Urwaruka Rushasha (New Generation): Improving the Well-being of Vulnerable Girls and Boys in Burundi
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In line with its commitment to implementing programs that are both evidence- based and evidence generating, the IRC is carrying out a rigorous impact evaluation with a randomized control trial1 to assess the impact of VSLA activities and the added impact of the Healing Families and Communities discussion series on:
Spending on children’s education, health, nutrition and clothing;
Children’s education, health, nutrition and wellbeing;
Parents attitudes towards discipline and their ability to protect their children from violence, abuse and exploitation; and
Children’s participation.
The impact evaluation has four primary components: a baseline assessment, program monitoring through quarterly quantitative surveys, a midterm impact evaluation, and a final impact evaluation. In each phase of the evaluation process, data is collected from children (with parental consent) and adults using quantitative surveys. The children’s questionnaire includes questions about:
Education,
Labor,
Parental treatment and punishment,
Family functioning, and
Psychosocial wellbeing.
The results of the first quarterly monitoring survey reveal that after just three months, the “Urwaruka Rushasha” (New Generation) project is already having a positive impact on lives of children:
The percentage of all respondents who reported having yelled or screamed at their child in the month preceding the survey decreased from 64.2% to 55.6%.
The percentage of all respondents who reported having shaken their child during the last month decreased from 28.4% to 8.6%.
The percentage of respondents who reported having hit or slapped their child with their bare hand dropped from 25.9% to 16 %.
Respondents in both VSLA and VSLA+ groups reported a statistically significant increase in the wellbeing of their children.