NCT01180114

Economic Empowerment Program Suubi-Maka

SUUBI MAKA ("Hope for Families"): A Family-Based Economic Empowerment Model for Orphaned Children in Uganda

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 300 (actual)
• Sponsor: Columbia University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 11 Years – 16 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The overall goal of SUUBI-MAKA is to further develop and preliminarily examine a family economic empowerment intervention that creates economic opportunities (specifically Children Development Accounts) for families in Uganda who are caring for children orphaned due to the AIDS pandemic, and to lay groundwork for a bigger study with practice and policy implications for Sub-Saharan Africa.

Detailed description

The study has two specific aims (1) To conduct formative work in order to understand children and families´ ability and interest in participating in a family-level economic empowerment intervention focused on savings and family income generation, and their response to this family-focused economic empowerment approach alongside additional intervention components, including savings for youth education and adult mentorship. (2) Based on formative data (Aim #1), to adapt the intervention and examine issues related to feasibility and preliminary outcome on a small scale in order to prepare for a larger study. The intervention, SUUBI-MAKA, uses a novel approach by focusing on economic empowerment of families caring for children orphaned due to AIDS. The intervention has three key components (1) it promotes family-level income generating projects (micro-enterprises) which we believe will enhance economic stability, reduce poverty, and enhance protective family processes for youth orphaned by AIDS. (2) It promotes monetary savings for educational opportunities for AIDS-orphaned children. (3) It provides an adult mentor to children. The intervention will be evaluated via a two-group randomized trial. The two groups are SUUBI-MAKA or Usual care for orphaned children. The participating children will be nested within 20 primary schools that will be randomly assigned such that all children from a particular school receive the same intervention.

Conditions

• Poverty

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Suubi-Maka ('Hope for Families')	Each child in the SUUBI-MAKA condition receive the usual care plus asset focused services, specifically: a matched Child Development Account (CDA); twelve 1-2 hour training sessions on career planning, setting short-term and long-term career goals, and how to save money; and monthly mentorship program with young adult peers (undergraduate students) on life options and how to avoid risk behaviors. In addition, participants receive a 2:1 match for their deposits into the account. Further, participants and their adult caregivers receive specific training on microenterprise development and specifically on how to start an income-generating project using up to 50% of the matched savings. The intervention is delivered over a period of 24 months.
OTHER	Usual Care	Each child in the control condition receives the usual services for orphaned children (counseling, school lunches, and textbooks).

Timeline

• Start date: 2008-08-01
• Primary completion: 2012-07-01
• Completion: 2012-07-01
• First posted: 2010-08-11
• Last updated: 2012-11-27

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Uganda