The DAsra Girl Alliance 

Dasra launched a five-year, $14 million initiative in collaboration with U.S Agency for International Development (USAID), Kiawah Trust and Piramal Foundation to achieve systemic change by fostering innovation, improving outcomes and reaching scale to empower adolescent girls and address the healthcare needs of mothers and children in India. The Alliance aims to enable greater engagement and drive increased funding to the sector through a multi-stakeholder approach.

Why Adolescent Girls?

50%
Indians aged 15-19 
believe domestic violence
                     is acceptable 

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43%
of all women aged 20-24 
in India are married 
                        before the age of 18

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12 Million
The number of adolescent pregnancies in India.
                      The highest in the world.

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$10.6 billion 
The value added to the Indian economy by keeping girls in                           school over their lifetimes 

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45%
of all maternal deaths in India take place among                               girls aged between 15-24 

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6000
Children under-5 die in India every day.
                        The highest in the world

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Empower India's ADOLESCENT girls

There are 113 million adolescent girls in India, accounting for nearly 11% of the population. Despite their numbers, adolescent girls in India are a largely invisible population – prevailing socio-cultural customs and mores leave them powerless to decide their own future. 

Their lack of autonomy makes adolescent girls in India extremely vulnerable – they are subject to forced early marriage, violence at home and in community, lack of education and few employable skills. Dominant behaviours and mindsets about adolescent girls are fairly universal across India and are manifested in key aspects of their.

 

There are two essential reasons for investing more research, money and programs towards empowering adolescent girls

• Girls are essential agents of change in breaking the cycle of poverty and deprivation: By investing in their economic potential through education and by delaying child marriage, multiple issues such as maternal mortality, child survival, gender-based violence and HIV can be resolved and the cycle of poverty can be broken
  
  
• Donor funds or government programs do not target girls: Most programs either focus on issues (such as education or health) or children or older women. Adolescent girls are a frequently overlooked beneficiary group when it comes to program design or focus. 

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