Introduction

In Tanzania, girls and young women face disproportionately worse outcomes in education and health. For example, while the proportion of girls enrolled in primary school is slightly higher than boys, at secondary school stage girls are much less likely to
still be in school. At age 13, 18% of girls nationally are not attending school, rising to 34% at age 14, and 44% at age 15 (compared to 16%, 24% and 34% for boys of the same age). Just over one-quarter of adolescent women age 15–19 are already mothers or pregnant with their first child, virtually ending their opportunity to attend school. In addition, girls and young women are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS: while HIV rates are declining overall, prevalence among women aged 20–24 is still double that of young men, climbing to approximately three times the prevalence rate among men 25–29 years old.

Next Steps for HDIF

In the remaining months of 2017 and in early 2018, HDIF will be seeking feedback from grantees and partners on the approach, case studies and recommendations, and exploring if and how the approach applies to other grantees in the portfolio including innovations in the health and WASH sector and new grantees. HDIF is also linking up with other programmes working on the relationship between gender and innovation, like the SPRING Accelerator.