1. Siyakha Nentsha: An experiment to build Social, Health and Financial capabilities of vulnerable girls and boys in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa K Hallman, M Calderon, K Govender, E Roca, E Mbatha, M Rogan, H Taboada, S Siema, J Fauls, R Brown Making Cents Conf. – 12 Sept. 2012

2. Evolution to project  Multivariate work with “Transitions to Adulthood” panel study in KZN (2003/now)  Gendered factors on adolescent sexual behaviors: Residing in relative poverty Having thin social networks Being an orphan Feeling unsafe/disconnected from community  Program inventory in Durban metro area (2005/6)  Most single-dimension, imported, little M or E  Pilot study in a test community (2006/7)

3. Siyakha Nentsha (SN) study  Funding from ESRC/Hewlett joint scheme (Nov 2007-Nov 2009) and ABBA RPC (2010-11)  Target outcomes: (80 hrs max exposure Jun08-May09) Social support: peers and mentors social grants ID documents  Knowledge of effective HIV prevention and treatment options  Saving behavior  Critical given local burden of HIV and AIDS

4. Siyakha Nentsha features  Nationally accredited certification Skills and a nationally-endorsed documentation of these skills Skills and a nationally-endorsed documentation of these skills  Maximum use of existing infrastructure Local secondary grads (M&F) trained to deliver Local secondary grads (M&F) trained to deliver  Role models, mentors, confidants Worked in pairs within classroom Worked in pairs within classroom Auxiliary social worker salary Auxiliary social worker salary  Eye toward scale-up DOE participation from inception DOE participation from inception

5. Siyakha Nentsha program design  Incorporated into school day Least selective sample Least selective sample  Included all learners in each study school Sessions occur 2-3 times/week Sessions occur 2-3 times/week Each session is one hour in length Each session is one hour in length  Grade 10 and 11 learners 7 secondary schools 7 secondary schools Randomization at the classroom level Randomization at the classroom level  Females and males included Male attitudes, behaviors and future prospects Male attitudes, behaviors and future prospects

6. Photo: Eva Roca

7. Siyakha Nentsha timeline

8. Siyakha Nentsha study design Arm 1  Control group standard life skills delayed SN modules Arm 2  HIV/SRH education  Social support  Stress reduction Arm 3  HIV/SRH education  Social support  Financial education

9. Siyakha Nentsha study arms SN social/health/financialSN social/health/stress Nutrition, healthy and balanced diets Communication Knowing yourself STIs, HIV and AIDS Rights and responsibilities Numeracy and data collection Stress (definition, causes, ways of dealing with stress) Personal finance, budgeting, savings and investments Business skills Design HIV prevention campaign Reduction of violence against women and children

10. Photo: Eva Roca

11. Siyakha Nentsha survey  Interviews conducted in learner HHs Fielded by private independent company Fielded by private independent company  945 participants interviewed at baseline Only 9 learners refused original survey Only 9 learners refused original survey  716 found at follow-up (76%)  715 complete interviews at follow-up  GIS coordinates on participant households

12. Siyakha Nentsha sample GirlsBoys Total Control 10069 169 SN social/health/stress 145136 281 SN social/health/financial 85126 211 Irregular school attenders (<10 sessions) 2925 54 Total 359356715 Number of learners by intervention arm and gender

13. SN baseline characteristics Girls (N=359) Boys (N=356) Mean difference boys - girls Mean Learner’s age (y) 17.0517.660.61*** % orphaned 38.844.45.60 % ever pregnant 5.79 % not enough money for basic necessities 63.958.4-5.50 % with electricity connection 95.596.51.00 % did not eat morning of survey 15.78.47-7.23** % walk to school 75.486.511.10*** % worked for pay past 12 months 3.9810.36.32** # members in household 8.017.47-0.54+ % female-headed households 41.641.4-0.20 # assets owned by household, out of 22 9.529.650.13 + p<0.10; * p<0.05; ** p<0.01; *** p<0.001

14. Photo: Eva Roca

15. SN evaluation results  Controls included: age, age squared, gender, socioeconomic status  SEs corrected for clustering at classroom level  Impact estimates corrected for panel attrition 229 learners lost between rounds 229 learners lost between rounds

16. SN impact on social and economic - Girls + p<0.10; * p<0.05; ** p<0.01

17. SN impact on cognitive skills (Raven test) - Girls + p<0.10; * p<0.05; ** p<0.01

18. SN impact on self-reported sexual behaviors - Girls

19. Other results SN  No significant SN impact on condom use at last sex or consistent use for either boys or girls  SN  SN girls who received financial education reported feeling greater levels of social inclusion in their communities when the SEs were not clustered at the classroom level

20. Conclusions  Program with actionable skills appears to have potential to: increase girls’ skills to access benefits, interact w banks & save money improve girls’ cognitive abilities  Impacts differed by gender: girls’ cognitive & economic skills improved boys reported safer sexual behaviors & more knowledge about social grants  No detectable statistical impact 6 mos post on: girls’ reported sexual behaviors boys’ access to financial services or savings condom use (last sex or consistent) for either females or males

21. Thank you! Our funders: ESRC/Hewlett Joint Scheme, DFID through the ABBA RPC, Hewlett support to the Population Council Photo: Eva Roca

22. Siyakha Nentsha randomization Control SN social/health/stress SN social/health/financial Total Sikhwama 2 Inwabi 22 Fundinduku 24 Khulabebuka 22 Mhawu 45 Nomavimbela 22 Sobonakhona 6 Total 6121735 Number of classrooms by school and intervention arm

23. Survey attrition AllGirlsBoys Total75.876.576.2 Control69.575.262.7 SN social/health/stress83.181.784.6 SN social/health/financial82.083.881.4 % of learners found at second round

24. Survey attrition (cont) (1) Attriters (n=229) (2) Non- attriters (n=716) (2) - (1) mean diff meanSDmeanSD Learner's age (y) 17.811.8517.361.69-0.45*** 1 if girl 0.50 0.004 1 if lives with mother 0.630.480.700.460.07* 1 if lives with father 0.420.490.420.490.005 1 if orphan (any parent) 0.460.500.420.49-0.046 SES 0.0051.780.0141.630.010 1 if missing SES 0.130.330.110.31-0.018 Learner's grade 10.520.5110.540.500.020 + p<0.10; * p<0.05; ** p<0.01; *** p<0.001

25. SN evaluation  Identification strategy: difference in difference framework pre and post intervention periods treatment w financial literacy (FL), treatment w stress reduction (LS), and control groups β 0 = financial literacy group specific effect β 1 = stress reduction group specific effect β 2 = time trend β 3 = SN impact on financial literacy group β 4 = SN impact on stress reduction group

26. SN evaluation (cont)  β 3 (and β 4 ) coefficient of interest the estimate one would get from an OLS regression (for continuous outcomes)  We can interpret this coefficient as a double difference:

27. SN impact on social and economic - Boys + p<0.10; * p<0.05; ** p<0.01

28. SN impact on cognitive skills (Raven test) - Boys

29. SN impact on self-reported sexual behaviors - Boys + p<0.10; * p<0.05; ** p<0.01