What Works for Women and Girls

A study done in Kenya (year not given) with 228 OVC showed that OVC with a head ofhousehold involved in saving and loans associations (SLAs) had more diverse diets, atemore frequently and had better nutritional status than those from a household with ahead not involved in SLA. Households involved in SLAs had significantly higher agriculturalproductivity and income generating activities after a two-year intervention bya community-based care program for OVC. The program organized OVC householdheads (of whom 95% were women) into SLAs to pool money and borrow sums thatthey paid back with interest. OVC household heads were trained in cash managementand were given agricultural support. The study further indicated that 78% of OVChouseholds involved in SLAs had either three or more feedings as compared to 64% ofOVC households not involved in SLA (Taoka et al., 2008). (Gray IV) (OVC, food security,training programs, Kenya)A study in Haiti, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Zambia (year not given) with 2,205OVC ages 7–17 years found OVC with agricultural training, farming inputs and home/community gardens to be more likely to report greater frequencies of having enoughfood to eat (54% compared to 35%). The study found that dual orphans were mostvulnerable to food insecurity (Senefeld et al., 2008). (Gray IV) (OVC, training programs,food security, Haiti, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Zambia)Old age pensions bring specific benefits to vulnerable children. The Joint LearningInitiative on Children and HIV/AIDS final report, which compiled over 50 systematicreviews by working groups of world OVC experts, found “that old age pensionshelp children … households that include pension recipients increase spending relatedto children’s welfare,” particularly in the African policy context. JLICA cited a 2004study that evaluated the impact of South Africa’s Old Age Pensions on children’s schoolattendance. When a household member received a pension, the children in the householdattended school 20 to 25% more often. In the poorest quartile, old age pensionsincreased the chance that girls would attend school fulltime by 7% and for boys by 5%.(Adato and Bassett, 2008 citing Samson et al., 2004).” (Gray IV) (orphans, grandparents,pensions, South Africa)A final report of a study on children, AIDS, and poverty, which compiled over 50 systematicreviews by working groups of world OVC experts, suggested “income transfers as‘a leading edge’ intervention to rapidly improve outcomes for extremely vulnerablechildren and families,” (Irwin et al., 2009: 58). JLICA suggests unconditional incometransfers and child poverty support grants for the African policy contexts. In particular,income transfers to women in the households improve children’s outcomes. The JLICAreview of cash transfer programs cited a pilot income transfer study in Malawi andZambia which found that in high HIV prevalence areas where families were targeted forthe income transfer based on poverty, 70% of the participating families were affected byHIV (Adato and Bassett, 2008 citing Schubert et al., 2007). (Gray IV) (orphans, financialassistance, Malawi, Zambia)WHAT WORKS FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS363