The Impact of COVID-19 on Opportunities for Adolescent Girls and the Role of Girls' Groups

COVID-19 has disrupted lives, networks, and institutions across social, economic, and health dimensions around the globe. We examine how the pandemic has affected adolescent girls and young women in particular, and explore how group-based programs for girls in low-and middle-income countries have been affected by and are responding to the pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected adolescent girls and young women across multiple outcomes, including education, livelihoods, sexual and reproductive health, sexual- and gender-based violence, the burden of unpaid care, and early and forced marriage. These heightened barriers to economic and social opportunities and the resulting loss of human capital have the potential to derail progress towards gender equality unless recognized and addressed. Girls’ groups may offer potential pathways of resilience for girls during system shocks like the COVID-19 pandemic, though more evidence is needed on their effects and how they function when social connectivity and mobility are heavily restricted, limiting program implementation.

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.19023.92325