Child Protective Outcomes Among Ultra-poor Families in Burkina Faso
Condition: Child Abuse; Child Maltreatment
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      This study tests the effects of family-based economic empowerment intervention, alone and in
      combination with child rights sensitization component, on child protective outcomes among
      ultra-poor families in Nord Region, Burkina Faso.
    

Detailed description: 
      This study evaluates a combined economic empowerment and child rights intervention to prevent
      violence against children and exploitation of children in ultra-poor communities in Burkina
      Faso. This evaluation study takes place in the Nord Region of Burkina Faso which is located
      in the Sahel Desert on the border to Mali. The Nord Region is characterized by extreme
      poverty and an ongoing food and nutrition crisis due to cyclical droughts. Extreme poverty
      heightens risks of violence and exploitation of children, particularly girls, who may end up
      in the worst forms of child labor as defined by the UN (e.g., slavery, debt bondage, forced
      or hazardous work in gold mines, cotton fields, or plantations in the Ivory Coast or in the
      South of Burkina Faso, involving physical deprivation and violence). About 1.25 million (or
      37.8%) of children ages 5-14 in Burkina Faso are working to augment the incomes of their
      families, or because their families are too poor to support them. Adolescent girls being sent
      away to work as maids, facing risks of sexual exploitation and abuse. Boys being sent to
      religious schools madrassas, where they are made to do unpaid and/or hazardous work including
      begging in the street, and are subject to physical abuse.

      The study employs a 3-arm cluster (group) randomized control trial design with baseline and
      one-year follow-up and includes 360 households (120 households per arm). Each selected
      household includes a female primary caregiver with a child between the ages of 10-15 who is
      also able to participate in the evaluation study. The study evaluates the efficacy of an
      economic empowerment program (Trickle Up) and a combination economic empowerment and child
      rights sensitization program (Trickle Up Plus) to prevent child separation and potential
      subsequent exposure to exploitation, abuse, and hazardous working conditions among children.
      Randomization occurred at the village level to assign households to three study arms: Trickle
      Up, Trickle Up Plus or the wait-list condition which serves as the control arm. Participants
      were recruited from 12 impoverished comparable villages that were selected based on
      socio-economic status (poverty ranking and food insecurity), geography, population size, and
      distance from urban center. Within these communities, families living in ultra-poverty were
      identified using a Participatory Wealth Ranking (PWR) exercise.

      The evaluation study is implemented in partnership with the Trickle Up organization, Women's
      Refugee Council (WRC), and Aide aux Enfants et aux Families Démunies (ADEFAD).
    

Intervention name(s): Trickle Up; Trickle Up Plus
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Female caregivers (mothers) receive a package of interventions on economic empowerment and livelihood strengthening:
Savings group formation and training for a group of 15-25 women which provides a place to save, take out emergency loans and builds community networks and social capital;
Provision of seed grants to assist in business start-ups through microfinance loans;
One-on-one mentoring and coaching on livelihood development, which is held on a bi-weekly or monthly basis;
Trainings on financial planning and household livelihoods.; In addition to the economic empowerment program for women (Trickle Up), all members of the household assigned to Trickle Up+ arm receive sensitization component on beliefs and knowledge related to protection of children from violence and exploitation. Training sessions are developed and delivered by a local organization, Aide aux Enfants et aux Familles Démunies (ADEFAD).
Sessions involve all members of the household and focus on knowledge and cultural norms associated with child protective outcomes (e.g. the dangers of child separation such as sending children away for work, the importance of education for girls, risks of child and forced marriage).
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: Burkina Faso; West Africa; Children; Child Abuse; Child Mental Health; Economic Empowerment; Women's Empowerment; Domestic Violence; Child and Family Well-being; Child Separation; Child Labor; Child Maltreatment