The importance of staying in school is one of the main messages of this radio series. The study concluded that to reduce the incidence of early marriage and early pregnancy, national programmes and policies in these six countries must holistically address the social, cultural and economic factors that contribute to their persistence. The focus should not be on reproductive health alone but rather on improving the social status of women, increasing girls' education rates and addressing poverty, especially that of women. After graduation, they are encouraged to attend meetings, develop leadership skills, and avoid marriage until age 19. Because support from men is required, boys and husbands have been invited to take part in solidarity groups in a joint gender progamme.
Girls come to the reading centres twice a week for two-hour sessions.
They then disseminate their knowledge to other girls in the community. Girls are also trained as Adolescent Leaders and they in turn train peer educators, who facilitate active discussions in the reading centres. Preliminary observations indicate that the girls emerge with high confidence and awareness. In the Gambia , one hundred girls from all over the country were brought together in an all girls' conference to discuss such issues as sexual harassment, early marriage, teenage pregnancy and to come up with suggestions and recommendations to improve these. Early marriage was also addressed through sensitisation of communities.