‘Social and Financial Empowerment of Adolescents’ or SoFEA program works towards women’s empowerment and targets rural adolescent girls aged 11-21 years. This study provides a baseline profile of adolescents from both SoFEA intervention areas and adjacent areas. Adolescent girls from the intervention areas are divided into two groups: girls from new SoFEA intervention areas and girls from areas with SoFEA intervention in the existing ADP clubs (hereafter denoted as ADP-layered). The adolescents surveyed from the new SoFEA and ADP-layered SoFEA are not necessarily all participating members of the program, because the baseline survey was conducted on the potential adolescents before club formation. Ultimately, some of them may not have participated in the SoFEA program. The baseline survey conducted in January and February 2010 collected information on the adolescent girls’ socio-demographic profile, their level of awareness regarding health, social and legal issues, financial literacy, their perception of marriage, gender roles, their overall status in personal and family settings, as well as their parents’ perceptions of the girls on these issues. During the baseline survey, a significant proportion of the adolescent girls expressed positive attitudes towards their own lives and an unconventional view of the gender roles. Low levels of the adolescents’ awareness on health, social and legal issues, with girls from ADP-layered clubs having the highest level of awareness, thereby demonstrating the impact of the ADP-type intervention on girls were also found in the survey. The report concluded that SoFEA must continue its component-specific training programs through adolescent clubs and continue to involve the broader community.
Authors: Bhattacharjee, Anindita; Das, Narayan C.
Type: Monograph
Year: 2011
