We only use your email address to send you the newsletter and to see how many people are opening our emails. A full privacy policy can be viewed here. You can change your mind at any time and update your preferences or unsubscribe.

An adolescent girl in Kigali in Rwanda. Photo: Nathalie Bertrams/GAGE 2020

Exploring adolescent girls’ and boys’ capabilities and the role of adolescent empowerment programming in Rwanda

31.08.20 | Rwanda

Bodily integrity and freedom from violence | Economic empowerment | Education and learning | Health, Nutrition and Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) | Psychosocial well-being | Voice and agency | adolescent capabilities | empowerment

Authors

Sarah Baird, Serafina Buzby, Rebecca Dutton, Roberte Isimbi, Nicola Jones, Laura Le Saux, Ernest Ngabo and Paola Pereznieto

Rwanda is a small landlocked country that borders Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The most densely populated country in Africa, about one-quarter of its citizens are adolescents between the ages of 10 and 19, and 40% live below the poverty line. Over the last two decades the country has seen high economic growth and a significant decline in poverty and extreme poverty. Rwanda is also an international leader in women’s access to voice and agency, boasting the world’s highest rate of women’s parliamentary representation at the national level. However, research evidence suggests that adolescent girls’ access to decision-making at household and community levels is still significantly limited by conservative social norms. To contribute to the limited evidence base on young people’s gendered well-being in Rwanda, this policy brief summarises formative mixed methods research about adolescent girls and boys in both rural and urban communities across all five provinces in late 2019. The participants in the quantitative sample were 10 years old, while the qualitative sample included 10–12-year-old participants and older 12+ Programme graduates who are now 15–17 years old.

Suggested citation

Baird, S., Buzby, S., Dutton, R., Isimbi, R., Jones, N., Le Saux, L., Ngabo, E. and Pereznieto, P. (2020) ‘Exploring adolescent girls’ and boys’ capabilities and the role of adolescent empowerment programming in Rwanda.’ Policy Brief. London: Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence. (https://www.gage.odi.org/publication/exploring-adolescent-girls-and-boys-capabilities-and-the-role-of-adolescent-empowerment-programming-in-rwanda/)


Related publications

Journal articles
26.05.23
Do layered adolescent-centric interventions improve girls’ capabilities? Evidence from a mixed-methods cluster randomised controlled trial in Ethiopia
Across GAGE capabilities
Ethiopia
Read more
26.05.23 | Across GAGE capabilities | Journal articles | Ethiopia
Do layered adolescent-centric interventions improve girls’ capabilities? Evidence from a mixed-methods cluster randomised controlled trial in Ethiopia
Read more
Reports
05.05.23
‘There should be some freedom in our lives’ Exploring adolescent girls’ experiences of child marriage
Bodily integrity and freedom from violence
Cross-country
Read more
05.05.23 | Bodily integrity and freedom from violence | Reports | Cross-country
‘There should be some freedom in our lives’ Exploring adolescent girls’ experiences of child marriage
Read more
Policy briefs
05.05.23
How do gender norms shape adolescent trajectories in post-pandemic Jordan?
Across GAGE capabilities
Jordan
Read more
05.05.23 | Across GAGE capabilities | Policy briefs | Jordan
How do gender norms shape adolescent trajectories in post-pandemic Jordan?
Read more