DREAMS Innovation Challenge (DREAMS IC): Eswatini

DREAMS Innovation Challenge delivered programming to reduce HIV infection and increase resilience by retaining girls in secondary school and providing teen mothers who were forced to drop out of school with alternative education platforms.

Funder

PEPFAR

Location

LUMBOMBO REGION, ESWATINI

Dates

2016 - 2018

The Power of Educating Girls

Adolescent girls who attend school, delay marriage, and delay childbearing, are less vulnerable to disease including HIV and AIDS, and acquire information and skills that lead to increased earning power. Evidence shows that returning to a year of secondary education for girls correlates to a 25% increase in wages later in life. Providing girls with an education helps to break the cycle of poverty, creating a ripple effect of opportunity that influences generations to come. We implemented a two-year program in Eswatini that reached 1,800 at-risk girls in Sithobela and Siphofaneni, delivered programming to retain girls in secondary school, and reached adolescent wives and young mothers who were forced to drop out of school through unique alternative education platforms. The programming increased educational outcomes, increased social assets, and changed social norms with regard to girls’ education.

Prevention Initiatives: Keeping Girls in School
  • Social and protective assets offered through Protect Our Youth clubs
  • An Early Warning System to identify girls at-risk of dropping out and provide advanced support
  • Scholarships to keep at-risk girls in school
  • Community sensitizations on the value of girls’ education
Response Initiatives: Empowering Teen Mothers who are Out-of-School
  • Non-formal education provided to out of school teen mothers who had to drop out of the formal school system.
  • Social and protective assets offered through Protect Our Youth clubs
  • Mentoring Program
  • Early Childhood Stimulation training to ensure that young mothers can give their children the best start in life
  • Community sensitizations on the value of girls’ education

 


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