High-rate of Teenage-Pregnancy

Teenage pregnancies are more likely to occur in marginalized communities and developing countries commonly driven by poverty and lack of education and employment opportunities. Every year, an estimated 21 million girls aged 15–19 years in developing regions become pregnant 

However, Teenage pregnancy has long been a problem in Sierra Leone. In 2013 the country’s rate ranked among the ten highest in the world, with 28% of girls aged 15-19 pregnant or already having given birth an evidence points to an increase in these rates due to the Ebola crisis

 

The solution will help strengthening health policies and system that will build up girls personal, social, human, cognitive, and economic assets. Support in building up knowledge of sexual reproductive health of girls, end teenage pregnancy and early marriage, increasing girl’s school enrolment and education outcomes, raises girl’s voices to influence policy, allocation of resource locally and globally

Adolescent pregnancies are a global problem occurring in high-middle and low-income countries around the world. Approximately 12 million girls aged 15–19 years and at least 777,000 girls under 15 years give birth each year in developing regions. At least 10 million unintended pregnancies occur each year among adolescent girls aged 15–19 years in the developing world.  Teenage pregnancy has long been a problem in Sierra Leone. In 2013 the country’s rate ranked among the ten highest in the world, with 28% of girls aged 15-19 pregnant or already having given birth at least once (UNFPA, 2015) in Ebola crisis.

However, several factors contribute to adolescent pregnancies and births. In many societies in Africa, girls are under pressure to marry and bear children early. Girls choose to become pregnant because they have limited educational and employment prospects. Often, in such societies, motherhood is valued and marriage or union and childbearing may be the best of the limited options available. Adolescents face barriers to accessing contraception because of lack of knowledge, transportation, and financial constraints. sexual gender-based violence cause unintended pregnancies

The programming will use a life skills model to integrate a set of strategies that help girls to develop the internal and external resources and support that enhance girls’ power within. Livelihoods initiatives that go beyond the narrow focus on hairdressing and tailoring but rather focus on mainstream sectors of the economy including bike cooperatives that serve girls, with girls train to ride, manage, fix and maintain the motorbikes; train them on the use and maintenance of solar light technology and the use of solar power to charge phones in poor communities. Also, train adolescent girls as qualitative researchers by building their skills in research principles, developing questionnaires, conducting interviews. They will be train and support to develop skills to analyze the information, interpret the findings, and present their results, so that they can gather insights on adolescent girls. Support girls to form a female farmer groups, addressing a critical need among girls, land ownership and access to food

The solution will target approximately 1,500 direct out of school girl-beneficiaries with disabilities inclusion in two chiefdoms in Moyamba District Southern Sierra Leone. The programme will incorporate the development of life skills, literacy and numeracy, access to health, safety, and basic needs, resources, and assets to build up livelihoods with a focus on business management skills training, access to capital and productive assets.

 

Key Activities

 

Training of Mentors: The mentors will be train to provide leadership, training in life skills including use of tablets to make the process more engaging, mentor support and overall management of the safe spaces in the communities.

 

The Programme will hire teachers who will conduct sessions within the girls circle to support girls in developing their literacy and numeracy skills by focusing on an out-of-school population because many girls will need support developing their reading and writing skills.

 

In addition, girls will be train on business management and financial literacy skills, they will receive training on how to manage their money.

The solution will address knowledge and behavior, as well as attitudes and confidence. Girls will have power to earn and access productive assets and capital that will increase their income.

The Girls Circle will focus on building up knowledge of girls sexual reproductive health by establishing a safe space with train mentors to deliver life skills, and teachers who will conduct sessions in developing their literacy and numeracy skills. Where feasible and girls have an interest, girls will be linked with non-formal education system provided by government, support with academic mentoring at each center. The younger girls of (10 – 14) who are ready, will be link up with service providers to help girl transition back into the formal school system, with ongoing support from mentors to stay in school

We are facing a global health crisis unlike any in the 75-year history of the United Nations one that is killing people, spreading human suffering, and upending people’s lives .The COVID-19 outbreak affects all segments of the population and is particularly detrimental to members of those social groups in the most vulnerable situations like people living in poverty situations, older persons, persons with disabilities, youth, women and girls. In this crisis girls have become frontline health responders, they are faced with huge economic pressure to provide for their families, some has been distanced from assets like money, goods, services, and transportation. In this context, transactional sex, forced and early marriage – and thereafter teenage pregnancy rates increase significantly, girls often face greater incidences of sexual and gender-based violence. Working with Girls in building up knowledge of sexual reproductive health , end teenage pregnancy and early marriage, increasing girl’s school enrolment and education outcomes, raises girl’s voices influence policy, allocation of resources, provide girls with power to earn and access productive assets and capital that will increase their income makes my initiative unique because at the heart of my strategies is committed to girls.

The initiatives will use a new approach of livelihood that will go beyond the narrow focus on hairdressing and tailoring. The initiative will focus on mainstream sectors of the economy including bike cooperatives that serve girls, with girls train to ride, manage, fix and maintain the motorbikes, use of solar technology for girls in poor communities – in which girls are train on the use and maintenance of solar light technology and the use of solar power to charge phones, work to establish a female farmer groups, address a critical need among girls, land ownership and access to food.

GOAL OF THE INITIATIVE

End Teenage pregnancy and early marriage among Adolescent Girls and increase girls school enrolment and education outcomes

 Expected Outcomes

1. Girls acquire in-depth knowledge and understanding of sexual

reproductive health, gender-based violence, provide girls with power to earn and access productive assets and capital that will increase their income

2.Men and boys support for gender equitable norms, attitudes and behaviors improves 

3. Traditional Community leaders and religious groups improve their attitudes, behaviors and practices towards gender inequality and defend the legal/human rights of girls to live a quality life free from all abuse 

 Output(s) for Outcome 1

 1.1: Girls identify and pursue their potentials through the safe space learning circle and acquire quality education. Project staff acquires the skills to effectively guide girls to move through the circle and help men to move through individual behavior change 

Output(s) for Outcome 2

1.1: Men and boys support for gender equitable norms,

attitudes and behaviors improves 

Output(s) for Outcome 3

 1.1: Traditional community and religious leaders formulate bye-laws and endorsed by Ministry of Social Welfare Gender and Children Affaire( MSWGCA) and local councils to protect Girls

Activities

Outcome 1-2-3

Outputs 1, 2 and 3

• Project staff will be train on Girl Circle concept
• Training of Mentors: The mentors will be train to provide leadership, training in life skills including use of tablets to make the process more engaging, mentor support and overall management of the safe spaces in the communities.
•  Training of hire teachers who will conduct sessions within the girls circle to support girls in developing their literacy and numeracy skills by focusing on an out-of-school population because many girls will need support developing their reading and writing skills.  
• Training of Male Engagement Facilitator who will coordinate and facilitate sessions with the male groups (Men’s Clubs & Boys Clubs) to provide support on any challenges they may face in response to incidents of violence against girls
• Training of  traditional community and religious leaders on their roles and responsibilities in protecting Girls

 

Currently, the solution will target approximately 1,500 direct out of school girl-beneficiaries with disabilities inclusion in two chiefdoms in Moyamba District Southern Sierra Leone. In one year time my initiative will be expand to additional 2,700 out of school teenage girls due to early pregnancy in four chiefdoms of Moyamba District. It is envisioned that the initiative will have the potential to scale up across Southern regional of Sierra Leone with several more 7,500 Girls benefiting the knowledge and skills. 

In the next five I plan to gain highly professional skills in data collection and management on program impacts use the information to scale up development initiatives particularly focusing on girls issues. I plan to be a strong analyst in conducting research on the scale of violence against girls. In addition, I hope to development a SMART indicator on gender and development that will inform achievements of targets set in promoting girl’s status in Sierra Leone. I plan to be a part of the MEAL (Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning) team that will work with development partners including the government to bring to light the issues affecting women and girls in my country and proffer solutions to identified problems. 

I am currently participating in an online leadership training with Young Africa Leadership Initiative Regional Leadership Center West Africa (YALI RLC) to build my leadership capacity to work in diverse group in solving complex problem. I also participated in an online Go Data Collection and Infection, Prevention and Control Training with World Health Organization (WHO), in which I gained vast knowledge in prevention of the Covid-19 pandemic with more focus on my Girls. I hope to participate in severe capacity building trainings with development partners in other to pursue my goal.

Experiencing male violence in the home I grew up and the community around me highly inspired me to seek more for effective and durable solution to empowering women and girls realize their full potentials.  I lost my father at age two, my mother as a single parent was economically violence by my father’s siblings. One of uncle asked her hand in marriage which she refused and all my father’s property were taken away from her, which made my mother to struggle so hard in raising us. With this I went through hard times together with my mum for me to be educated. The financial constrains stand as a barriers for me to pursue my education because I have to help my mum in taking care of my siblings, however, the family and economic pressure may limit my potential to scale up negatively.

In overcoming this barriers I will always try to remain focus in everything i do. Be creativity which is key in changing once lives, look for a problem to solver , stay focus and make a strategic decisions which will help me to achieve my goal. Always have in mind that to be successful there is a need to understand yourself, build your capacity, collaborates my ideas with other people’s idea and build a team that will help me grow and to develop. Help my siblings to be capacitated and always work to empower women another for them not to face what my mum's faced in life  

My solution team is working with Six Members.

Aminata Katta +232-76-306-716/ +232-75-287-781 amilkattaabu@gmail.com

Milton Tamba Abu +232-76-689-565 miltonabu36@gmail.com

Morie Mustapha +232-694-861 moriemustapha15@gmail.com

Alfred Desmond Konnie +232-76-200-790 adkonnie2011@gmail.com

Kadijatu Kubra Kamara +232-77-385-847  kamarakadijatu8@gmail.com

Hannah Peters+232-377-933 peterhannah@gmail.com

Executive Director / Solution Lead (female) Aminata Katta responsible for the overall management of the solution. Have extensive field experiences that would enable her deliver the solution successfully with a bachelor degree with honors in Social Work. Currently working as a field officer in various communities to establish a safe space for out of school adolescent girls. I worked as a Monitoring and Evaluation Officer where I created a joint monitoring team and leading the team to identify gaps in the implementation of the Engaging Men though Accountable Practice (EMAP) project Muloma Women’s Development Association (MUWODA) implemented in Eastern Sierra Leone to prevent all forms of violence against women and girls (VAWG)

Project Coordinator (male) Milton Tamba Abu responsible for the coordination of all solution activities. experienced in project development to address girls learning outcomes with vast experience in children, adolescent girls, disadvantage youths and women

Monitoring and Evaluation Officer (Male) Morie Mustapha responsible for data management and supporting Design of new initiatives will base in Moyamba head office with frequent travel to the operational communities

Human Resource Officer/Administration for the solution: Kadijatu Kubra Kamara :She has an extensive practical experience in human resource and project management and also, learn methodologies and procedures in line with the international standard on child protection and safe guiding

Child Protection Officer: Alfred Desmond Konnie: Vast experience in child protection issues, and child friendly centers

We are working as in collaboration with Muloma Women's Development Association (MUWODA) and Pikin to Pikin Movement Sierra Leone on a volunteering basis on community sensitization in the emergency respond to tackle Covid-19 pandemic

I might need a technical and financial support from Solve MIT, also capacity from Solve team will help overcome the barriers that limit me to succeed, join a supportive community of peers, funders, and experts to help advance my innovative work through Solve's nine-month program; receive mentorship and strategic advice from Solve and MIT networks; receive access to less than $1 million in prize funding for the 2020 Challenges. 

I plan to gain highly professional skills in data collection and management on program impacts use the information to scale up development initiatives particularly focusing on girls issues. I plan to be a strong analyst in conducting research on the scale of violence against girls. In addition, I hope to development a SMART indicator on gender and development that will inform achievements of targets set in promoting girl’s status in Sierra Leone. I plan to be a part of the MEAL (Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning) team that will work with development partners including the government to bring to light the issues affecting women and girls in my country and proffer solutions to identified problems. 

I want to be partners with MIT faculty or initiatives, solve members.

I have extensive field experiences that will enable me work with girls. I am currently working as a field officer in various communities to establish a safe space for out of school adolescent girls, in which the safe spaces served as a powerful tool in building up knowledge of sexual reproductive health, increasing girl’s school enrolment and education outcomes I worked as a Monitoring and Evaluation Officer where I created a joint monitoring team and leading the team to identify gaps in the implementation of the Engaging Men though Accountable Practice (EMAP) project Muloma Women’s Development Association (MUWODA) implemented in Eastern Sierra Leone to prevent all forms of violence against women and girls (VAWG). The strengths gained from this position help me provides leadership for a team of project officers and partners in a joint project monitoring team to conduct quarterly field visits to assess project progress and outcomes.