Evans faculty Isabelle Cohen co-authored an article in the journal Nature that looks at how a northern Nigerian program is helping to dramatically reduce child marriage rates. “Pathways to Choice” is a woman and Nigerian-led program run by the Centre for Girls Education that uses a range of community approaches to support girls schooling. By working with engaged community and religious leaders, the Pathways program provides girls with safe-space groups, remedial education, and help reenrolling in school or vocation training.

Isabelle brought her background as an economist with nearly fifteen years’ experience working in developing countries to figure out how best to conduct quality research and evaluate the program’s impact. The research team surveyed 1,181 unmarried girls between 12 and 17 years-old across 18 communities before half of communities were randomized into the program in 2018, then surveyed the same girls again after the program had ended in 2020. They found that 79% of girls in communities that participated in the program remained unmarried, compared with only 13.8% in communities who did not.

Isabelle and her colleagues concluded that the Pathways program increased the perceived value of girls’ education and reduced the stigma of delaying marriage. With more than 12 million girls marrying before the age of 18 every year, leading to less schooling and autonomy and greater health risks around childbirth, the results from the Pathways program offer promising solutions.

Currently, variations of Pathways are being tested in 40 communities in Kaduna State in Nigeria to further inform cost-efficient scale. The Centre for Girls Education is partnering with CARE to adapt the program in neighboring Niger. Both projects are funded by the Gates Foundation.