SUGAR DADDY AWARENESS CHALLENGE; BURUNDI
PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED
Sugar Daddy Awareness classes.
Learn more about the Sugar Daddy Awareness Challenge and how a simple, one-hour “sugar daddy awareness” training could help countless girls avoid pregnancy while still in school, which can lead to entrenched poverty, and build a better life.
DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION
Action For Healthy Youth (ACHY) empowers young people with knowledge and skills to reduce the risk of sexually transmitted diseases and teenage pregnancies.
In Burundi, teenage pregnancy is one of the major causes of school dropout among adolescent girls. The rate of teenage pregnancy stands at up to 15% in some parts of the country. Due to poor birth outcomes of teen pregnancies, the maternal mortality among girls aged 15 to 24 is one of the highest in Burundi, representing almost the quarter (24.1%) of the overall maternal mortality. The UNFPA’s study revealed that the main authors of unintended pregnancies to teenage girls are generally older men, suggesting that young girls engage in unprotected cross-generational sexual relationships which possibly expose them to HIV infection since the prevalence of HIV/AIDS is relatively higher among older men in Burundi.
A proven solution to this challenge exists in form of “Sugar Daddy Awareness” classes. This is an educational intervention that provides teenagers with knowledge about the relative risk of dating older men. A randomized evaluation in Kenya found that this intervention was able to reduce the likelihood of pregnancy and HIV infection by 28 percent in the subsequent year. However, for this intervention to be successful, it has to be adapted to the local context. For instance, Young 1ove’s analysis indicated that younger generations in Botswana may become less fearful of exposure to HIV risk relative to the risk of getting pregnant.
During our pilot in Kayanza Province, trained young facilitators will visit grade 7, 8 and 9 young girls (normally aged around 15 years) in schools and deliver the core message that sexually partnering with older men is a risky behavior, both in terms of HIV infection and teenage pregnancies. The one-hour class will be composed of a standard 20-minute educational DVD translated into local language, followed by a short lecture and class discussion. Self-administered questionnaires will be issued before and after the training to evaluate the influence of the sugar daddy class on the young girls’ level of awareness.
Action for Healthy Youth (ACHY) is a non-profit organization founded by Ladouce Ingrid Iradukunda, a Pan African University Scholar and Dr Fernand Hakizamana, an assistant lecturer at the University of Great Lakes. They advocate for young people’s sexual and reproductive health and rights.
PILOT AND SCALING GOALS
Reach 3,000 students during the three-month pilot
Raise an additional $52,000 during the three-month pilot
Reach 24,000 students by the end of year 1
Reach 55,000 students by the end of year 2
FOUNDING TEAM
Ladouce Ingrid Iradukunda - Executive Director
Fernand Hakizimana - Training Manager