Initiative for Learning and Evidence to Address Teen Pregnancy Among Girls in School in Malawi (I-LEARN)

Overall, teenage pregnancies constituted one quarter of all pregnancies in Malawi in 2016. This has worrisome implications for female education.

Findings from I-LEARN have shown that poverty is a major driver of both teen pregnancy among girls in school and of school dropouts.

While economic empowerment interventions are often viewed as unsustainable, our early findings indicate that simply educating teen girls and boys about sex, though important, is not enough to prevent teen pregnancy and school dropout – it is also necessary to address the larger context.

For many girls in Malawi, that means addressing social, economic and cultural barriers.

Overview Interventions Outcomes Partners

In collaboration with the Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare, the African Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP) undertook a study, I-LEARN, to provide an understanding of the major causes of teenage pregnancy in Malawi. It aimed to identify best practices and interventions to prevent teenage pregnancy among girls in school and provide policy and programme recommendations to address this issue.

The study had three components:

evidence synthesis through a review of literature on interventions to prevent pregnancy among girls in school,
an analysis of secondary data on causes of teen pregnancy in Malawi, and
focus group discussions and key informant interviews in two districts in Malawi – Dowa and Mangochi.

From its activities, the study derived recommendations to promote the implementation of evidence-informed policies and programmes to address teenage pregnancy among girls in schools in Malawi.

The project contributed to evidence on the major causes of teenage pregnancy among school girls aged 15-19 in Malawi; identified best practices and interventions to prevent teenage pregnancy among girls drawing from regional literature, and; provided policy and programme recommendations.

Read the I-LEARN information sheet Information Sheet - Teen pregnancy in Malawi

Malawi Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare

Key Details

Dates:	February 2019 to May 2020
Aim:	The project aimed to provide a better understanding of the major causes of teenage pregnancy in Malawi, and identify best practices, interventions, policy and programme recommendations to address the issue.
Where:	Malawi
Project Manager:	Nurudeen Alhassan, Ph.D.