Does CSE Contribute to the Empowerment of Young People? The Case of Burundi

Judith Westeneng, Rutgers
Jacqueline Nintunze, CARE International in Burundi

Sex education in schools is being rolled out in schools in Burundi, using a nationally validated manual. This study assesses the effectiveness of this approach, using a mixed-method natural experiment, including: 1) panel survey data (pre-post) from 825 pupils in 15 intervention and 15 comparison schools; 2) in-depth interviews with 54 pupils and 3) a process evaluation. Two rounds of data collection have been completed, and analyses are ongoing. We expect positive effects of sex education on some of the knowledge questions (e.g. fertile period and STI knowledge). The intervention also contributes to more gender equal attitudes, and an increased rejection of gender based violence. We expect less effect on body self-esteem and voice as they score relatively high in the baseline study, although from the qualitative interviews we expect to find effects on the wellbeing in relation to self (e.g. feeling more confident, less anxiety).