The Sierra Leone Out-of-School Study identified ‘high pregnancy rate’ amongst primary and secondary school children as a strong contributing factor as to why school-aged children drop out of school. Teenage pregnancy has serious long-term and wide-ranging consequences – from health complications (for young mother and the baby) to educational attainment and broader socio-economic repercussions. With nearly 48 percent of the total population between 0-17 years of age , prevention and reduction of teenage pregnancy is a national priority.
To address the root causes of teenage pregnancy, UNICEF established partnerships with Child Fund, Save the Children, Council of Churches of Sierra Leone (CCSL), Restless Development, and BRAC to implement five pilot projects in the districts of Bombali, Kennema, Kailahun, Pujuhun, Koinadugu, Kono, and Port Loko with the aim to reduce the prevalence of teenage pregnancy in the country.
The aim of this study is to foster learning about the actors, contexts, and challenges in preventing/reducing teenage pregnancy for the purposes of strategic decision making. It explores the pilot projects’ contribution in producing situational and contextual changes (i.e., gender attitudes and relations, family relations, community relations and commitment, degree of community collaboration, empowerment, access to and utilization of reproductive health services, access to information, etc.) in selected areas in which the projects were implemented. The evaluation attempts to provide this information by comparing differences and changes in outcomes in areas in which the projects were implemented with those that were not. This study does not examine the attribution of individual programs on prevention or reduction of teenage pregnancy; nor does it assess the success or failure of the five projects over one another.
Year Published | |
Type | |
Joint | No |
Partner/s | N/A |
Consultant name | |
Agency Focal Point | Lovemore Mhuriyengwe |
Focal Point Email | lmhuriyengwe@unicef.org |
Managed by Independent Evaluation Office | No |
Geographic Scope | Country |
Country/ies |