Benta A. Abuya

2 Publications in AERD

Author Publications

Providing for a brighter future: explaining the lessons learnt from the implementation and evaluation of a program targeting adolescents in Nairobi, Kenya

By Benta A. Abuya

This paper documents the endline findings and lessons learned from the Advancing Learning Outcomes and Transformational Change (ALOT Change) program whose goal was to secure the future of adolescent girls and boys aged 12-19 in two urban informal settlements in urban Nairobi. The purpose of the paper was to explore what were the key endline findings and lessons learned from the ALOT Change program, which was a community-based intervention targeting girls and boys in urban informal settlements of Nairobi. Data were from the endline evaluation of the program conducted in July-August 2018, and program implementation documents between 2013 and 2018. The impact of the program was on life skills, learning outcomes, and leadership skills. One of the key lessons learned was that there is value in the implementation of integrated approaches, which systematically bring together multifaceted components of interventions. This reduces inefficiencies and enhances the impact.

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Family Structure and Child Educational Attainment in the Slums of Nairobi, Kenya

By Benta A. Abuya

Research shows that children living with two biological parents outperform those raised in other family structures. A growing number of children do not live with two biological parents in sub-Saharan Africa, but few studies have examined the consequences. In this article, data from the African Population and Health Research Center collected in the slums of Nairobi are fitted to a logistic regression model to test the hypothesis that two-parent families are most favorable to schooling outcomes in Kenya. After controlling for socioeconomic variables, the effect of family structure on educational attainment of children persists. Children in two-parent households were 40% (unadjusted odds ratio [UOR] = 1.40, p =.01) and 16% (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.16, p =.1) more likely to be in the right age for grade compared with children in one-parent households. The study calls for strengthening single-parent households to achieve better educational outcomes for the children. © The Author(s) 2019.

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