Empowering Poor Girls in India with life skills

In addition to designing education, training and building partnerships and new programs to support women and adolescent girls across the developing world, we undertake research to help understand the impact of our work.

We recently published an article on the results of such research in the International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health titled, "Leveraging Microfinance to Impact HIV and Financial Behaviors Among Adolescents and their Mothers in West Bengal, India." The article is based on a rigorous, independent, three-year study of the impact of our education on the lives of women and girls. I've summarized some of the findings below.

Girls who participated in Reach education were:

• More confident talking to their family about a healthy diet and treating diarrhea
• More confident prioritizing spending
• 14 times more likely to give advice about condoms to peers
• 3 times more likely to have heard of sexually transmitted diseases and know how HIV is transmitted; that condoms can prevent HIV; that HIV can be transferred from mother to infant; where to get an HIV test; and to ask for clean needles.

• More confident preventing diarrhea
• More confident bargaining and prioritizing spending
• More knowledgeable about HIV and how it is transmitted
• 3 times more likely to ask for clean needles
• 5 times more likely to give advice about using condoms to their peers

It’s clear that momentum is building and others believe, as we do, that investing in adolescent girls and women is both the right thing to do and smart. We thank you for your belief in our work and invite you to support it by making a donation.

Thank you again!

Links:

• International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health