Back to History Current Version

Empowering Adolescent Girls: Evidence from a Randomized Control Trial in Sierra Leone

Last registered on March 04, 2014
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Empowering Adolescent Girls: Evidence from a Randomized Control Trial in Sierra Leone
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0000300
First published
March 04, 2014, 11:37 AM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country
Sierra Leone
Region
Kambia, Port Loko, Moyamba, Pujehun

Primary Investigator

Name
Imran Rasul
Affiliation
University College London (UCL)
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Niklas Buehren
PI Affiliation
Gender Innovation Lab (GIL), World Bank
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Markus Goldstein
PI Affiliation
Gender Innovation Lab (GIL), World Bank
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Oriana Bandiera
PI Affiliation
London School of Economics (LSE)
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2013-10-01
End date
2015-12-31
Keywords
Finance & Microfinance, Health, Welfare
Additional Keywords
Female Empowerment, Reproductive Health
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
In Sierra Leone, early childbearing and teenage pregnancy is one of the most pervasive problems affecting the health, social, economic and political progress and empowerment of women and girls. Of all pregnancies, 34% occur amongst teenage girls (SLDHS 2008) and 40% of maternal death occur as a result of teenage pregnancy (MICS 2010).

This study evaluates BRAC's Empowerment and Livelihood for Adolescents (ELA) program, designed to socially and financially empower teenage girls by providing safe spaces for them to socialise and receive mentoring and life skills training. With networks of these girls' clubs active in five countries, BRAC combines this approach with financial literacy training, offering customized microloans that contribute to their social and financial independence. This in turn helps prevent early marriages and leads to a more stable future for the next generation. In Africa, the ELA program was previously implemented and evaluated in Uganda, Tanzania and South Sudan.

External Link(s)
Academic paper of the ELA Uganda evaluation
UNICEF Policy Analysis note

Registration Citation

Citation
Bandiera, Oriana et al. 2014. "Empowering Adolescent Girls: Evidence from a Randomized Control Trial in Sierra Leone." AEA RCT Registry. March 04. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.300-1.0
Former Citation
Bandiera, Oriana et al. 2014. "Empowering Adolescent Girls: Evidence from a Randomized Control Trial in Sierra Leone." AEA RCT Registry. March 04. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/300/history/1199
Sponsors & Partners

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2014-03-01
Intervention End Date
2015-03-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
1. What is the impact on sexual and reproductive health of providing a safe and social space for adolescent girls to share their experiences in conjecture with life skills provision (with a focus on teenage pregnancy)?
2. What is the value- added of providing training on income generating activities (IGA) and financial literacy particularly when looking at economic outcomes?
3. What is the value- added of providing microcredit support for adolescent girls?
4. Are interventions in questions (1), (2), and (3) complementary?
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The intervention has one control group and three treatment groups:
T1: ELA club, community participation, life skills training
T2: ELA club, community participation, life skills training, livelihood training
T3: ELA club, community participation, life skills training, livelihood training, microfinance
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization based on household listing data, stratified by the number of adolescent girls in the community, the average poverty score of households in the community, the coefficient of variation in the poverty score across households in the community.
Randomization Unit
Village
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
200 villages
Sample size: planned number of observations
6,000 adolescent girls
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
50 villages control, 50 villages treatment group 1, 50 villages treatment group 2, 50 villages treatment group 3.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Innovations for Poverty Action IRB - USA
IRB Approval Date
2014-10-08
IRB Approval Number
13October-001
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials