Improved Results: Enhancing Success for Female Youths in Africa through Dedicated Strategies
In the fight against adolescent sexual and reproductive health (SRH) challenges in sub-Saharan Africa, impact-linked financing, particularly through Development Impact Bonds (DIBs), is proving to be a promising approach. This is evident in the work of Tiko, an African non-profit organisation founded by Benoit Renard in 2014, with a focus on ensuring young people have access to contraceptive health services.
Tiko's journey began in India and Kenya with funding from the Dutch government for family planning programs aimed at tackling teen pregnancy. The organisation's current focus is on the DIB for Adolescent SRH, an outcomes-based contract launched in 2023 with a $10.1m investment. The DIB is a collaboration between Tiko, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), Bridges Outcomes Partnerships, and the Government of Kenya.
The DIB provides mobile-based sexual health services, helping ensure that adolescent girls have access to necessary resources and information to prevent teenage pregnancy and new HIV infections. Tiko achieves this by relying on a network of vetted public and private health clinics and dispensaries, and a community of mobilizers who identify and connect with girls and young women at risk of the triple threat.
The mobilizers and health workers connect girls to the platform and then refer them to Tiko's network of carefully mapped clinics, giving them access to bias-free, youth-friendly healthcare practitioners. This approach has enabled Tiko to deliver more sexual and reproductive health services to girls than originally planned, with 1.5 million services delivered to 700,000 girls as of March 2023.
The DIB's data-driven approach ensures that resources are optimised for maximum impact, and it has demonstrated the efficiency of outcomes contracts. According to Lucía Santirso, the DIB programme has reached a lot more girls than originally planned while the budget has remained the same.
However, sustainability remains a significant challenge. Impact bonds rely on external funding, which may not be sustainable in the long term, and outcomes must be substantial enough to justify investments. Other challenges include social and cultural barriers, and technological access, particularly in remote areas.
Despite these challenges, Tiko's work on the DIB has shown that investing in women and girls delivers social impact. The UNFPA estimates that every $1 invested in family planning yields more than $8 in returns for families and societies. Tiko aims to increase its reach to four million girls per year in the next five years and is currently fundraising for the next phase of the DIB in Kenya.
Moreover, Tiko now fully integrates contraceptive access and HIV programmes across most of its countries, and has started to incorporate initiatives addressing the prevention and management of sexual and gender-based violence into its work. Tiko's chief impact officer, Serah Melaba, is speaking with governments about the opportunities for blended financing and outcomes-based contracts to crowd in private investment and move away from traditional development finance.
Tiko's work is also supported by community health workers, and the organisation operates in Kenya, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, and Zambia through an online platform. The DIB, a collaboration between Tiko, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), Bridges Outcomes Partnerships, and the Government of Kenya, is coming to the end of its term this month.
Investing in girls is seen as the smartest investment by Tiko, as it not only delivers social impact but also makes economic sense, whether it's increasing household income or building healthy and economically resilient communities. As Melaba notes, the drop in aid following the US withdrawal of funding to the UNFPA and wider cuts to aid for SRH globally has a significant impact on the girls Tiko serves, the communities, and the broader health system itself. However, Tiko remains optimistic about the future, believing that the moment offers an opportunity for a reset in terms of understanding where the development architecture is going.
- Tiko's focus on the DIB for Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) includes a collaboration with the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), Bridges Outcomes Partnerships, and the Government of Kenya, aiming to improve health and well-being through financial inclusion.
- The DIB, delivered via mobile-based services, addresses sexual health concerns and provides necessary resources and information for adolescent girls to prevent teenage pregnancy and new HIV infections, integrating science and health-and-wellness.
- The data-driven approach of the DIB optimizes resources for maximum social impact, demonstrating the efficiency of outcomes contracts in development finance, while also tackling financial inclusion.
- The success of the DIB has led Tiko to incorporate additional initiatives for women's health, sexual and gender-based violence prevention, and mental health, reflecting a broader approach to personal growth, career development, and education and self-development.
- Although challenges with sustainability and social and cultural barriers persist, Tiko continues to work on addressing mental health, women's health, and parenting, believing that investing in these areas delivers both social impact and economic sense.
- Tiko's ongoing work and advocacy for blended financing, as discussed with governments by its chief impact officer, Serah Melaba, seeks to use science and best practices to crowd in private investment, moving away from traditional development finance and establishing a more resilient future.
- The future holds opportunities for Tiko to expand its reach in countries like Kenya, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, and Zambia, capitalizing on the potential for social impact within the fitness-and-exercise, health-and-wellness, and mental-health sectors.
