![The Drum Beat]() The Drum Beat – 653 – Adolescent Economic Empowerment |
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| Globally, there is growing recognition of a need to engage the most disadvantaged and marginalised adolescents in initiatives that build relevant and transferable financial skills – strengthening access to information and knowledge as well as financial literacy and capabilities.
There are 1.2 billion adolescents (aged 10-19) worldwide, nearly 90 percent of whom live in developing countries. As adolescents grow and take on additional personal and household responsibilities, their need to access resources increases. Millions of adolescents – in particular, girls – lack financial literacy, economic assets, and access to appropriate financial services, causing risk of exclusion and marginalisation.
The items included in this Drum Beat are part of a much larger body of knowledge to be found on The Communication Initiative (The CI)’s Adolescent Development theme site. In partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), The CI has developed this growing collection of communication-related resources to enhance engagement and outreach with development and civil society actors engaged in programming, research, and advocacy related to adolescent development around the world. Part of the theme site focuses particularly on Adolescents and Livelihoods – the focus of this Drum Beat. |
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| CREATING ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES FOR ADOLESCENTS |
1. Children and Economic Strengthening Programs: Maximizing Benefits and Minimizing Harm
by Jennine Carmichael, Josh Chaffin, and Natalie Rhoads |
| This guide is designed for practitioners creating or implementing economic strengthening (ES) programmes in low-income settings that are sensitive to the protection needs and well-being of vulnerable children (0-18). Principles and standards for programmes outlined include: (i) take a multi-sectoral approach and ensure open dialogue; (ii) base programme design on sound market analysis; (iii) weigh the benefits and risks of targeting; (iv) identify best practices in ES and adapt them to the specific vulnerabilities of children and households; (v) know what you can do yourself and build partnerships to implement the rest; (vi) develop interventions for sustainability and scalability; and (vii) identify robust indicators to track performance and outcomes. Assessing needs and risks includes consulting with those potentially affected – families and community members – using participatory assessment tools that include questions for children (10-18) and adults about working and obtaining money and goods. [Child Protection in Crisis (CPC), Aug 2013] |
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| 2. 2013 State of the Field in Youth Economic Opportunities: A Guide for Programming, Policymaking, and Partnership Building |
| «Youth economic opportunity programming increasingly endeavors to reach young people in rural areas….The synchronous emergence of mobile technology, ubiquitous access to high-powered tools, and powerful data analytics carries the potential to widen or converge inequalities across regions and between generations.» In this spirit, the report looks at the field of youth economic opportunities (YEO) with a focus on 5 learning tracks: Workforce Development (WFD), Youth Enterprise Development (YED), Adolescent Girls and Young Women (AGYW), Youth-Inclusive Financial Services and Capabilities (YFS), and Monitoring, Evaluation, and Impact Assessment (M&E). YEO includes: youth (ages 15-24) and young people (ages 10-14 years old and sometimes younger children) [Making Cents International, Aug 2013]. |
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| 3. Building Young Futures |
| This project aims to equip 74,000 disadvantaged young people between the ages of 15 and 25 in Brazil, Egypt, India, Pakistan, Uganda, and Zambia with the skills, knowledge, and confidence they need to set up their own business or find work. The programmes vary by country but often include training on: how to develop a business plan and set up and run a small enterprise; budgeting; entrepreneurship guidance; and broader life skills. After training, young people also have the opportunity to gain longer-term support through career guidance sessions, mentoring, and access to work placements. [Barclays and UNICEF] |
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| SOCIAL AND FINANCIAL EDUCATION |
| 4. Child Social and Financial Education |
| Featuring several concrete case studies from experiences around the world, this resource introduces the child social and financial education (CSFE) concept and provides guidelines, adaptable to a country’s needs, for implementing CSFE in child-friendly schools. The module presents a curriculum that facilitates the learning of social responsibility and financial competency. Amongst the core components is financial education (money management and savings), which, amongst other things, is designed to develop children’s and youth’s confidence to question and seek financial information when required, through a framework in levels by age group (0-5, 6-9, 10-14, 15+). It offers a design through which children can explore their rights and responsibilities in classes or club sessions, take part in savings activities, and apply entrepreneurial skills to address social issues. [UNICEF, Aflatoun, and Child Savings International, Dec 2012] |
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5. Reaching Scale with Financial Education for Youth
by Supun Dias and Oyunchimeg Siisel |
| This case study considers the role that financial education for youth aged 8-18 can play in scaling up youth financial services by examining the experiences of Hatton National Bank (HNB) in Sri Lanka and XacBank in Mongolia. It includes 7 recommendations for designing effective financial education programmes for youth (one example: involve key adult figures in youth financial education) and 4 recommendations for delivering such programmes (one example: «Utilize technology to reach youth clients….XacBank is currently conducting research on a mobile bank service for child and youth savings products….In addition, XacBank is creating a multimedia financial education program that can be used with young people in remote areas; the program combines video, PowerPoint slides, and computer graphics.») [SEEP Network, Nov 2011] |
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| 6. Youth Livelihoods: Financial Literacy |
| This manual is designed for volunteers and their partners who seek to help people who are 16 to 30 years of age become effective savers, planners, and managers of their money. There are 36 hours of classroom-based learning, including 3 optional review sessions and an optional 3-hour summary game. Assessment methods are included in each session as part of highly interactive facilitator-led training. [Peace Corps Information Collection and Exchange, Jul 2012] |
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7. Blending Entrepreneurship and Literacy to Build Financial Capability: MEDA’s «100 Hours to Success» Approach
by Nicki Post |
| This blog describes the YouthInvest project, an approach to building financial capabilities for Moroccans aged 15 to 29 through a blended approach to training youth on business skills (for example: developing a business plan and conducting competitive analysis), life skills (for example: practical customer service techniques and conflict management), and financial education (savings, budgeting, financial negotiations, available financial services, and debt management). [Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA), Aug 2013] |
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| SAFE AND SMART SAVINGS PRODUCTS |
8. What Do Youth Savers Want? Results From Market Research in Four Countries
by Rani Deshpande |
| Because data from financial institutions show that youth in developing countries can and do save money, «What do youth savers want?» was the question the YouthSave project set out to answer through 4 market studies involving almost 2,500 respondents (youth aged 12-18 as well as parents, teachers, and community leaders) in Colombia, Ghana, Kenya, and Nepal. The drawbacks to formal savings appeared to be barriers such as the need, in some countries, for an adult to open the account and have access to it. «A savings account by itself may therefore be of more limited value for youth, without complementary messaging or mechanisms designed to facilitate the constructive use of that account. These may include financial education, which aims to affect savings by increasing knowledge levels and shifting attitudes, or ‘nudges’ that target behavior directly, such as mechanisms that make savings automatic or encourage them through raffles or other rewards.» [Jul 2012] |
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9. Safe and Smart Savings Products for Vulnerable Adolescent Girls in Kenya and Uganda: The Evolving Model, Lessons Learned, and Recommendations
by Karen Austrian, Eunice Muthengi, Angela Wambugu, Dennitah Ghati, and Elizabeth Kariuki |
| This evaluation of the Safe and Smart Savings Products for Vulnerable Adolescent Girls project, carried out for girls aged 10-14 and 15-19 with 4 financial institutions, 2 in Kenya and 2 in Uganda, found that «[s]avings provides a cash reserve that promotes independence and lessens risky dependency, and helps girls develop a future orientation through financial and nonfinancial goal setting. Through financial education, girls learn critical money-management skills that help them set goals and build savings, and learn budgeting and negotiating skills. Finally, through a stable girls group that meets regularly, under the guidance of a young woman role model, girls build critical social networks in their communities, developing safety nets, confidence, and communication skills that help them navigate the dynamic and often risky world around them.» [Population Council, Jan 2012]
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| 10. Beyond the Promotional Piggybank: Towards Children as Stakeholders |
| «If financial institutions are to deliver real value for children and move beyond the promotional piggybank,…their activities must be grounded in an understanding of children’s human rights and involve children and youth as stakeholders.» This was one of the insights to emerge from an Istanbul, Turkey dialogue between 70 people aged 18 and younger from 40 countries and 346 senior-level participants from 83 countries. The discussion paper uses the Children’s Rights and Business Principles framework. Featuring several specific case studies and examples of theory in practice, it outlines a 5-step process: (i) develop policies, (ii) assess potential and actual impacts on children, (iii) integrate and act on findings, (iv) monitor and communicate on performance, and (v) create systems for complaints and remediation. [Child and Youth Finance International (CYFI), UNICEF, May 2013] |
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| ADOLESCENT GIRLS AND ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT |
11. Preparing Girls and Women for 21st Century Success: Intel® Teach Findings
by Allison M. Glinski and Ellen Weiss |
| This document describes a teacher training curriculum – Intel® Teach – that aims to provide a collection of skills increasingly demanded by today’s employers. The International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) conducted qualitative research in Chile, India, and Jordan to answer these questions: (i) How does Intel® Teach help teachers create an enabling learning environment for female students (primary school, age 5-secondary school, age 18) (ii) In what ways does Intel® Teach contribute to the professional and personal advancement of female teachers? (iii) How do Intel® Teach methods enhance female students’ learning and application of skills to their everyday lives? Results indicated that the programme trained educators to use technology- and project-based lessons to engage students. For example, a teacher in Jordan taught her students about the function of the stock market through posing questions for student research, including what financial transactions are acceptable under Islamic law. The research suggests that girl students showed increased communication skills and agency (voice), as well as leadership capabilities that may help them with advancement in the workplace. [Jan 2013] |
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12. Girls on the Move: Adolescent Girls & Migration in the Developing World
by Miriam Temin, Mark R. Montgomery, Sarah Engebretsen, and Kathryn M. Barker |
| This document suggests that if a migrant girl is safe and successful in making her journey, she can be «a powerful agent of social and economic change, transforming the prospects of her family and community.» However, roadblocks to successful migration mean that girls aged 10-14 and 15-19 need protective assets such as the following: (i) human assets – skills, knowledge, self-esteem, bargaining power, and control over decisions; (ii) social assets – trusted family, friends, mentors, social networks, group membership, access to public services and institutions; (iii) physical assets – personal belongings including a mobile phone, housing, transport, personal documentation; and (iv) financial assets – cash, savings. [Population Council, with support from the Nike Foundation and the United Nations Foundation, Jan 2013] |
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13. The Cost of Reaching the Most Disadvantaged Girls
by Jessica Sewall-Menon and Judith Bruce |
| Programmatic evidence from Egypt, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Kenya, South Africa, and Uganda leads this report’s authors to suggest that investing specifically in girls ages 7-24 years old is critical for interrupting intergenerational poverty and promoting positive health, among other things. One strategy is speaking directly to girls and incorporating their opinions in situation analyses, as well as engaging and building their skills and involving them in the design of programmes, including single-sex programme opportunities that might include: gathering spaces, friendship networks, financial literacy (e.g. savings accounts), life skills and education, and reproductive health knowledge. [Population Council, Jan 2012] |
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14. Economic Empowerment: Strategies for Adolescent Girls
by Sara Fewer, Josie Ramos, and Denise Dunning |
| This strategy document is based on programmes of the Adolescent Girls’ Advocacy and Leadership Initiative (AGALI) in Guatemala, Honduras, Liberia, Malawi, and Ethiopia. Economic empowerment programmes serving adolescent girls aged 12-25 utilise 3 main approaches: financial services strategies, employment strategies, and strategies that promote girls’ life-skills and social supports. Programmes must be evidence-based for effectiveness, customised to the participants, and integrated to improve human, social, and physical capital along with financial capital, while advocating for girls in order to improve social norms and institutional practices. [AGALI, Jan 2013]
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| This issue of The Drum Beat was written by Kier Olsen DeVries. |
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| The Drum Beat is the email and web network of The Communication Initiative Partnership – Partners: ANDI, BBC Media Action, Bernard van Leer Foundation, Breakthrough, Calandria, Citurna TV, DFID, Eldis, FAO, Fundación Imaginario, Fundación Nuevo Periodismo, Heartlines, Iberoamericano (FNPI), IFPRI, Inter-American Development Bank, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Communication Programs, MISA, Open Society Foundations, Oxfam Novib, PAHO, The Panos Institute, Puntos de Encuentro, The Rockefeller Foundation, SAfAIDS, Sesame Workshop, Soul City, STEPS International, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, USAID, The Wellcome Trust, World Health Organization (WHO), W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
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Executive Director: Warren Feek wfeek@comminit.com |
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| The Editor of The Drum Beat is Kier Olsen DeVries. |
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