Inspiring Married Adolescent Girls to Imagine New Empowered Futures (IMAGINE)
- P Project/Program
I Inactive
Key Information
Ninety percent of adolescent pregnancies in the developing world are to married girls and complications from pregnancy and childbirth are a leading cause of death among this population. Despite the unacceptable risks to married girls’ lives, sexual and reproductive health and other development initiatives often fail to reach them, leaving these extremely marginalized girls without the services and support they need. Delaying first birth among newly married girls can help to mitigate the risks associated with adolescent pregnancy, but a complex constellation of social and structural barriers impedes married girls’ ability to delay. With support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, CARE launched a project to design and test interventions that hold promise for delaying the timing of first birth among married adolescents in Niger and Bangladesh. IMAGINE will take a holistic approach, one that builds married girls’ capacity and agency to make decisions about their life courses, addresses social and structural barriers that prevent delaying and critically, presents alternative economic opportunities for girls so that early motherhood is not their only option. We aim to document and share learning from this initiative with the wider development community to inform others working to address the issue of adolescent childbearing.
Lead Implementing Organization(s)
Location(s)
South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa
Bangladesh, Niger
Activity URL
Government Affiliation
Non-governmental programYears
2016 - 2022
Partner(s)
Not applicable or unknown
Ministry Affiliation
UnknownFunder(s)
COVID-19 Response
UnknownGeographic Scope
Global / regionalMeets gender-transformative education criteria from the TES
UnknownAreas of Work Back to Top
Education areas
Other skills
- Life skills/sexuality education
- Vocational training
Cross-cutting areas
- Adolescent pregnancy/childbearing
- Economic/livelihoods (including savings/financial inclusion, etc.)
- Empowerment
- Gender equality
- HIV and STIs
- Masculinities/boys
- Other aspects of sexual and reproductive health
- Social and gender norms and beliefs
Program participants
Target Audience(s)
Girls (both in school and out of school), Youth
Age
Not applicable or unknown
School Enrolment Status
Some in school
School Level
Not applicable or unknown
Other populations reached
- Boys (both in school and out of school)
- Community leaders
- Fathers
- Mothers
- Other caregivers
- Other community members - female
- Other community members - male
- Religious leaders
Participants include
Not applicable or unknown
Program Approaches Back to Top
Community engagement/advocacy/sensitization
- General awareness-raising/community engagement
Health and childcare services
- Adolescent-friendly health services
- Condom distribution
- Sexual and reproductive health services (including family planning)
Learning while working
- Vocational training
Life skills education
- Negotiation skills
- Sexual and reproductive health (including puberty education)
Reducing economic barriers
- Income-generating activities
Social/gender norms change
- Engaging parents/caregivers of students or school-age children/adolescents
Women's empowerment programs
- Empowerment training
Program Goals Back to Top
Education goals
- Improved social and emotional learning/skills and mindsets
Cross-cutting goals
- Changed social norms
- Improved critical consciousness
- Improved maternal, newborn, and/or child health (MNCH)
- Improved sexual and reproductive health
- Improved understanding of sexual harassment, coercion, and consent
- Increased advocacy/civic engagement
- Increased agency and empowerment
- Increased employment/job-related skills
- Increased knowledge of HIV, puberty, and sexual and reproductive health
- Increased knowledge of rights
- More equal power in relationships
- More equitable gender attitudes and norms
- Reduced adolescent pregnancy/childbearing
- Reduced intimate partner violence
- Reduced poverty/increase household well-being
- Reduced STI/HIV/AIDS