Paper short abstract:

This paper identifies a critical need for prioritising research on, and action for, early adolescent females in urban slums; a group whose prospects of exiting poverty frequently come up against massive constraints at menarche, and for whom dedicated research or policy interventions remain limited.

Paper long abstract:

If analysis of the interrelations between urbanisation, gender and poverty in developing country contexts has only recently come onto the radar of scholarship and policy interventions, then it could be levelled that the situation of adolescent girls has taken even more of a backseat. Despite recent 'Smart Economics' discourse on the need to invest in younger generations of women to maximise the returns to development and gender equality, in actuality little importance has been accorded to dedicated research on, or policy interventions for, early adolescent females in urban slums whose prospects of exiting poverty frequently come up against massive constraints at menarche. This paper, which draws on recent work by the authors for the DfID-funded Gender and Global Evidence consortium project managed by the Overseas Development Institute, identifies the critical need for prioritising research on, and action for, an hitherto marginalised group in order to create more gender-equitable urban futures.