Enlightening Insights: Improving Results for Girls and Young Women Across Africa
In the heart of Kenya, an African non-profit organisation named Tiko is making a significant impact on the lives of adolescent girls. Founded by Benoit Renard in 2014, Tiko initially focused on providing contraceptive health services to prevent teen pregnancy. Today, it stands as a beacon of hope for girls at risk of the triple threat – unintended pregnancy, HIV, and sexual and gender-based violence.
Tiko's Development Impact Bond (DIB), a collaborative effort with the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), Bridges Outcomes Partnerships, and the Government of Kenya, has proven to be a game-changer. This innovative model has positively impacted the reduction of early and unintended pregnancies and new HIV infections among girls aged 15 to 19 in Kenya.
The DIB connects girls, especially those in underserved communities experiencing multidimensional poverty, with trusted community mobilizers. These mobilizers educate and guide the girls to make informed sexual and reproductive choices, addressing the "triple threat" of unintended pregnancy, HIV, and sexual and gender-based violence.
Tiko's digital platform, operating across 10 Kenyan counties, enhances reach and accessibility for adolescent girls. This ecosystem approach combines community engagement and service provision, enabling girls to exercise choice and improve their health outcomes. The focus on holistic empowerment and resilient support networks helps reduce the incidence of early pregnancies and new HIV infections in this vulnerable demographic.
Last year, Tiko reached one million girls with its services and aims to increase this to four million per year in the next five years. The organisation has received funding from the Dutch government, the Elton John AIDS Foundation, and the SDG Outcomes Fund for its family planning programs and HIV interventions.
Serah Melaba, Tiko's chief impact officer, is hopeful about the opportunity for a reset in terms of understanding where the development architecture is going. She describes the drop in aid as a "structural rupture." However, Tiko is leveraging its experience with the DIB and its work building government relationships to strengthen health systems and extend blended finance opportunities for Tiko's countries of implementation.
Melaba emphasizes that investing in girls is the smartest investment. Every $1 invested in family planning yields more than $8 in returns for families and societies, according to the UNFPA. Tiko has already started fundraising for the next phase of the DIB in Kenya and has begun work on a girls outcomes fund in South Africa, aiming to scale the Kenya blueprint to other markets.
Recently, Tiko has started incorporating initiatives addressing the prevention and management of sexual and gender-based violence into its work. This expansion is crucial as the US has withdrawn $377 million in funding to the UNFPA and made cuts to aid for sexual and reproductive health globally.
In 2023, Tiko launched the $10.1m Development Impact Bond (DIB) for Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health, an outcomes-based contract focused on reducing early and unintended pregnancies and new HIV infections in girls aged 15 to 19. Tiko operates in Kenya, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, and Zambia through an online platform.
The DIB has delivered 1.5 million sexual and reproductive health services to 700,000 girls, which is more than double the original target, according to Lucía Santirso, executive director at Bridges Outcomes Partnerships. As Tiko continues to grow and evolve, it remains committed to its mission of empowering adolescent girls and improving their health outcomes.
- Tiko, an African non-profit organization, is extending its services beyond contraceptive health, now addressing the "triple threat" of unintended pregnancy, HIV, and sexual and gender-based violence.
- The organization's Development Impact Bond (DIB) has been successful in reducing early and unintended pregnancies and new HIV infections among girls in Kenya.
- Tiko is leveraging the success of its DIB to expand its reach with renewed initiatives in areas like mental health, women's health, and parenting.
- Serah Melaba, Tiko's chief impact officer, believes that investing in girls' education, health, and self-development yields significant returns, as supported by UNFPA data.
- Tiko's digital platform enables access to health services across 10 Kenyan counties, with plans to reach four million girls annually in the next five years.
- The organization's work in blended finance models has caught the attention of development finance institutions, making it possible to extend opportunities to other countries of implementation.
- In the realm of science and health-and-wellness, Tiko is increasingly focusing on fitness-and-exercise, family-health, and sexual-health education.
- As other sources of aid shrink, Tiko is collaborating with organizations like the UNFPA and SDG Outcomes Fund to secure funding for its holistic approach to empowering adolescent girls.
- Tiko's future initiatives include a girls outcomes fund in South Africa, aiming to replicate the Kenya blueprint in other markets, and a specific DIB focusing on adolescent sexual reproductive health.
