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Intra-Household Decision-Making On Health And Resource Allocation In Borgou, Bénin, Pierre Ngom, Salome Wawire, Timothee Gandaho, Pierre Klissou, Toussaint Adjimon, Mbaye Seye, Emile Akouanou, Laurie Winter Jan 2000

Intra-Household Decision-Making On Health And Resource Allocation In Borgou, Bénin, Pierre Ngom, Salome Wawire, Timothee Gandaho, Pierre Klissou, Toussaint Adjimon, Mbaye Seye, Emile Akouanou, Laurie Winter

Reproductive Health

The African Population and Health Research Centre carried out this study, with support from FRONTIERS and USAID, in order to inform Benin’s Projet Intégré en Santé Familiale (Integrated Project on Family Health—PROSAF) about socio-cultural factors in Borgou that can impede health improvements. More specifically, the study aimed to identify key players in household decisionmaking processes, map out patterns of health-seeking behavior, elucidate how such patterns are associated with prevailing health services utilization, assess community valuation of existing health services and products, and recommend to PROSAF approaches to identified target groups for their intervention. The findings indicate that for all the …


Increasing The Coverage Of Reproductive Health Issues In The Egyptian Press, Sahar Hegazi, Mona Khalifa Jan 2000

Increasing The Coverage Of Reproductive Health Issues In The Egyptian Press, Sahar Hegazi, Mona Khalifa

Reproductive Health

This project, based on previous experiments of the FRONTIERS and POLICY projects, aimed to widen media coverage in Egypt of critical reproductive health issues and to communicate related research findings in a more systematic manner. Increasing coverage in the Egyptian press first required an assessment of the current coverage. Second, a network was formed of about 20 journalists from newspapers and magazines of different publishing houses, followed by four roundtable discussions on critical reproductive health issues. The results of evaluation sheets from the roundtable discussions showed a general increase in the journalists’ knowledge about reproductive health issues, especially for important …


Report On The International Symposium On Quality Of Care In China, Population Council Jan 2000

Report On The International Symposium On Quality Of Care In China, Population Council

Reproductive Health

In 1995, China’s State Family Planning Commission (SFPC), the governmental agency charged with developing and implementing China’s population policy, issued an official call for the reorientation of the family planning program from a focus on demographic targets to meeting clients’ needs. In support of this reorientation effort, the SFPC selected six rural counties and five urban districts with comparatively good socioeconomic conditions as pilot sites for a quality-of-care experiment. This report provides a summary of an international symposium on quality of care held in Beijing from November 17–19, 1999. The symposium was sponsored by SFPC with the support of the …


An Assessment Of The Community Based Distribution Programs In Ghana, Jane Chege, Diouratie Sanogo, Ian Askew, Angela Bannerman, Steve Grey, Evam Kofi Glover, Francis Yankey, Joana Nerquaye-Tetteh Jan 2000

An Assessment Of The Community Based Distribution Programs In Ghana, Jane Chege, Diouratie Sanogo, Ian Askew, Angela Bannerman, Steve Grey, Evam Kofi Glover, Francis Yankey, Joana Nerquaye-Tetteh

Reproductive Health

This study was carried out to describe the major NGO community-based distribution (CBD) programs in Ghana, and to assess in some detail the functioning, quality of care, and performance of the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG) program. The study showed that national coverage by the NGO programs is extensive—virtually all the 110 districts in the 10 regions have at least one program. However, coverage within districts is sparse, as each program covers only a few communities. The results have been communicated to the NGOs whose programs were included in the study and PPAG has already identified a number of …


Enhancing The Use Of Emergency Contraception In A Refugee Setting: Findings From A Baseline Survey In Kakuma Refugee Camps, Kenya, Esther G. Muia, Joyce Olenja Jan 2000

Enhancing The Use Of Emergency Contraception In A Refugee Setting: Findings From A Baseline Survey In Kakuma Refugee Camps, Kenya, Esther G. Muia, Joyce Olenja

Reproductive Health

In August 1992, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) at the request of the United Nations, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, and the Kenyan Government, initiated a primary health care program in the Kakuma Refugee Camp. Since then, the population of the camp has continued to grow, and activities have moved from a crisis to a maintenance phase. In January 1997, IRC assumed the additional responsibility of the camp hospital, bringing the entire health sector under their management. IRC's programs focus on maintaining and improving public health and promoting self-reliance, particularly of the most vulnerable communities. This project focuses …


Egipto: Los Proveedores De Servicios De Planificación Deben Motivar A Sus Clientas A Hablar De Sus Problemas De Sexualidad, Frontiers In Reproductive Health Jan 2000

Egipto: Los Proveedores De Servicios De Planificación Deben Motivar A Sus Clientas A Hablar De Sus Problemas De Sexualidad, Frontiers In Reproductive Health

Reproductive Health

No abstract provided.


Adolescents And Reproductive Health In Pakistan: A Literature Review, Ayesha Khan Jan 2000

Adolescents And Reproductive Health In Pakistan: A Literature Review, Ayesha Khan

Reproductive Health

This report reviews research and findings on adolescents and reproductive health in Pakistan. The material is drawn from a range of national surveys and medical research, as well as information gathered by nongovernmental organizations. Although adolescents make up a quarter of the population of Pakistan, they are still a new subject for research. The characterization of adolescents for this review is individuals ages 10–19, whether or not they are married, sexually active, or parents. The discussion of the research material is based on the assumption that adolescence is a developmental phase, a transition from childhood to adulthood. Basic data on …


Adolescent Pregnancy And Parenthood In South Africa, Carol E. Kaufman, Thea De Wet, Jonathan Stadler Jan 2000

Adolescent Pregnancy And Parenthood In South Africa, Carol E. Kaufman, Thea De Wet, Jonathan Stadler

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

South Africa’s total fertility rate is estimated to be one of the lowest in sub-Saharan Africa, less than 3.0 births per woman nationally and declining. At the same time, adolescent childbearing levels remain high more than 30 percent of 19-year-old girls are reported to have given birth at least once. Using evidence from focus groups conducted in urban and rural areas in South Africa with young black women and men, and with the parents of teenage mothers, we consider the experience of early parenthood. Specifically, the analysis explores four aspects of teenage childbearing as it relates to key transitions into …


Schooling Opportunities For Girls As A Stimulus For Fertility Change In Rural Pakistan, Zeba Sathar, Cynthia B. Lloyd, Cem Mete, Minhaj Ul Haque Jan 2000

Schooling Opportunities For Girls As A Stimulus For Fertility Change In Rural Pakistan, Zeba Sathar, Cynthia B. Lloyd, Cem Mete, Minhaj Ul Haque

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This paper tests Caldwell’s mass schooling hypothesis in the context of rural Pakistan. His hypothesis was that the onset of the fertility transition is closely linked to the achievement of “mass formal schooling” of boys and girls. Punjab and Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) were selected for this study because they appear to be on the leading edge of the demographic transition-a transition that has only recently begun-as suggested by rapid recent increases in contraceptive practice. The study covered a range of rural villages or communities with very different socioeconomic and schooling conditions in order to examine the effects of both …


A Comparative Analysis Of Anti-Trafficking Intervention Approaches In Nepal, Catrin Evans, Pankaja Bhattarai, Celine Daly, Vaishali Sharma Mahendra, Nick Langton Jan 2000

A Comparative Analysis Of Anti-Trafficking Intervention Approaches In Nepal, Catrin Evans, Pankaja Bhattarai, Celine Daly, Vaishali Sharma Mahendra, Nick Langton

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This report on current intervention models is part of a larger research study entitled “Intervention Needs for the Prevention of Trafficking and the Care and Support of Trafficked Persons in the Context of an Emerging HIV/AIDS Epidemic in Nepal.” The United States Agency for International Development supported this comprehensive study under the Population Council’s Horizons Program. The Population Council subcontracted the Asia Foundation in Kathmandu to conduct the research. This report documents and analyzes current intervention models for the prevention of trafficking and the care and support of trafficked persons in Nepal. Between August and September 2000, two researchers interviewed …


Alone You Are Nobody, Together We Float: The Manuela Ramos Movement, Judith Bruce, Debbie Rogow Jan 2000

Alone You Are Nobody, Together We Float: The Manuela Ramos Movement, Judith Bruce, Debbie Rogow

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Quality/Calidad/Qualité, a publication of the Population Council, highlights examples of clinical and educational programs which bring a strong commitment, as well as innovative and thoughtful approaches, to the issue of quality care in sexual and reproductive health. The series is based on the philosophy that women and their partners have a fundamental right to respectful treatment, information, choice, and follow-up from reproductive health care providers. This issue discusses improving women’s health and well being through a range of empowerment strategies in rural Peru.


A Participatory Evaluation Of The Life-Skills Training Programme In Myanmar, Unicef, Population Council Jan 2000

A Participatory Evaluation Of The Life-Skills Training Programme In Myanmar, Unicef, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

In 1993 UNICEF/Myanmar launched an innovative project aimed at preventing the further spread of HIV/AIDS through the promotion of reproductive health. One of the activities undertaken was life-skills training for women and youth, conducted in collaboration with the Myanmar Red Cross Society (MRCS) and the Myanmar Maternal and Child Welfare Association (MMCWA). The objective of the training activities was to encourage and promote informed decision-making and care-seeking behavior among youth and women. The training aims to provide detailed and accurate information concerning sexuality, birth spacing, sexually transmitted diseases, and HIV/AIDS, and to provide skills for youth and women to enable …


Egypt: Family Planning Providers Should Encourage Clients To Discuss Sexual Problems, Frontiers In Reproductive Health Jan 2000

Egypt: Family Planning Providers Should Encourage Clients To Discuss Sexual Problems, Frontiers In Reproductive Health

Reproductive Health

This 1999 study examined the feasibility and impact of introducing the discussion of sexuality during family planning (FP) consultations. Conducted by the Population Council in collaboration with the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population (MOHP), the study took place in four MOHP clinics and two affiliated private clinics. Nurses and physicians at all six clinics attended a two-day training session on contraceptives with an emphasis on barrier methods. Providers in the three clinics that had been randomly chosen as intervention sites also received three days of training on sexuality, gender, and counseling skills. To assess the acceptability of sexuality counseling …


Adolescent Girls' Livelihoods. Essential Questions, Essential Tools: A Report On A Workshop [Arabic], Carey Meyers Jan 2000

Adolescent Girls' Livelihoods. Essential Questions, Essential Tools: A Report On A Workshop [Arabic], Carey Meyers

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This report, co-published by the Population Council and the International Center for Research on Women, describes a workshop convened in Cairo in 1999 to learn more about the nature of both younger and older adolescents' work experience, differentiate the particular needs and potentials of adolescent girls, and identify programs and policies that might have promise for supporting them.


Integrating Issues Of Sexuality Into Egyptian Family Planning Counseling, Nahla G. Abdel-Tawab, Laila Nawar, Hala Youssef, Dale Huntington Jan 2000

Integrating Issues Of Sexuality Into Egyptian Family Planning Counseling, Nahla G. Abdel-Tawab, Laila Nawar, Hala Youssef, Dale Huntington

Reproductive Health

The Population Council studied the acceptability of including sexuality issues in family planning (FP) in Egypt, a conservative society with social restrictions around discussions of sex. The study results showed that sexuality counseling is acceptable to family planning clients in Egypt; in fact, sexuality-related problems and concerns were found to be very common in the study group. Similarly, training family planning service providers on issues of sexuality is both feasible and acceptable to providers. The report offers recommendations for refining existing FP training programs and services including: integrating issues of sexuality into FP counseling, training FP service providers on the …


Male Circumcision And Hiv Prevention: Directions For Future Research, Johannes Van Dam, Marie Christine Anastasi Jan 2000

Male Circumcision And Hiv Prevention: Directions For Future Research, Johannes Van Dam, Marie Christine Anastasi

HIV and AIDS

A growing body of scientific publications suggests that male circumcision is associated with reduced risk of HIV infection in sub-Saharan Africa. Thus, male circumcision is being considered as a potential intervention in the prevention of sexually transmitted HIV infection, even though this procedure has profound cultural implications and carries the risk of complications, and its benefits are realized only many years later. This report presents the findings of a meeting of international researchers, organized by the Horizons Project to explore the programmatic and research implications of the association between male circumcision and HIV prevention. Most studies on male circumcision and …


The Female Condom: Dynamics Of Use In Urban Zimbabwe, Deanna Kerrigan, Steve Mobley, Naomi Rutenberg, Andrew A. Fisher, Ellen Weiss Jan 2000

The Female Condom: Dynamics Of Use In Urban Zimbabwe, Deanna Kerrigan, Steve Mobley, Naomi Rutenberg, Andrew A. Fisher, Ellen Weiss

HIV and AIDS

In July 1997, Population Services International (PSI), at the request of the Zimbabwe National AIDS Coordination Programme, launched a social marketing program for the female condom in Zimbabwe. To avoid stigma associated with condoms and STI prevention, the female condom was marketed as a family planning product or “contraceptive sheath” under the brand name “Care.” It was initially sold through pharmacies and clinics at a heavily subsidized retail price of US $0.24 for two; distribution has since expanded to other urban outlets, including supermarkets and convenience stores. Approximately one year after the start of the social marketing program, the Horizons …


Socialization To Gender Roles And Marriage Among Egyptian Adolescents, Barbara Mensch, Barbara L. Ibrahim, Susan M. Lee, Omaima El-Gibaly Jan 2000

Socialization To Gender Roles And Marriage Among Egyptian Adolescents, Barbara Mensch, Barbara L. Ibrahim, Susan M. Lee, Omaima El-Gibaly

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Using nationally representative survey data, this paper explores gender role socialization and attitudes toward marriage among unmarried Egyptian adolescents aged 16-19 years. We examine the daily activities of adolescent boys and girls, views about age at marriage and desirable qualities in a spouse, and various indicators of gender role attitudes including opinions about whether wives should defer to husbands, about sharing household decisionmaking, and about responsibility for domestic tasks. Our findings reflect strong gender differentiation: girls have much less free time than boys, are much less mobile, are much less likely to participate in paid work, and have heavier domestic …


Egypte: Les Prestataires De Service De Planification Familiale Doivent Encourage Les Discussions Sur Les Problèmes Sexuels, Frontiers In Reproductive Health Jan 2000

Egypte: Les Prestataires De Service De Planification Familiale Doivent Encourage Les Discussions Sur Les Problèmes Sexuels, Frontiers In Reproductive Health

Reproductive Health

No abstract provided.


Meeting Women's Health Care Needs After Abortion, Dale Huntington Jan 2000

Meeting Women's Health Care Needs After Abortion, Dale Huntington

Reproductive Health

Women who seek emergency treatment for abortion complications—bleeding, infection, and injuries to the reproductive tract system—should be a priority group for reproductive health care programs. These women often receive poor-quality services that do not address their multiple health needs. They may be discharged without counseling on postoperative recuperation, family planning (FP), or other reproductive health (RH) issues. Women who have had an induced abortion due to an unwanted pregnancy are likely to have a repeat abortion unless they receive appropriate FP counseling and services. Preventing repeat unsafe abortions is important for RH programs because it saves women's lives, protects women’s …


Women Street Vendors: The Road To Recognition, Monique Cohen Jan 2000

Women Street Vendors: The Road To Recognition, Monique Cohen

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This issue of SEEDS explores the experience of women working and organizing as urban street vendors at a time when both the volume of demand and the number of vendors are expected to grow. As municipalities seek to change laws that affect how street vendors ply their trade, it is clear that vendors must have a seat at the table. Local-level organizational efforts need to be consolidated at the national level to cement vendors’ hard-earned gains as rights in national laws and policy. A 1995 meeting in Bellagio conceived an international alliance of street vendors—StreetNet—which aims to promote the exchange …


Integrating Men Into The Reproductive Health Equation: Acceptability And Feasibility In Kenya, Esther G. Muia, Violet Kimani, Ann Leonard Jan 2000

Integrating Men Into The Reproductive Health Equation: Acceptability And Feasibility In Kenya, Esther G. Muia, Violet Kimani, Ann Leonard

Reproductive Health

This study’s objective was to improve understanding of Kenyan men’s actual and potential roles as supportive partners in various phases of reproductive health (RH), to help in the design of strategies to encourage men’s greater participation in a variety of RH initiatives in Kenya. The results of the study clearly show that, to a larger extent than anticipated, men in Kenya already participate in women-centered RH services. Overall the institutional barriers seemed to be more overwhelming than the cultural barriers, given that one of the reasons frequently given for nonparticipation was fear of non-acceptance by the health providers. Based on …


Rights, Technology, And Services In Reproductive Health: A Report From A Meeting, Marion Carter, C. Elizabeth Mcgrory Jan 2000

Rights, Technology, And Services In Reproductive Health: A Report From A Meeting, Marion Carter, C. Elizabeth Mcgrory

Reproductive Health

The Population Council’s Robert H. Ebert Program on Critical Issues in Reproductive Health convened a two-day meeting to explore some of the compelling issues at the intersection of technology, services, and rights. Nearly 70 professionals from the research, policy, service delivery, human rights, and advocacy fields came together to grapple with some of the political aspects of reproductive technologies. Participants also discussed how these technologies can facilitate or constrain rights, depending on the interests involved and the particular social, political, and economic contexts in which they are used. This report on the meeting concludes that in order for program managers …


Peer Education And Hiv/Aids: Past Experience, Future Directions, Deanna Kerrigan, Ellen Weiss Jan 2000

Peer Education And Hiv/Aids: Past Experience, Future Directions, Deanna Kerrigan, Ellen Weiss

HIV and AIDS

Peer education typically involves training and supporting members of a given group to effect change among members of the same group. Peer education is often used to effect changes in knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors at the individual level. However, peer education may also create change at the group or societal level by modifying norms and stimulating collective action that contributes to changes in policies and programs. Worldwide, peer education is one of the most widely used strategies to address the HIV/AIDS pandemic. This report presents findings from a project designed to identify components and principles that influence HIV/AIDS peer …


Critical Analysis Of Interventions Against Fgc In Egypt, Nahla G. Abdel-Tawab, Sahar Hegazi Jan 2000

Critical Analysis Of Interventions Against Fgc In Egypt, Nahla G. Abdel-Tawab, Sahar Hegazi

Reproductive Health

Community-based programs designed to discourage the practice of female genital cutting (FGC) in Egypt started as early as the 1920s, however, NGOs seldom document the implementation, strengths, and weaknesses of each approach; or difficulties faced in implementation or ways of overcoming those difficulties. The present meta-assessment was designed by the Population Council to address these issues. Recommendations proposed to increase the effectiveness of anti-FGC interventions in Egypt include: conducting formative research to assess the needs of individuals/communities; using more participatory learning techniques in awareness-raising seminars and training workshops; focusing messages not only on the health hazards of FGC, but also …


Adolescent Girls' Livelihoods. Essential Questions, Essential Tools: A Report On A Workshop, Carey Meyers Jan 2000

Adolescent Girls' Livelihoods. Essential Questions, Essential Tools: A Report On A Workshop, Carey Meyers

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This report, co-published by the Population Council and the International Center for Research on Women, describes a workshop convened in Cairo in 1999 to learn more about the nature of both younger and older adolescents' work experience, differentiate the particular needs and potentials of adolescent girls, and identify programs and policies that might have promise for supporting them.


Men As Supportive Partners In Reproductive Health: Moving From Rhetoric To Reality, Saraswati Raju, Ann Leonard Jan 2000

Men As Supportive Partners In Reproductive Health: Moving From Rhetoric To Reality, Saraswati Raju, Ann Leonard

Reproductive Health

This book builds on presentations of the Workshop on Men as Supportive Partners in Reproductive and Sexual Health held in Kathmandu, Nepal, in 1998. By analyzing the experiences of nongovernmental organizations across India, this publication reviews important concerns that should inform the discourse on male partnership. The previous views of reaching men as contraceptive users and removing them as impediments to women’s efforts to control fertility are too limited. The argument is not whether men and women should use family planning, but rather the extent to which men can become supportive of women’s reproductive and sexual rights and actively take …


From The Home To The Clinic: The Next Chapter In Bangladesh's Family Planning Success Story Rural Sites, Linda Bates, Md. Khairul Islam, Sidney Ruth Schuler, Md. Alauddinn Jan 2000

From The Home To The Clinic: The Next Chapter In Bangladesh's Family Planning Success Story Rural Sites, Linda Bates, Md. Khairul Islam, Sidney Ruth Schuler, Md. Alauddinn

Reproductive Health

This study reports on Bangladesh’s new program model for reproductive health service delivery and people's reactions to it. NGOs in Bangladesh have discontinued door-to-door contraceptive distribution in response to the government’s integrated, clinic-focused approach. The findings from this study strongly support these policy changes: clients and communities are responding favorably to many aspects of the new model, and there do not seem to be intractable social barriers to service utilization. As the NGOs and the Bangladesh government proceed with implementation of the integrated, essential health services model, additional strategies will be needed to erode the paternalistic service delivery culture that …


Greater Investments In Children Through Women's Empowerment: A Key To Demographic Change In Pakistan?, Valerie L. Durrant, Zeba Sathar Jan 2000

Greater Investments In Children Through Women's Empowerment: A Key To Demographic Change In Pakistan?, Valerie L. Durrant, Zeba Sathar

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Women’s status has received considerable attention as a significant factor in demographic behavior and outcomes in South Asia however, little research has addressed the links between women’s status and their investments in children. In this paper, we empirically investigate how women’s status on multiple levels is associated with demographic outcomes. Using data from the Pakistan Status of Women and Fertility Survey in rural Punjab, we confirm that empowered women, or those with higher status, are better able to make positive investments in their children, thus increasing their children’s chances of survival during infancy and increasing their likelihood of ever attending …


The Tostan Story: Breakthrough In Senegal Ending Female Genital Cutting, Population Council Jan 2000

The Tostan Story: Breakthrough In Senegal Ending Female Genital Cutting, Population Council

Reproductive Health

In Senegal, elements of the Tostan education program were fundamental to the ending of the practice of female genital cutting (FGC) which has persisted for centuries, despite outside efforts to abolish such a dangerous and harmful operation. This paper is an attempt by those who lived through these events to share the experience with others. At a time when there has been little reduction in the numbers of women ending FGC in 28 African countries, when different programs and strategies have rarely succeeded in making an impact on the number of women still practicing FGC despite laws abolishing the tradition, …