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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Belize Coverage Exercise Study: Assessing The Status To Build A Portfolio Of Targeted Interventions For Vulnerable Girls, Joint Un Programme Of Adolescent Girls
Belize Coverage Exercise Study: Assessing The Status To Build A Portfolio Of Targeted Interventions For Vulnerable Girls, Joint Un Programme Of Adolescent Girls
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
The United Nation Children Fund, the United Nations Population Fund, and Population Council staff collaborated on a number of activities to generate evidence on the lives and experiences of adolescent girls in Belize. The goal of the collaboration was to establish targeted, evidence-based policies and programs sensitive to the unique needs of girls. The information presented in this report is of particular interest to program planners, policymakers, and decisionmakers from a wide range of institutions seeking to designate resources for programs and policies for vulnerable or marginalized subgroups of young people, particularly girls, in Belize. The report presents empirical evidence …
Female Disadvantage In The Egyptian Labor Market: A Youth Perspective, Maia Sieverding
Female Disadvantage In The Egyptian Labor Market: A Youth Perspective, Maia Sieverding
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
In this brief, three aspects of female youth’s disadvantage in the labor market are analyzed: low labor force participation, high unemployment, and concentration in the public sector. These issues are closely interrelated and can be addressed through a set of policies that promote family-friendly employment conditions and the formalization of the private sector. The establishment of job search services for female youth is also critical to addressing the gender gap in unemployment.
Providing Maternal And Newborn Health Services: Experiences Of Auxiliary Nurse Midwives In Rajasthan, K.G. Santhya, Shireen J. Jejeebhoy
Providing Maternal And Newborn Health Services: Experiences Of Auxiliary Nurse Midwives In Rajasthan, K.G. Santhya, Shireen J. Jejeebhoy
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
To better understand the experiences of auxiliary nurse-midwives (ANMs) in providing maternal and newborn health services and to obtain their perspectives on Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY), the Population Council undertook an exploratory study of ANMs in two districts of the north-western state of Rajasthan, India. Findings show that the vast majority of the ANMs were aware of best practices related to the immediate care of the newborn. Nevertheless, the findings also suggested a number of priority areas for action, including increased investment in training, encouraging provision of services on a more regular basis, making special efforts to enable ANMs to …
Addis Birhan Wendoch ('New Light Boys'): Working With Boys And Young Men To Create Healthier Futures, Woldemariam Girma, Diane Rubino, Annabel Erulkar, Worku Ambelu, Ayenechew Kerie
Addis Birhan Wendoch ('New Light Boys'): Working With Boys And Young Men To Create Healthier Futures, Woldemariam Girma, Diane Rubino, Annabel Erulkar, Worku Ambelu, Ayenechew Kerie
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
The Population Council and the Ethiopian Ministry of Women, Children, and Youth Affairs designed Addis Birhan Wendoch to impart life skills and promote gender-equitable, nonviolent, and healthy behaviors among boys and young men aged 10 to 24. The program helps out-of school boys and young men in Ethiopia navigate toward a healthier future by providing them with trained, compassionate mentors and safe environments in which they can find the support needed to share ideas and take positive actions. Through frank and open discussions, boys have the opportunity to get the facts on a range of essential topics from financial literacy …
Berhane Hewan ('Light For Eve'): Increasing Opportunities To Delay Marriage And Promote Schooling, Annabel Erulkar, Eunice N. Muthengi
Berhane Hewan ('Light For Eve'): Increasing Opportunities To Delay Marriage And Promote Schooling, Annabel Erulkar, Eunice N. Muthengi
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
This policy brief describes the findings of a pilot study on girls’ experience of early marriage, education, and sexual behavior in rural Amhara Region, Ethiopia. The brief also discusses efforts in the region to delay marriage and promote girls’ schooling. The Amhara Bureau of Women, Children and Youth Affairs and the Population Council pilot-tested a program to delay marriage and support schooling in rural Amhara Region. The program, entitled Berhane Hewan (Amharic for “Light for Eve”), included community conversations, support for remaining in school, and conditional cash transfers if girls remained unmarried and in school for the duration of the …
The Cost Of Reaching The Most Disadvantaged Girls: Programmatic Evidence From Egypt, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Kenya, South Africa, And Uganda, Jessica Sewall-Menon, Judith Bruce, Karen Austrian, Raven Brown, Jennifer Catino, Alejandra Colom, Angel Del Valle, Habtamu Demele, Annabel Erulkar, Kelly Hallman, Eva Roca, Nadia Zibani
The Cost Of Reaching The Most Disadvantaged Girls: Programmatic Evidence From Egypt, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Kenya, South Africa, And Uganda, Jessica Sewall-Menon, Judith Bruce, Karen Austrian, Raven Brown, Jennifer Catino, Alejandra Colom, Angel Del Valle, Habtamu Demele, Annabel Erulkar, Kelly Hallman, Eva Roca, Nadia Zibani
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
The most disadvantaged adolescent girls are the poorest girls from the poorest communities. They suffer from human rights abuses, lack education and economic opportunity, are affected by HIV/AIDS, and have poor reproductive and maternal health outcomes. To effectively reach these girls so that they can receive critical services such as gathering spaces, life skills, financial literacy, savings accounts, and reproductive health knowledge, they must be targeted as a distinct segment. It is important to invest in building the capacities of local partners and governments to deliver and scale-up low-cost, well-targeted programs. This technical report is intended to assist programmatic officers, …
Violence Against Adolescent Girls: A Fundamental Challenge To Meaningful Equality, Judith Bruce
Violence Against Adolescent Girls: A Fundamental Challenge To Meaningful Equality, Judith Bruce
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Societies, rich and poor alike, are increasingly articulating commitments that guarantee girls safe and equal access to entitlements, services, social participation, and economic opportunities. yet threats of violence in many forms intervene to prevent girls from claiming their rights. Many countries stipulate equality between males and females in their constitutions. Theoretically, safe access to resources and facilities is equally afforded to girls and boys, however a far higher proportion of boys and a smaller subset of usually more privileged girls may actually claim their rights and opportunities. The experience of violence is devastating at the individual emotional and physical level. …
Is Early Childhood Care And Education A Good Investment For Egypt? Estimates Of Educational Impacts, Costs, And Benefits, Caroline Krafft
Is Early Childhood Care And Education A Good Investment For Egypt? Estimates Of Educational Impacts, Costs, And Benefits, Caroline Krafft
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
This brief examines Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) in Egypt. Findings suggest that expansion of ECCE is a good investment. Providing kindergarten to all Egyptian children, and particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, could be an important step toward greater equality, efficiency, and attainment in the education system.
Filles Eveillées ('Girls Awakened'): A Pilot Program For Migrant Adolescent Girls In Domestic Service In Urban Burkina Faso, Sarah Engebretsen, Gisele Kaboré, Leah Jarvis
Filles Eveillées ('Girls Awakened'): A Pilot Program For Migrant Adolescent Girls In Domestic Service In Urban Burkina Faso, Sarah Engebretsen, Gisele Kaboré, Leah Jarvis
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Young people in Burkina Faso, especially adolescent girls, have few economic opportunities, particularly in rural areas. This drives migration to urban areas in search of employment. In 2010, the Population council conducted formative research on migrant adolescent girls in domestic service in urban Burkina Faso. Findings revealed that girls typically live with their employers and spend long days performing arduous work, leaving little time for schooling, building social networks, and developing skills necessary for adulthood. Most programs designed for this population intervene after something has gone wrong rather than building girls’ protective assets. In response to these findings, the Population …
Using Data To See And Select The Most Vulnerable Adolescent Girls, Sarah Engebretsen
Using Data To See And Select The Most Vulnerable Adolescent Girls, Sarah Engebretsen
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Investment in adolescent girls is crucial in the developing world where a large proportion of the population is under the age of 24. It is critical to protecting rights to schooling, bodily integrity, and legal and chosen marriage, and to reducing fertility while increasing productive capacity. Making adolescent girls visible is essential so that investments can be targeted toward those at the highest risk of the poorest outcomes. This guide seeks to find and target vulnerable adolescent girls and shape policy context. It provides guidance on resources and tools that can reveal the internal diversity of adolescents, identify the onset …
The Power Of Girls' Schooling For Young Women's Empowerment And Reproductive Health, Batool Zaidi, Zeba Sathar, Minhaj Ul Haque, Fareeha Zafar
The Power Of Girls' Schooling For Young Women's Empowerment And Reproductive Health, Batool Zaidi, Zeba Sathar, Minhaj Ul Haque, Fareeha Zafar
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
This report comprises evidence that increases our understanding of girls' schooling in Pakistan. It is useful for policymakers, donors, civil society, program/intervention designers, evaluators, and researchers alike. The findings of this report should be used to guide points of influence and policies on girls' education in Pakistan.
Challenges Facing The Egyptian Education System: Access, Quality, And Inequality, Caroline Krafft
Challenges Facing The Egyptian Education System: Access, Quality, And Inequality, Caroline Krafft
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
This brief analyzes and summarizes young people's responses to the 2009 Survey of Young People in Egypt (SYPE) to identify the greatest challenges facing the Egyptian educational system, focusing specifically on primary through secondary schooling. Results show that access to school has improved, but some youth, especially females in rural Upper Egypt, remain outside the school system and are increasingly marginalized. The Egyptian school system is delivering low-quality education that is irrelevant to the labor market and has problems with repetition, absenteeism, and drop out which reduce the efficiency of the education system. Unequal distribution of resources in the education …
Youth Perspectives On Entrepreneurship In Egypt: Barriers To Entrepreneurship As A Means To Combat Youth Unemployment, Maia Sieverding
Youth Perspectives On Entrepreneurship In Egypt: Barriers To Entrepreneurship As A Means To Combat Youth Unemployment, Maia Sieverding
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
This brief examines a range of factors that Egyptian youth perceive to be barriers to starting their own business, including high risk, limited access to finance, complexity of micro-credit schemes, lack of business and marketing training, and the need for connections in order to succeed. According to results from the Survey of Young People in Egypt, these factors combine to create the view among many youth that entrepreneurship is not a viable means of labor-market entry. Rather, youth see entrepreneurship as either a supplemental income-generating activity while also having a “regular” job, or as a later-life employment option once they …
A Life Course Perspective On Social Protection Among The Working Poor Of Egypt, Maia Sieverding
A Life Course Perspective On Social Protection Among The Working Poor Of Egypt, Maia Sieverding
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
This paper employs a generational comparison to examine how increasing labor market informality has affected how poor households in Egypt gain access to and rely on social protection schemes. The results indicate that among the generation of Egyptians approaching retirement, the expansion of public employment and a policy allowing easy access to survivors’ benefits among female dependents served as important means of increasing social insurance coverage. However, many young households do not have even one member enrolled in the public pension system. Labor market instability and informality have also lowered the perceived value of social protection among this generation. The …
Social Protection In Egypt: A Policy Overview, Maia Sieverding, Irene Selwaness
Social Protection In Egypt: A Policy Overview, Maia Sieverding, Irene Selwaness
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
The need to address the shortcomings of Egypt’s current social protection system as part of a broader process of developing a new social contract between the Egyptian government and its citizens has been noted for a number of years. With a new government recently put in place, Egypt is now at a potential turning point in terms of implementing unfinished reforms to the system or proposing alternative ones. The aim of this paper is therefore to provide an overview and assessment of current public social protection mechanisms and suggest directions for new policy measures. The social and health insurance systems …
The Health Of Vulnerable Adolescent Girls: A Strategic Investment For Double Return, Jennifer Catino
The Health Of Vulnerable Adolescent Girls: A Strategic Investment For Double Return, Jennifer Catino
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Worldwide there are 1.2 billion adolescents between the ages of 10 and 19. Nearly 90 percent of them live in developing countries, and approximately 600 million are female. While adolescence is normally a time of good health, numerous developmental and social changes occur during this period, many of which have health implications, especially for girls. Most of the girls and young women in the developing world live in conditions that make them vulnerable to health and social risks. They are often poor, out-of-school, married, migrants, members of ethnic minorities, or engaged in unsafe labor. Girls from many of the poorest …
Priorities For Adolescent Girls' Education, Cynthia B. Lloyd
Priorities For Adolescent Girls' Education, Cynthia B. Lloyd
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Adolescence is a time of rapid growth and development physically, emotionally, and cognitively. For girls it is a stage of life during which education, when effectively provided, can be transformative. One of the most significant problems in most developing countries is the failure of education systems to realize their potential for empowering adolescent girls by providing economically productive skills. Education during adolescence can protect girls from the risks of premature sexual initiation and allow them to postpone marriage and childbearing and experience a childhood without the burden of excessive domestic work. Schools have the potential to fully empower girls to …
Baseline And Endline Findings Of Filles Eveillées ('Girls Awakened'): A Pilot Program For Migrant Adolescent Girls In Domestic Service. Cohort 1 (2011–2012), Bobo-Dioulasso, Sarah Engebretsen
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Burkina Faso has the tenth youngest population in the world, with 45 percent of the population below the age of 15. Young people in Burkina Faso, especially adolescent girls, have few economic opportunities, particularly in rural areas. This drives migration to urban areas in search of employment. On their own, girls are physically and economically vulnerable and many are at heightened risk for gender-based violence. The Population Council conducted formative research in 2010 to better understand the situation of migrant adolescent girls in domestic service in urban Burkina Faso, and subsequently designed a safe spaces intervention. The Filles Éveillées (“Girls …
The Sexual And Reproductive Health And Rights Of Young People In India: A Review Of The Situation, K.G. Santhya, Shireen J. Jejeebhoy
The Sexual And Reproductive Health And Rights Of Young People In India: A Review Of The Situation, K.G. Santhya, Shireen J. Jejeebhoy
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
This paper summarizes the sexual and reproductive health situation of young people in India, sheds light on those sub-populations of young people who are most vulnerable to adverse sexual and reproductive outcomes, and assesses the barriers that compromise the sexual and reproductive health and rights of young people at the individual and family levels, as well as at the health system level.
Injectable Contraceptives: Perspectives And Experiences Of Women And Health Care Providers In India, Shireen J. Jejeebhoy, A.J. Francis Zavier
Injectable Contraceptives: Perspectives And Experiences Of Women And Health Care Providers In India, Shireen J. Jejeebhoy, A.J. Francis Zavier
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
This report is the result of a study that aimed to shed light on the feasibility and acceptability of making injectable contraceptives more widely available to women in India. The study focused on injectable contraceptive users, new method adopters, and healthcare providers drawn from the facilities of a range of reproductive health. Healthcare providers were, for the most part, in favor of offering injectable contraceptives, however, they argued strongly for certain prerequisites, such as comprehensive and sensitive counseling and effective follow-up. Findings further suggest that there is a demand for injectable contraceptives among women, and that both women and healthcare …
Increasing Opportunities To Delay Marriage And Promote Schooling: Results From A Baseline Survey In Rural Tanzania, Eunice N. Muthengi, Annabel Erulkar
Increasing Opportunities To Delay Marriage And Promote Schooling: Results From A Baseline Survey In Rural Tanzania, Eunice N. Muthengi, Annabel Erulkar
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
This research brief describes girls' experience of early marriage, education, and sexual behavior in the Tabora region of Tanzania. Research shows that a considerable proportion of girls married early, have only limited discussions on health issues with their spouses, experience intimate partner violence, and have high unmet need for family planning. Tabora Development Foundation Trust, in partnership with the Population Council, is implementing strategies—including community awareness, support to get girls back into school and keep them there, and conditional transfers—to increase marriage age in the rural Tabora region. The goal is to identify effective, sustainable, and cost-effective approaches to increase …
The Reproductive Health Of Young People In Egypt, Nahla G. Abdel-Tawab, Noha Roushdy, Maia Sieverding
The Reproductive Health Of Young People In Egypt, Nahla G. Abdel-Tawab, Noha Roushdy, Maia Sieverding
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
This Population Council brief presents results from the Survey of Young People in Egypt (SYPE) on reproductive health (RH). The SYPE results underscore the need for: the assessment of state and civil society initiatives to transmit RH information; a national, comprehensive, age-appropriate reproductive health module to be integrated into the educational program; a national campaign on HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections that targets young people of reproductive age; the integration of female circumcision into a broader approach to youth reproductive health and bodily rights; specialized reproductive health services for married adolescent girls; and further research on sexuality and reproductive …
Who Is Covered And Who Under-Reports: An Empirical Analysis Of Access To Social Insurance On The Egyptian Labor Market, Rania Roushdy, Irene Selwaness
Who Is Covered And Who Under-Reports: An Empirical Analysis Of Access To Social Insurance On The Egyptian Labor Market, Rania Roushdy, Irene Selwaness
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
This working paper investigates the dynamics and determinants of having access to social insurance coverage on the Egyptian labor market among wage and non-wage workers. The results show that men, older, married, better educated, and white collar highly skilled workers are more likely to have social insurance coverage. Access to social insurance is more likely to exist in the public sector and in large private enterprises. Furthermore, acquiring social insurance coverage in the private wage work sector does not often come at first entry; but it takes some time to gain such access. In contrast, experience is not important for …
The Impact Of Water Supply And Sanitation On Child Health: Evidence From Egypt, Rania Roushdy, Maia Sieverding, Hanan Radwan
The Impact Of Water Supply And Sanitation On Child Health: Evidence From Egypt, Rania Roushdy, Maia Sieverding, Hanan Radwan
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative data, this working paper investigates whether access to improved sources of water and sanitation is an effective “treatment” for the incidence of diarrhea among children under five years of age in Egypt. Both components of the study indicate that widespread access to improved sources of drinking water and toilet facilities exists across Egypt; however, service quality remains a significant problem in many areas. In particular, cuts in water supply—and the resulting practice of storing water—are quite common; a sizable percentage of flush toilet facilities are not connected to the public sewer system; and …