In Kenya, 60 percent of Nairobi’s nearly 3 million inhabitants live in slum areas characterized by high levels of poverty and HIV. Kibera, the largest of these slums, is about 2.5 square kilometers and home to almost 800,000 people, commonly migrants from rural areas. Life is particularly perilous for adolescent girls in slums, such as Kibera, as they become adults. Girls in the slums face a number of vulnerabilities, including living in social isolation, often with only one or neither parent and without the support of school or family. Girls also lack safe and supportive places in which to socialize, learn life skills, obtain critical reproductive health information, and develop relationships with mentors and role models in their community. Most reproductive health programs target older women, while the participants in youth programs are overwhelmingly older boys.
Girls in these slums also lack formal, accessible ways to save their money, which substantially increases their risk and vulnerability. Girls without safe places to store their savings have been robbed; suffered harassment by family members, boyfriends, husbands, and others in their communities; and become targets of sexual violence. Having access to savings accounts can help alleviate some of these abuses, facilitate the practice of saving, and increase adolescent girls’ economic stability as they move toward adulthood.
Working with microfinance institutions and commercial banks in Kenya and Uganda that have already developed ways for low-income clients to save money, the Population Council has designed appropriate products and services for adolescent girls, and delivered then through a program, Safe and Smart Savings Products for Vulnerable Adolescent Girls in Kenya and Uganda, that encourages their participation and empowerment. The girls meet in groups where they learn basic savings and budgeting skills, as well as information about HIV and reproductive health, all in a girl-only space where they are safe from harassment.
Over the next few weeks I will be detailing this project with maps, photos, podcasts, audio slideshows, and video. I look forward to sharing it with you.
