Adolescent Girls Initiative–Kenya: Endline evaluation report Adolescent Girls Initiative–Kenya: Endline evaluation report

Objectives

The endline evaluation assesses whether multi-sectoral interventions delivered through the Adolescent Girls Initiative-Kenya improved girls’ education, health, economic assets, safety, and delayed early marriage and pregnancy two years after program completion. It examines the pathways through which education, health, wealth creation, and violence-prevention components influenced girls’ life chances in Kibera and Wajir and identifies which combinations of interventions produced sustained impact.

Findings

The results show that the cash-transfer–based education component drove the strongest long-term effects. In Kibera, girls receiving cash transfers were more likely to complete primary school, transition to secondary school, delay sexual debut, and avoid early pregnancy, with pregnancy reduced by 43 percent among older adolescents. In Wajir, major gains were concentrated among girls who had been out of school at baseline; the cash transfer significantly reduced early marriage (50% to 30%) and early pregnancy (34% to 17%), while improving school enrollment and foundational skills.

The health and safe-spaces component strengthened knowledge, confidence, and networks in the short term but showed limited sustained quantitative impact. Wealth-creation activities improved financial literacy and long-term savings behavior, especially in Kibera. Violence-prevention activities did not produce measurable long-term change in norms or violence reporting, with participation constrained by low community engagement. Overall, the theory of change was supported, showing that keeping girls in school in early adolescence delayed marriage and childbearing.

Recommendations

The report recommends prioritizing cash-transfer programs that keep girls in school during critical transitions, with targeted outreach to out-of-school girls in arid counties where early marriage remains prevalent. It highlights the value of integrating economic and life-skills components that build confidence and savings behavior, while noting the need for longer-term and more continuous safe-spaces programming to sustain empowerment gains. Strengthening community-level work requires deeper engagement of men, religious leaders, and other gatekeepers, as well as better structured dialogue platforms. Finally, scaling multi-sectoral packages should focus on cost-efficient combinations that deliver educational gains, delay marriage and pregnancy, and support girls’ broader wellbeing.