Intervention(s)
Together with our partner Femina HIP, a leading NGO on reproductive health in Tanzania, we have decided to focus on girls who are in their last year of secondary school (Form IV in Tanzania). They are in the age interval where we observe a sharp increase in fertility. Most of them will not have access to further schooling, and will thus have to consider other opportunities, including opening a small scale business, which is a very common activity in the areas of this study.
The interventions consist in training sessions offered in a classroom setting on a weekly basis for eight weeks:
1) Reproductive health information treatment: An information course on reproductive health, gender equality, and rights.
Femina HIP, together with the research team, designed a tailored information program for the targeted girls, which provided both practical and objective information about reproductive health, such as information about contraception and the consequences of risky sexual behavior. In addition, the course focused on gender equality, rights, and women’s empowerment.
2) Economic opportunity treatment: EntrepreneursHIP training to improve economic opportunities.
Femina HIP, together with the research team, designed a tailored entrepreneursHIP program for the targeted girls, which provided the girls with knowledge on how to establish and run their own business. Topics included customer care, marketing, record keeping, pricing of products, personal finance, and sessions aiming at improving entrepreneurial mindset and self-confidence.
3) Cross-treatment: Information and opportunity
We also offered a cross-treatment, where the students received both the reproductive health information and entrepreneursHIP training, to investigate possible complementarities in how the two treatments work. The girls that were offered this training met twice a week for eight weeks.