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Sustaining Impact: Scaling in Community-Based Innovations from the Girls Inspire Project in Tanzania
Abstract
This article looks at girls and young mothers as the victims of Child, Early and Forced Marriages (CEFM), and how their wellbeing and livelihoods were sustained through the “Girls Inspire” project in Tanzania under the Commonwealth of Learning. It explores how this socio-economic empowerment project has brought about positive changes in the lives of girls and women seven years after it ended. Qualitative data from in-depth interviews and focus group discussions were collected from February 2022 to December 2023 with 70 Girls Inspire beneficiaries aged 17 – 32 who were purposively and randomly selected from the five districts of Bahi and Kongwa (Dodoma region), Karambo and Nkasi (Rukwa region) and Ruangwa (Lindi region). Other data were obtained through reviewing reports regarding the status, designs and implementations of Girls Inspire intervention. The findings show that these girls and young women benefited by becoming more literate and acquiring entrepreneurial skills they could apply to ensuring that they received an income, thereby sustaining their socio-economic development. They used these skills to make soap, produce batik fabrics and process food. The project aligned with national policies and legal frameworks, ensuring commitment and access to financial opportunities and support for girls and young mothers to improving their livelihoods. The scaling-in of women's empowerment interventions, which involves deeper integration into system or communities rather than expansion in size or geography, would ensure the sustainability of many projects, such as Girls Inspire, which are crucial for achieving Sustainable Development Goal number 5 on gender equality, women's empowerment and social-wellbeing.
PCF11 Sub-Theme: Skills Development Through Lifelong Open Education
Paper ID: 3126
Country
Tanzania
Region
Africa
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Adobe PDF, 244.09 KB
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Date
2025-09
Author
ORCID
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Publisher
Commonwealth of Learning (COL)