Adolescent girls face:

• Increased vulnerability to HIV and other STIs

• High rates of sexual violence

• High rates of pregnancy

• Increased risk of maternal mortality and morbidity

• High rates of early marriage

Economic Inequality Among Adolescent Girls

• 70% of out-of-school youth are girls

• Young women are less likely to be employed than young men

• Young women earn lower wages than young men

• Adolescent girls have more household responsibilities than boys

• Social and gender norms hinder economic opportunity

• Social isolation reduces adolescent girls’ ability to find work

Economic disparity is both a cause and a consequence of negative sexual and

reproductive health outcomes

Economic Disparity is a Cause of Negative SRH Outcomes

Girls with low socioeconomic standing (SES)are at risk of:

• Intergenerational relationships

• Early marriage

• Transactional sex

• Sexual violence

• Intimate partner violence

Negative SRH Outcomes are a Cause of Economic Disparity

Early and unintended pregnancy • Girls who become pregnant are more

likely to leave school early, bear more children at shorter intervals, and have a lower income throughout their lifetime

HIV infection • Possible cognitive impairment with

long-term ARV use • Inability to work because of illness • Stigma surrounding HIV can affect the ability to find and keep work• Vulnerability among females is exacerbated by the informal nature of

work

IYWG and Economic Empowerment for YSRH

FHI 360 manages the technical content for USAID’s Interagency Youth Working Group (IYWG)• YouthLens brief on the intersection of

economic empowerment and youth sexual and reproductive health

• Upcoming e-forum discussion onmultisectoral programs for youth

• New topic pages on IYWG.org underway—Livelihoods, Conditional Cash Transfer

Today’s Panel

• Population Council’s "Siyakha Nentsha" initiative

• ICRW and CARE Ethiopia’s TESFA initiative

• Restless Development’s Youth Empowerment and Right to Return programs

• FHI 360’s STRIVE program