Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Medicine and Health Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 30 of 60

Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences

Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (Agep): Health, Karen Austrian, Erica Soler-Hampejsek, Natalie Jackson Hachonda, Paul C. Hewett Jan 2018

Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (Agep): Health, Karen Austrian, Erica Soler-Hampejsek, Natalie Jackson Hachonda, Paul C. Hewett

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (AGEP) intervention was conducted over two years to support more than 11,000 vulnerable adolescent girls in Zambia. It was led by the Population Council in partnership with the Young Women’s Christian Association of Zambia (YWCA), the National Savings and Credit Bank of Zambia (Natsave), and the Government of Zambia. To assess the impact of AGEP on mediating and longer-term demographic, reproductive, and health outcomes, Population Council researchers designed and implemented a longitudinal, cluster randomized controlled trial across all program areas. This brief presents the final AGEP findings, highlighting, in the Zambian context, what can be …


Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (Agep): Financial Literacy And Savings—Two-Year Follow-Up, Karen Austrian, Erica Soler-Hampejsek, Natalie Jackson Hachonda, Paul C. Hewett Jan 2018

Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (Agep): Financial Literacy And Savings—Two-Year Follow-Up, Karen Austrian, Erica Soler-Hampejsek, Natalie Jackson Hachonda, Paul C. Hewett

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Through the Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (AGEP), the Population Council and partners implemented a social, health, and economic asset-building program in Zambia for over 11,000 vulnerable adolescent girls aged 10–19 years. The AGEP intervention was comprised of three major components: 1) weekly safe spaces groups in which girls met once a week for two years for training on sexual and reproductive health, life skills, and financial education; 2) a health voucher that girls could use at contracted private and public facilities for general wellness and sexual and reproductive health services; and 3) a savings account that was designed by the …


What Works To Improve Outcomes For Kenya's Adolescent Girls?, Population Council Jan 2018

What Works To Improve Outcomes For Kenya's Adolescent Girls?, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This fact sheet outlines results from the Adolescent Girls Initiative–Kenya, a study that evaluates the long-term impact of a multi-sectoral intervention targeted at adolescent girls aged 11 to 15 years from Kibera and rural Wajir. The intervention consists of four different components: a community-based violence-prevention program, an education conditional cash transfer (CCT), health-focused girls' empowerment clubs, and wealth creation for girls via financial education and savings. Results indicate that the approach was a cost-effective way to create positive change across a range of well-being factors for young adolescent girls, including education, health, and economic outcomes.


Delivering Impact For Adolescent Girls: Emerging Findings From Population Council Research, Population Council Jan 2018

Delivering Impact For Adolescent Girls: Emerging Findings From Population Council Research, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Despite numerous global commitments to invest in improving the lives of adolescent girls, questions remain as to what package of interventions can deliver the best outcomes. This report synthesizes findings from nine recent Population Council impact evaluations, conducted around the world, which indicate that empowerment and asset-building interventions for adolescent girls can improve education, health, economic, social capital, gender-equitable attitude, and violence outcomes for girls. The report includes implications for programs and investment, and identifies open questions for further research and evaluation.


Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (Agep), Population Council Jan 2018

Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (Agep), Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

For Zambian girls, social isolation, economic vulnerability, and lack of appropriate health information and services are critical problems that prevent a healthy transition from girlhood to womanhood. The challenges that girls are confronted with—high rates of gender-based violence, unsafe sex that puts them at risk for unwanted pregnancy and HIV infection, school dropout, lack of economic resources and income-generating options, lack of agency and participation—are linked together through their root causes. Through the Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (AGEP), the Population Council and partners implemented a social, health, and economic asset-building program for vulnerable adolescent girls in Zambia. This brief summarizes …


Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (Agep): Endline Results—Executive Summary, Population Council Jan 2018

Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (Agep): Endline Results—Executive Summary, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Adolescent girls in Zambia face a range of risks and vulnerabilities that challenge their healthy development from girls into young women, and they often lack the social, health, and economic assets that are necessary to mitigate these risks. The issues that confront vulnerable girls—high rates of gender-based violence, unsafe sex that puts girls at risk for unwanted pregnancies and HIV infections, school dropout, lack of economic resources and income-generating options, and lack of agency and participation—are interdependent and have similar causes. The vulnerabilities confronting Zambian adolescent girls formed the basis for designing the Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (AGEP), which 1) …


Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (Agep): Program Overview, Population Council Jan 2015

Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (Agep): Program Overview, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

For Zambian girls, social isolation, economic vulnerability, and lack of appropriate health information and services are critical problems that prevent a healthy transition from girlhood to womanhood. The challenges that girls are confronted with—high rates of gender-based violence, unsafe sex that puts girls at risk for unwanted pregnancy and HIV infection, school dropout, lack of economic resources and income-generating options, lack of agency and participation—are linked together through their root causes. Therefore, the solutions must be interconnected as well. Through the Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (AGEP), the Population Council and partners are implementing a social, health, and economic asset-building program …


The Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program: Lessons Learned From The Pilot Test Program, Karen Austrian, Natalie Jackson Hachonda, Paul C. Hewett Jan 2013

The Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program: Lessons Learned From The Pilot Test Program, Karen Austrian, Natalie Jackson Hachonda, Paul C. Hewett

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Adolescent girls in Zambia face a range of risks and vulnerabilities that compromise their healthy development into young women, and lack the social, health, and economic assets to mitigate these risks. The issues that girls are confronted with include high rates of gender-based violence, unsafe sex that puts them at risk for unwanted pregnancy and HIV infection, school dropout, lack of economic resources and income-generating options, and lack of agency and participation. The Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (AGEP) has three major components: safe spaces groups in which girls meet once a week over the course of two years for training …


Safe And Smart Savings Products For Vulnerable Adolescent Girls In Kenya And Uganda: Evaluation Report, Karen Austrian, Eunice N. Muthengi Jan 2013

Safe And Smart Savings Products For Vulnerable Adolescent Girls In Kenya And Uganda: Evaluation Report, Karen Austrian, Eunice N. Muthengi

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The decision to engage in the development of girl-friendly savings accounts was made as part of the Population Council’s work with adolescent girls in Kenya. In June 2008 the Council and MicroSave Consulting started the Safe and Smart Savings Products for Vulnerable Adolescent Girls. Based on the market research and prior experience with developing programs for adolescent girls, a product concept for a group-based savings account was developed, in which the group model was used to address the legal constraints of minors not being able to hold individual accounts. In Kenya and Uganda, two financial institutions were identified, and the …


Financial Inclusion Of Female Garment Workers, Sigma Ainul, Md. Irfan Hossain, Sajeda Amin, Ubaidur Rob Jan 2013

Financial Inclusion Of Female Garment Workers, Sigma Ainul, Md. Irfan Hossain, Sajeda Amin, Ubaidur Rob

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Since the 1980s rapid growth in the manufacturing of ready-made garments for export has created new opportunities for women industrial workers in Bangladesh. This study explores ways of improving the financial capabilities of these young, inexperienced wage earners through a targeted program of financial education. It also aims to identify scalable financing models that can be replicated to increase the opportunities of garment workers. The project culminated in a workshop to share results from the research study and to elicit discussions and recommendations based on the findings of the study. Recommendations include a preference for in-factory training in peri-urban areas, …


Élargir L'Accès Des Adolescentes Aux Espaces Sécurisés, À L'Éducation Financière Et Aux Produits D'Épargne Au Kenya, Karen Austrian Jan 2011

Élargir L'Accès Des Adolescentes Aux Espaces Sécurisés, À L'Éducation Financière Et Aux Produits D'Épargne Au Kenya, Karen Austrian

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Près d'un milliard de personnes vivent dans des implantations urbaines sauvages et informelles, à savoir des «bidonvilles». Au Kenya, 60% des quelques 3 millions d’habitants de Nairobi vivent dans des taudis caractérisés par des niveaux élevés de pauvreté et de VIH. Kibera est le plus grand de ces bidonvilles. La vie est particulièrement dangereuse pour les adolescentes dans les bidonvilles, car elles font leur transition vers l'âge adulte. Les filles sont davantage susceptibles que les garçons du même âge d'être infectées par le VIH, et l'initiation sexuelle des jeunes filles se produit souvent dans le contexte de violence et de …


Safe And Smart Savings Products For Vulnerable Adolescent Girls In Kenya And Uganda: Results From The Uganda Pilot Evaluation, Karen Austrian Jan 2011

Safe And Smart Savings Products For Vulnerable Adolescent Girls In Kenya And Uganda: Results From The Uganda Pilot Evaluation, Karen Austrian

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This presentation was given at the Global Youth Economic Opportunities Conference in Washington DC, USA in 2011. It looks at results from a Uganda Pilot Program to provide financial education among girls and increase asset building in the form of Girls Savings Programs. Results from this study saw that savings programs build social, health, and economic assets for girls.


Expanding Safe Spaces, Financial Education, And Savings For Adolescent Girls In Kenya, Karen Austrian Jan 2011

Expanding Safe Spaces, Financial Education, And Savings For Adolescent Girls In Kenya, Karen Austrian

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Almost 1 billion people around the globe live in urban informal settlements, or “slums.” In Kenya, 60 percent of Nairobi’s nearly 3 million inhabitants live in slum areas characterized by high levels of poverty and HIV. Kibera is the largest of these slums. Life is particularly perilous for adolescent girls in slums, as they make their transition to adulthood. Girls are several times more likely than their male age-mates to become infected with HIV, and sexual initiation for girls often occurs in the context of violence and coercion. Poverty is a driving force behind these and other vulnerabilities. As described …


Kishor-Kishorider Jonno Ortho Sikkha [Financial Education For Adolescents], Sigma Ainul, Marzina Khatun, Najneen Mahbooba Jan 2010

Kishor-Kishorider Jonno Ortho Sikkha [Financial Education For Adolescents], Sigma Ainul, Marzina Khatun, Najneen Mahbooba

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

No abstract provided.


Kishor-Kishorider Jonno Ortho Sikkha: Shikkhok Shahayika [Financial Education For Adolescents: Teacher's Manual], Sigma Ainul, Marzina Khatun, Najneen Mahbooba Jan 2010

Kishor-Kishorider Jonno Ortho Sikkha: Shikkhok Shahayika [Financial Education For Adolescents: Teacher's Manual], Sigma Ainul, Marzina Khatun, Najneen Mahbooba

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

No abstract provided.


Kishor-Kishorider Jonno Ortho Sikkha: Dishari Shohayika [Financial Education For Adolescents: Mentor's Manual], Sigma Ainul, Marzina Khatun, Najneen Mahbooba Jan 2010

Kishor-Kishorider Jonno Ortho Sikkha: Dishari Shohayika [Financial Education For Adolescents: Mentor's Manual], Sigma Ainul, Marzina Khatun, Najneen Mahbooba

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

No abstract provided.


White Paper: Enhancing Adolescent Financial Capabilities Through Financial Education In Bangladesh, Sajeda Amin, Laila Rahman, Sigma Ainul, Ubaidur Rob, Bushra Zaman, Rinat Akter Jan 2010

White Paper: Enhancing Adolescent Financial Capabilities Through Financial Education In Bangladesh, Sajeda Amin, Laila Rahman, Sigma Ainul, Ubaidur Rob, Bushra Zaman, Rinat Akter

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This white paper addresses a growing concern about the problems of financial exclusion of the poor. It is based on a scoping study and a pilot program providing financial education to adolescents in Bangladesh. The Population Council worked with BRAC and Underprivileged Children’s Educational Program (UCEP) to expand these life skills. The result and tools of the study inspired UCEP to commit introduction of financial literacy in 52 schools for the under privileged children from next year while BRAC expressed interest to accumulate resources and initiate discussions with their donors and consortium partners for gradually introducing the financial literacy in …


Influencing Girls' Lives: Acceptability And Effectiveness Of A Livelihoods Skill Building Intervention In Gujarat, Sewa, Sewa Academy, Shveta Kalyanwala, Rajib Acharya, Sunetra Deshpande Jan 2006

Influencing Girls' Lives: Acceptability And Effectiveness Of A Livelihoods Skill Building Intervention In Gujarat, Sewa, Sewa Academy, Shveta Kalyanwala, Rajib Acharya, Sunetra Deshpande

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), a key Indian micro-finance nongovernmental organization, in partnership with the Population Council, undertook a pilot livelihoods skill-building program to support adolescent girls aged 13–19 years (mostly unmarried, in school and out of school). Like other such programs, this livelihoods program focused on exposing girls to new ideas, building social networks, exposing them to the world around them, and providing the technical skills needed to enhance their access to income generating opportunities. The study’s findings are mixed, but suggest that a life and livelihoods skill-building intervention program for girls is acceptable to adolescents (and their …


Investing When It Counts: Generating The Evidence Base For Policies And Programmes For Very Young Adolescents—Guide And Tool Kit, Erica Chong, Kelly Hallman, Martha Brady Jan 2006

Investing When It Counts: Generating The Evidence Base For Policies And Programmes For Very Young Adolescents—Guide And Tool Kit, Erica Chong, Kelly Hallman, Martha Brady

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

No abstract provided.


Tap And Reposition Youth (Try): Providing Social Support, Savings, And Microcredit Opportunities For Young Women In Areas With High Hiv Prevalence, Annabel Erulkar, Judith Bruce, Erica Chong, Aleke Dondo, Jennefer Sebstad, James K. Matheka, Arjmand Banu Khan, Anne Gathuku Jan 2006

Tap And Reposition Youth (Try): Providing Social Support, Savings, And Microcredit Opportunities For Young Women In Areas With High Hiv Prevalence, Annabel Erulkar, Judith Bruce, Erica Chong, Aleke Dondo, Jennefer Sebstad, James K. Matheka, Arjmand Banu Khan, Anne Gathuku

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Nairobi, Kenya is home to one of the largest slum populations in sub-Saharan Africa. Adolescents living in these slums, especially girls, are cut off from the potentially protective environments of school and family and lack safe economic opportunities. Unemployment is a major concern for adolescent girls, and desperate circumstances force them to survive however they can: 21 percent of sexually active girls aged 15–19 report exchanging sex for money or gifts. This heightened vulnerability is reflected in rates of HIV infection. In response to these circumstances, the Population Council and microfinance institution K-Rep Development Agency collaborated on the implementation of …


Spending, Saving And Borrowing: Perceptions And Experiences Of Girls In Gujarat, Population Council Jan 2006

Spending, Saving And Borrowing: Perceptions And Experiences Of Girls In Gujarat, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Microfinance and savings programs that offer user-friendly and flexible savings schemes for women are increasingly being implemented in India, but such programs have been limited to adults. Although a number of programs have been implemented that aim to empower adolescent girls and young women, these have largely focused on enhancing life skills and awareness. The potential among young females to enhance control over resources through savings and use of other financial products in formal and informal banking institutions has rarely been addressed, either in research or through programs. As stated in this brief, the Council and the Self Employed Women's …


Tap And Reposition Youth (Try) Program: Providing Social Support, Savings, And Microcredit Opportunities To Adolescent Girls At Risk For Hiv/Aids In Kenya, Joan Hall, Aleke Dondo, Jennefer Sebstad Jan 2006

Tap And Reposition Youth (Try) Program: Providing Social Support, Savings, And Microcredit Opportunities To Adolescent Girls At Risk For Hiv/Aids In Kenya, Joan Hall, Aleke Dondo, Jennefer Sebstad

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This brief was commissioned by the Population Council to complement its two previous publications on the TRY project. The two previous publications contain data and information essential for understanding the project and its results, although they do not analyze the microfinance component in depth. In contrast, this brief was written by microfinance practitioners for a microfinance audience. In 1998, the Population Council and K-Rep (a Kenyan microfinance institution) developed a microfinance approach to address livelihood-strategy constraints for adolescent girls at risk for HIV/AIDS in an urban slum in Kenya. The initiative was named the Tap and Reposition Youth (TRY) program, …


Invertir Cuando Hacerlo Cuenta: Generando La Evidencia Base Para Politicas Y Programas Para Adolescentes Muy Jóvenes—Guía Y Juego De Herramientas, Erica Chong, Kelly Hallman, Martha Brady Jan 2006

Invertir Cuando Hacerlo Cuenta: Generando La Evidencia Base Para Politicas Y Programas Para Adolescentes Muy Jóvenes—Guía Y Juego De Herramientas, Erica Chong, Kelly Hallman, Martha Brady

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

No abstract provided.


Tap And Reposition Youth (Try): Prestar Apoio Social E Oportunidades De Microcrédito E De Poupanças A Mulheres Jovens Em Áreas Com Uma Prevalência De Vih Elevada, Annabel Erulkar, Judith Bruce, Erica Chong, Aleke Dondo, Jennefer Sebstad, James K. Matheka, Arjmand Banu Khan, Anne Gathuku Jan 2006

Tap And Reposition Youth (Try): Prestar Apoio Social E Oportunidades De Microcrédito E De Poupanças A Mulheres Jovens Em Áreas Com Uma Prevalência De Vih Elevada, Annabel Erulkar, Judith Bruce, Erica Chong, Aleke Dondo, Jennefer Sebstad, James K. Matheka, Arjmand Banu Khan, Anne Gathuku

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Nairobi, no Quénia, acolhe uma dos maiores populações de bairros pobres na África subsariana. Os adolescentes que vivem nesses bairros, especialmente as jovens, stão privadas dos ambientes potencialmente seguros das suas escolas e famílias e não têm oportunidades económicas seguras. O desemprego é uma enorme preocupação para as jovens adolescentes e as circunstâncias desesperantes obriga-as a sobreviver conforme podem: 21% das jovens sexualmente activas entre os 15–19 anos de idade admitiram que têm relações sexuais em troca de dinheiro ou ofertas. Essa vulnerabilidade acrescida reflecte-se nas taxas da infecção pelo VIH. Em resposta a essas circunstâncias, o Population Council e …


Spending, Saving And Borrowing: Perceptions And Experiences Of Girls In Gujarat, Shveta Kalyanwala, Jennefer Sebstad Jan 2006

Spending, Saving And Borrowing: Perceptions And Experiences Of Girls In Gujarat, Shveta Kalyanwala, Jennefer Sebstad

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Recognizing that a better understanding of the savings patterns and potential of adolescent girls and young women is an essential prerequisite for shaping the design of appropriate savings options and services for this group, SEWA, a leading micro-credit nongovernmental organization in India, in partnership with the Population Council, conducted research among adolescent girls and young women who held accounts in one or more of SEWA’s savings schemes. The study aimed to assess their access to money, their savings and spending behaviors, their experiences as holders of savings accounts, and their preferences with regard to savings products for the young. Findings …


The Effect Of A Livelihoods Intervention In An Urban Slum In India: Do Vocational Counseling And Training Alter The Attitudes And Behavior Of Adolescent Girls?, Barbara Mensch, Monica J. Grant, Mary Philip Sebastian, Paul C. Hewett, Dale Huntington Jan 2004

The Effect Of A Livelihoods Intervention In An Urban Slum In India: Do Vocational Counseling And Training Alter The Attitudes And Behavior Of Adolescent Girls?, Barbara Mensch, Monica J. Grant, Mary Philip Sebastian, Paul C. Hewett, Dale Huntington

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This Population Council working paper examines whether an experimental intervention for girls aged 14–19 that provided reproductive health information, vocational counseling and training, and assistance with opening savings accounts in slum areas of Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh, India had an effect on their attitudes and behaviors. Although the livelihoods program was acceptable to parents and feasible to implement, the project had only a minimal impact on the behavior and attitudes of adolescent girls in the experimental slums. The greatest changes between the baseline and the endline surveys were found in those outcomes that most closely reflected the content of the …


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 …


The Impact Of An Integrated Micro-Credit Programme On Women's Empowerment And Fertility Behavior In Rural Bangladesh, Fiona Steele, Sajeda Amin, Ruchira Tabassum Naved Jan 1998

The Impact Of An Integrated Micro-Credit Programme On Women's Empowerment And Fertility Behavior In Rural Bangladesh, Fiona Steele, Sajeda Amin, Ruchira Tabassum Naved

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This paper examines the impact of participation in women’s savings and credit groups organized by Save the Children USA on women’s empowerment, contraceptive use, and fertility in a rural area of Bangladesh. The data are drawn from a panel survey conducted in 1993, shortly before the groups were formed, and in 1995 after interventions began. This quasi-experimental design enables us to identify the characteristics of women who chose to join savings groups. The findings show that those who joined tend to more educated and more socially independent than are women who did not. Thus, to control for selection bias, preintervention …


Out Of The Shadows: Homebased Workers Organize For International Recognition, Renana Jhabvala, Jane Tate Jan 1996

Out Of The Shadows: Homebased Workers Organize For International Recognition, Renana Jhabvala, Jane Tate

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Home-based work is a vital and growing part of economic modernization, exponentially linked to the globalization of industry and the never-ending search for less costly sources of labor and more efficient means of production. As governments seek to attract industrial development, the availability of low-cost labor and labor stability is a valuable bargaining commodity. Furthermore, the income it produces is not supplementary but rather increasingly vital to families and nations alike. The women who embroider on the island of Madeira, Portugal, the home-based workers assembling electronic devices in Brazil, the Chinese women machine stitching garments at home in major cities …


Supporting Women Farmers In The Green Zones Of Mozambique, Ruth Ansah Ayisi Jan 1995

Supporting Women Farmers In The Green Zones Of Mozambique, Ruth Ansah Ayisi

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Women throughout much of the developing world are farmers, not only producing the food crops needed to feed their families, but seeking to generate the cash income necessary to gain access to education, health care, and a better way of life. However, in many countries—particularly in sub-Saharan Africa—women farmers must deal not only with the inherent difficulties of gender inequities, poverty, and the vagaries of nature, but with the consequences of war and civil strife as well. This issue of SEEDS reports on a case study of the efforts underway to help women farmers survive and prosper in the Green …