Supporting Scalable, Youth-Powered Programming at the Community Level in Ethiopia: The Case of Smart Start in Ethiopia

A case study that presents the lessons learned from designing and implementing Smart Start, A360’s intervention in Ethiopia, during the first investment phase of the project.

Smart Start works with married adolescent girls and their husbands to help them understand how delayed first birth and spaced pregnancies facilitate improved savings and capital to pursue their shared life goals. Smart Start is implemented through existing public health systems through the national Health Extension Program. The intervention is currently being scaled by the Ethiopian Ministry of Health (MOH) under the Roadmap for Integrating Smart Start in Ethiopia (RISE) project, aiming to reach 500,000 married adolescent girls with support to take up a contraceptive method for the first time.