In South-East Asia, adolescent pregnancy and child marriage share common drivers such as social and gender norms that undervalue girls and stigmatize their sexual and reproductive health.

Empowering Girls, Securing Futures focuses on new research and modeling that quantifies the health and economic benefits associated with investing in proven multisectoral interventions that prevent adolescent pregnancy and child marriage. It covers five South-East Asian countries: Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia and the Philippines.

The report finds that investments to scale up and sustain proven interventions to support girls’ capabilities from now until 2050 would yield USD$10 for every USD$1 invested, producing positive outcomes for girls, whole societies and economies. The report is a clarion call to governments and partners to implement the comprehensive package of interventions; target and reach the most vulnerable adolescent girls; and secure the needed resources to scale the programmes. 

For a summary of the report, download the technical brief here.