Economic Empowerment Program Suubi-Maka
Condition: Poverty
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The overall goal of SUUBI-MAKA is to further develop and preliminarily examine a family
      economic empowerment intervention that creates economic opportunities (specifically Children
      Development Accounts) for families in Uganda who are caring for children orphaned due to the
      AIDS pandemic, and to lay groundwork for a bigger study with practice and policy implications
      for Sub-Saharan Africa.
    

Detailed description: 
      The study has two specific aims (1) To conduct formative work in order to understand children
      and families´ ability and interest in participating in a family-level economic empowerment
      intervention focused on savings and family income generation, and their response to this
      family-focused economic empowerment approach alongside additional intervention components,
      including savings for youth education and adult mentorship. (2) Based on formative data (Aim
      #1), to adapt the intervention and examine issues related to feasibility and preliminary
      outcome on a small scale in order to prepare for a larger study.

      The intervention, SUUBI-MAKA, uses a novel approach by focusing on economic empowerment of
      families caring for children orphaned due to AIDS. The intervention has three key components
      (1) it promotes family-level income generating projects (micro-enterprises) which we believe
      will enhance economic stability, reduce poverty, and enhance protective family processes for
      youth orphaned by AIDS. (2) It promotes monetary savings for educational opportunities for
      AIDS-orphaned children. (3) It provides an adult mentor to children. The intervention will be
      evaluated via a two-group randomized trial. The two groups are SUUBI-MAKA or Usual care for
      orphaned children. The participating children will be nested within 20 primary schools that
      will be randomly assigned such that all children from a particular school receive the same
      intervention.
    

Intervention name(s): Suubi-Maka ('Hope for Families'); Usual Care
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Other
Intervention description(s): Each child in the SUUBI-MAKA condition receive the usual care plus asset focused services, specifically: a matched Child Development Account (CDA); twelve 1-2 hour training sessions on career planning, setting short-term and long-term career goals, and how to save money; and monthly mentorship program with young adult peers (undergraduate students) on life options and how to avoid risk behaviors. In addition, participants receive a 2:1 match for their deposits into the account. Further, participants and their adult caregivers receive specific training on microenterprise development and specifically on how to start an income-generating project using up to 50% of the matched savings. The intervention is delivered over a period of 24 months.; Each child in the control condition receives the usual services for orphaned children (counseling, school lunches, and textbooks).
Other intervention name(s): Children's savings account; Usual services
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Double (Participant, Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Supportive Care
Keywords: economic empowerment model,; orphaned children and youth,; Uganda,; sub-Saharan Africa