Imagine Evaluation

The Imagine Programme was active in 14 schools in the sub-districts of Newcastle and Moretele between March 2023 and July 2025. The programme provided services to improve the health and wellbeing of adolescent girls and young women at these chosen schools. The programme was delivered by NACOSA and local NGOs.

Who led the Imagine Evaluation?

Researchers from the Office of AIDS and TB Research and the Health Systems Research Unit of the South African Medical Research Council

When was the Imagine Evaluation?

2022 - 2025

Where did the Imagine Evaluation take place?

In 14 schools chosen for the Imagine Programme in the Moretele sub-district of the North West Province and the Newcastle sub-district of Kwazulu-Natal.

Who participated?

Female learners in grades 9─12 at schools where the Imagine Programme was taking place. The female learners were 13 years or older from classes that were randomly chosen by the chief statistician at the South African Medical Research Council.

Why was the Imagine Evaluation conducted?

To find out whether the Imagine Programme reached its goals and whether it improved the lives, health and wellbeing of adolescent girls and young women.

What happened in the Imagine Evaluation?

Female learners in grades 9─12 at chosen schools were randomly selected and invited to participate in a survey or an interview. Data collection for the survey has been completed.

Important information: The Imagine Evaluation and the Imagine Programme were not the same. The evaluation assessed the programme.

The Imagine Programme was a unique programme delivered by NACOSA and local NGOs. The programme aimed to improve the lives, health and wellbeing of adolescent girls and young women in high school.

The programme was for grade 8─12 female learners in 6 schools in Moretele (North West) and 8 schools in Newcastle (KwaZulu-Natal), over a 2.5 year period starting in 2022.

The programme provided a wide range of services focused on the lives of female learners. These services were delivered through Imagine Programme teams at schools, mobile clinics, health facilities or in community facilities.

Peer reviewed papers

Sindi B, Duby Z, Jonas K, Bergh K, Lotvonen M and Mathews C. Talking about PrEP: South African adolescent girls and young women’s communication about pre-exposure prophylaxis with partners, parents and peers. Front. Reprod. Health 2025; 7:1668275. doi: 10.3389/frph.2025.1668275
Bergh, K., Jonas, K., Duby, Z., Govindasamy, D., Mathews, C., Reddy, T., Slingers, N., Whittle, G., & Abdullah, F. (2023) Factors Associated with COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake among School going Adolescent Girls and Young Women in South Africa. Vaccines, 11(10), 158. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines11101581
Duby, Z., Bergh, K., Bunce, B., Jonas, K., Slingers, N., Mathews, C., & Abdullah, F. (2024). "I will find the best method that will work for me": navigating contraceptive journeys amongst South African adolescent girls and young women. Contraception and reproductive medicine, 9(1), 39. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40834-024-00298-4
Duby, Z., Bunce, B., Fowler, C., Bergh, K., Slingers, N., Mathews, C. & Abdullah, F. (2025). Who is to blame for the ‘problem’ of teenage pregnancy? Narratives of blame in two South African communities. Reproductive Health, 22, 18. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12978-025-01958-7
Duby, Z., Bunce, B., Bergh, K., Cwele, N., Wagner, C., Kuo, C. & Abdullah, F. (2025). Girls get stressed due to the situation we are facing: Multi-level mental health stressors and resilience enablers among adolescent girls and young women in South Africa. PLOS Mental Health, 2(5).
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmen.0000286
Bergh, K., Jonas, K., Toska, E., Abdullah, F., Blom, N., Mathews, C., Mthanti, N., Slingers, N., van blydenstein, N. & Duby, Z. (2025) “I will take PrEP because that’s what will help me not to get infected with HIV”: barriers to and facilitators of pre-exposure prophylaxis and condom use among adolescent girls and young women enrolled in a school-based HIV prevention program in South Africa. Frontiers in Public Health, 13, 161626. https://doi:10.3389/fpubh.2025.1616261