Economic Strengthening Interventions and Adolescent Girls

Oct 27, 2014 | by The SEEP Network

Adolescent girls are particularly vulnerable. Helping them to build assets and skills can give them more options to negotiate in their lives, importantly around the prevention of unwanted pregnancy and protection against sexually transmitted diseases like HIV.

This webinar featured leading experts from FHI 360, the International Food Policy Research Institute, and the Population Council. It drew on the FHI 360 ASPIRES project's evaluation of social and economic empowerment interventions to reduce adolescent girls' vulnerability to HIV in Mozambique; DFID's recent review of the evidence on investments in adolescent girls' physical and financial assets and its relation to health outcomes; and the Population Council's newly published evaluation report around safe and smart savings products for vulnerable adolescent girls in Kenya and Uganda.

Related Resources:

• Investments in Adolescent Girls'Physical and Financial Assets
• Adolescent Girls and Economic Assets: Programme Mapping

Speakers:

Karen Austrian - Associate, the Population Council

Karen Austrian manages Population Council projects designed to empower girls in east and southern Africa. She develops, implements, and evaluates programs that build girls' protective assets, such as financial literacy and sexual health and rights. Austrian has provided technical assistance on girls' programs and policies to the World Bank, the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the Girl Hub, the Nike Foundation, and international, national, and community organizations. Austrian has an MPH from Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and is working toward her PhD in epidemiology from Ben Gurion University in Israel.

Holly Burke - Scientist, FHI 360

Holly Burke is a behavioral scientist at FHI 360 where she has worked since 2002 designing and leading international research studies. Her expertise is in conducting quantitative and qualitative research of contraceptive and HIV prevention behaviors. Burke's previous research includes clinical trials of a new injectable contraceptive method, and evaluations of health communication campaigns and community-based HIV prevention peer education programs. She currently leads research studies focusing on the intersection of economic and development with health for the ASPIRES project. She received a Ph.D. in maternal and child health and a M.P.H. in health behavior and health education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Erin Markel - Principal Consultant for Economic Empowerment, MarketShare Associates

Erin currently facilitates the SEEP Children, Youth and Economic Strengthening (CYES) Network and Learning Platform. She specializes in market systems and household economic strengthening programs with a focus on empowering women and youth. She has led a variety of consultancies for MarketShare Associates including work with the USAID LEO initiative, the IFC, The SEEP Network, Plan and CARE. Her past work experiences include working for the Aga Khan Foundation, Women's World Banking, ProMujer and the Aspen Institute. Erin holds a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University.

Agnes Quisumbing - Senior Research Fellow, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Agnes Quisumbing, a senior research fellow, co-leads a research program that examines how closing the gap between men's and women's ownership and control of assets may lead to better development outcomes. She currently engaged in impact evaluations of agricultural development programs, focusing on their impacts on gender asset inequality, in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, including the work with DFID and the Girl Hub on reviewing evidence on investing in adolescent girls. Quisumbing joined IFPRI in 1995. She received her Ph.D. and M.A. in economics from the University of the Philippines, Quezon City, and her A.B. in economics from De La Salle University in Manila.