Intentions to participate in adolescent Training Programs: Evidence from Uganda

Almost one third of the population in developing countries is under age 15. Hence improvingthe effectiveness of policy interventions that target adolescents might be especiallyimportant. We analyze the intention to participate in training programs of adolescent girlsin Uganda, a country with perhaps the most skewed age distribution anywhere in the world.The training program we focus on is BRAC’s Adolescent Development Program, which emphasizesthe provision of life skills and entrepreneurship training, and microfinance. We findthat girls who are more likely to benefit from the program are more likely to intend to participate.The program also attracts girls who are likely to place a high value on financialindependence: single mothers and girls that are alienated from their families. The programattracts girls who are more likely to benefit from training: girls who believe they could besuccessful entrepreneurs but currently lack the quantitative skills to do so. Reassuringly,girls that are in school full-time are less likely to intend to participate. We also find thatthe program attracts girls from poorer villages but we find no evidence that poorer girlswithin each village are more likely to want to participate. Finally, girls from villages thathave previously been exposed to NGO projects are less likely to intend to participate. Theresults have implications for the design, management, and evaluation of similar programsthroughout East Africa.[...]