Digital Commons Network^™

Selam Medirashachin (Safe Arrival) Project: Addressing The Risk Of Trafficking, Violence, And Sexual Abuse Among Newly Arriving Migrant Girls In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Annabel Erulkar, Eyasu Hailu

Adolescents and Young People

Rates of urbanization in Ethiopia are significant and, increasingly, young females are among those who migrate from rural to urban areas. Previous research in Addis Ababa showed that, compared to boys and young men, young female migrants are more likely to migrate to cities without the accompaniment of immediate family members. and often move in with people with whom they have only loose affiliation or live on their own. Previous Population Council research on the experience of adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) revealed that girls’ migration from rural to urban areas of the country may be perilous. This is …

Mentoring In Group-Based Adolescent Girl Programs In Low- And Middle-Income Countries: Evidence-Informed Approaches, Miriam Temin, Sarah Blake, Eva Roca

Adolescents and Young People

Adolescent girls face distinct challenges that require tailored and girl-centered responses. This brief draws on the knowledge of program implementers and researchers who work on community-based girl group (CBGG) programs (often called “safe spaces”) in various low- and middle-income settings and the US. It summarizes emerging lessons and insights on CBGGs, emphasizing the vital role that mentors play in this group-based model. The evidence emphasizes the importance of providing mentors with training, supervision, compensation, solidarity, and opportunities to build their own networks.

Best Practices To Prevent And Respond To Sexual Violence: Evidence Review And Programme Considerations, Sycona

Sexual and Reproductive Health, Rights, and Choices

Presentation for AGYW & South-to-South Learning Network Champions to fill a knowledge gap about what strategies have been tested and found effective in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to prevent and respond to sexual violence experienced by adolescent girls and young women (AGYW). This topic was identified by East and Southern African Champions as a key impediment to their HIV prevention programming efforts. This review focused on evidence from all 15 South-to-South Learning Network (SSLN) countries to gather and synthesise contextually relevant information.

Exploring The Role Of Men In Child Marriage Decision-Making In Rural Upper Egypt, Salma Abou Hussein, Reham Abou El-Fadl, Sally Radwan, Nahla G. Abdel-Tawab

Adolescents and Young People

Egypt’s 2021 Family Health Survey indicated that nearly 18% of women aged 20–24 years had married or were engaged before turning 18. This brief explores the perspectives of adolescent girls, their families, and key stakeholders on the role of men in the decision-making process pertaining to child marriage. The study took place in Assiut and Sohag in Upper Egypt selected on the basis of the high prevalence of child marriage. Results confirm that, in line with the patriarchal norms that underlie most marriage decisions in rural Upper Egypt, fathers/male guardians are the primary decision-makers regarding when a girl gets married …

Recap Report: Girls Deliver Pre-Conference On Adolescent Girls At The Women Deliver 2023 Conference, Girl Center

Adolescents and Young People

The Girls Deliver: Pre-Conference on Adolescent Girls was held on July 16, 2023 in Kigali Rwanda to kick off the Women Deliver 2023 Conference. Girls Deliver was led by the Population Council’s Girl Innovation, Research, and Learning Center (GIRL Center) and co-hosted by AFIDEP, Amplify Girls, Baobab Research Programme Consortium, Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, Coalition for Adolescent Girls, Exemplars in Global Health, FP2030, Girl Effect, Girls First Fund, Hilton Foundation, NDI, Plan International, PMNCH, Purposeful, Together for Girls, UNICEF, Women Deliver, and The World Bank Africa Gender Innovation Lab.

This recap report presents an overview of Girls Deliver, a summary …

Evaluation Of Biruh Tesfa (Bright Future) For All: A Program For Out-Of-School Girls, Migrants, And Domestic Workers In Low-Income Ethiopian Cities, Annabel Erulkar, Eyasu Hailu, Henock Markos, Getnet Demissie, Tsegahun Tessema, Hana Hailu

Adolescents and Young People

Biruh Tesfa (“Bright Future)” is the name of a program designed in the mid-2000s to address the disadvantage of out-of-school girls in urban Ethiopia. The program was originally designed to address social isolation by bringing girls together in safe spaces groups with adult female mentors and providing them with skills-building activities, including life skills, reproductive health, HIV education, nonformal education and referrals, and training. This evaluation examines various aspects of the Biruh Tesfa for All Program: characteristics of beneficiaries, including domestic workers; patterns of attendance, absenteeism, and dropout; indicators of mental health such as self-reported anxiety, sadness, and depression; and …

Role Of Stigma In Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (Prep) Uptake And Continuation Among Adolescent Girls And Young Women (Agyw): Considerations For Programme Implementers, Waimar Tun, Lulama Lunika

Sexual and Reproductive Health, Rights, and Choices

A synopsis of a review of the role of PrEP-related stigma with practical considerations for programme implementers on strategies to reduce stigma.

Building The A3 Policy Checklist, Yeeva Cheng, Cara Kraus-Perrotta

Adolescents and Young People

The Adolescent Atlas for Action (A3) is a suite of tools that summarizes the lives and needs of adolescents around the world to promote evidence-based decision-making. Through accessible and easy-to-grasp data just one click away, the A3 bridges the gap between decisionmakers and evidence to inform policies and programs. The A3 Policy Checklist, created by the Population Council’s GIRL Center, features a curated list of national policies relevant to the lives of adolescents under 9 thematic domains, and whether countries have enacted each policy. The checklist presents a snapshot of commitments made to achieving adolescent wellbeing through adolescent-focused policies. As …

L’Élaboration De La Liste De Contrôle Pour Les Politiques A3, Yeeva Cheng, Cara Kraus-Perrotta

Adolescents and Young People

L'Atlas des Adolescents pour l'Action (A3) est une suite d'outils qui résume la vie et les besoins des adolescents du monde entier afin de promouvoir une prise de décision fondée sur des données probantes. Grâce à des données accessibles et faciles à saisir en un seul clic, l'A3 comble le fossé entre les décideurs et les données factuelles afin d'éclairer les politiques et les programmes. La liste de contrôle des politiques A3, créée par le GIRL Center du Population Council, présente une liste de politiques nationales pertinentes pour la vie des adolescents dans 9 domaines thématiques, et indique si les …

Girls On The Map: Mapping For Program Planning And Social Change, Eva Roca

Adolescents and Young People

This guide explores ways in which maps can add depth to the learning process as practitioners design programs for girls. Mapping leads practitioners through a cycle of information collection and analysis. It supports decision-making about where, with whom, and when to work, and how programs can make a real difference in girls’ lives. Programs increasingly recognize the importance of household and community characteristics in shaping girls’ lives, yet it is relatively less common to measure or map community features as part of program planning. Mapping relevant populations of girls and the features of the communities they live in can inform …

Keeping Girls In Schools To Reduce Child Marriage In Rural Bangladesh: Endline Assessment, Sigma Ainul, Forhana Rahman Noor, Md. Irfan Hossain, Iqbal Ehsan, Mehnaz Manzur, Ubaidur Rob, Sajeda Amin

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This report describes findings of changes over time attributable to the “Keeping Girls in Schools” study in Bangladesh that implemented skill-building activities for a two-year period in the districts of Chapainawabganj, Kushtia, and Sherpur. The project sought to bring about change in child marriage norms prevalent in the area by offering young girls a safe place to meet after school hours with mentors and teachers and to offer girls tutoring support and life-skills. The project was implemented by the Population Council with the cooperation of secondary schools in the community and was supported by UNICEF under the aegis of the …

Evidence-Informed Planning And Action In Central Asia: Learnings From The Tajikistan Adolescent Wellbeing And Health Pilot Project, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

To address adolescent health and wellbeing in Tajikistan, the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) and Population Council used a hybrid human-centered (HCD) and evidence-based program design to engage adolescent girls, boys, and caregivers in a guided process of defining key issues and program areas. The design informed the development of a first-of-its-kind program model for AKF and in Tajikistan: coordinated community-based groups for adolescent girls and boys, caregivers' groups, and an institutional stakeholder community of practice in Tajikistan. Design and implementation experiences established "proof of concept" as a basis to expand the approach across the country and region. The pilot generated …

Learning Loss Among Adolescent Girls During The Covid-19 Pandemic In Rural Bangladesh, Sajeda Amin, Md. Irfan Hossain, Sigma Ainul

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Poor learning remains a central challenge in Bangladesh despite considerable progress in advancing schooling access and reducing gender gaps in education. The learning crisis is feared to have been exacerbated during extended school closures and limited alternative opportunities for schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic. This brief summarizes findings on learning loss among adolescent girls during the pandemic in rural Bangladesh.

Findings From The Violence Outcomes In Covid-19 Era Study (Voces-19): Baseline Results, Silvana Larrea-Schiavon, Lina López-Lalinde, Isabel Vieitez Martínez, Ricardo Regules, Juan Pablo Gutiérrez, René Nevárez, Cristina Macgregor, Pablo López, Nicole Haberland, Thoai Ngo

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This report presents findings from the baseline survey of the Violence Outcomes in COVID-19 Era Study (VOCES-19). The study, conducted by Population Council Mexico in collaboration with the National Institute of Youth and the National Center for Gender Equity and Reproductive Health aims to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying mitigation measures on the experience and perception of violence among 15–24-year-olds living in Mexico, as well as its effects on other social, economic, and health, related outcomes. The primary objectives for this first survey round were to gather baseline information on several outcomes of interest, assess differential …

Resultados Del Estudio Sobre Violencia En La Era Covid-19 (Voces-19): Línea Base Reporte, Silvana Larrea-Schiavon, Lina López-Lalinde, Isabel Vieitez Martínez, Ricardo Regules, Juan Pablo Gutiérrez, René Nevárez, Cristina Macgregor, Pablo López, Nicole Haberland, Thoai Ngo

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Este informe presenta los resultados de la encuesta basal del estudio VOCES-19. El estudio, realizado por el Population Council México en colaboración con el Instituto Nacional de la Juventud y el Centro Nacional de Equidad de Género y Salud Reproductiva, tiene como objetivo comprender el impacto de la pandemia de COVID-19 y las medidas de mitigación que la acompañan en la experiencia y la percepción de la violencia entre las y los jóvenes de 15 a 24 años que viven en México, así como otros impactos sociales, económicos y relacionados con la salud. Los objetivos principales de esta primera ronda …

Adolescent Girls And Covid-19: Mapping The Evidence On Interventions, Sarah Blake, Miriam Temin, Tara Abularrage, Nihal Said

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

With the COVID-19 crisis continuing to evolve, evidence on the effectiveness of short-term emergency-oriented responses and long-term mitigation strategies is expanding but still limited. There are, and will continue to be, substantial evidence gaps on programming to address risk across outcomes of importance to adolescent girls. More evidence is needed to slow the risks posed by the pandemic for this subpopulation, which can help guide gender- and age-responsive prevention and impact mitigation investments. Evidence from approaches delivered in other unstable contexts may offer important lessons for decision-making in the current context. Recognizing this, the Population Council conducted a structured review …

Getting Girls Back To School In Kenya: The 4ts ('Trace, Track, Talk And Return') Initiative Implementation Report, George Odwe, Chi-Chi Undie, Ann Gachoya, Truphena Kirongo, Fredrick Kiiru, Jane Njogu

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The Covid-19 pandemic led to devastating economic and social disruptions globally including in the education sector. The pandemic disrupted access to both sexual and reproductive health services and safe spaces. As a result, many girls faced vulnerabilities that inhibited access to basic education, including risks of child marriage, early pregnancy, gender-based violence, female genital mutilation/cutting, sexual exploitation, and child labor. The negative impact of Covid-19 on girls' education underscores the need for interventions addressing the effect on school re-entry and retention. Kenya has a favorable policy environment for supporting retention within, and re-entry into, schools for vulnerable girls. Notable core …

Impact Of Community-Based Girl Groups, Miriam Temin, Craig Heck

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Programs increasingly use community-based girl groups (CBGGs) to address risks and empower adolescent girls, but evidence on their impact is not always accessible to decision makers. A closer look at 30 CBGG programs in low- and middle-income countries found that CBGGs had the greatest reported success in improving health and gender attitudes and beliefs, while their effect on health behavior and status is mixed. Program implementers should consider CBGGs as a way to facilitate girls’ empowerment, with complementary measures to engage community members and to promote enabling environments for greater program impact. Increased interest and investment in CBGGs should be …

Hearing From Men In Uganda: Experiences With Hiv Services And Prevention Programming, And Perceptions Of Dreams—Findings From Dreams Implementation Science Research, Population Council

HIV and AIDS

HIV prevention efforts across sub-Saharan Africa are increasingly focused on engaging men, for their own health and that of their partners and families. We examined experiences with HIV services and prevention programing among men in Uganda whose partners were enrolled in DREAMS, a large-scale initiative to reduce new HIV infections among adolescent girls and young women (AGYW). The study is part of the Population Council’s implementation science research portfolio on the DREAMS Partnership.

Hearing From Men In Eswatini: Shifts In Hiv Risk And Service Uptake—Findings From Dreams Implementation Science Research, Population Council

HIV and AIDS

HIV prevention efforts across sub-Saharan Africa are increasingly focused on engaging men, for their own health and that of their partners and families. We examined whether and how HIV risk and protective factors are changing among men in Eswatini (formerly Swaziland)—a country with a substantial HIV burden. The study is part of the Population Council’s implementation science research portfolio on the DREAMS Partnership1, a large-scale initiative to reduce new HIV infections among adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) and their partners.

Hearing From Men In South Africa: Shifts In Hiv Risk And Service Uptake—Findings From Dreams Implementation Science Research, Population Council

HIV and AIDS

HIV prevention efforts across sub-Saharan Africa are increasingly focused on engaging men, for their own health and that of their partners and families. We examined whether and how HIV risk and protective factors are changing among men in Durban, South Africa—a country with a substantial HIV burden. The study is part of the Population Council’s implementation science research portfolio on the DREAMS Partnership, a large-scale initiative to reduce new HIV infections among adolescent girls and young women and their partners.

Intentional Design: Reaching The Most Excluded Girls In The Poorest Communities—A Guide For Practitioners And Advocates, Judith Bruce, Sophie Soares

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The Intentional Design guide is a sourcebook that offers step-wise technical guidance for utilizing the Intentional Design approach, an evidence-based model for the design of girl-centered programs that generates a cycle of information collection and analysis.

The tools outlined in this guide have been applied in sites in 44 countries. Twenty-one detailed field reports—including an extensive discussion of the Abriendo Oportunidades program in Guatemala—set the scene in each context by describing key challenges and problems faced, present how tools were used, and explain the eventual resolutions of the Intentional Design process.

Health And Ideations Of Married Female Adolescents, Breakthrough Research

Reproductive Health

This brief provides rigorous evidence-based insights to implementers and researchers of social and behavior change (SBC) programs that seek to improve knowledge, attitudes, norms, and behaviors of married female adolescents. The brief focuses on married adolescents’ uptake of services and health knowledge in Kebbi, Sokoto, and Zamfara states in northwestern Nigeria using a subset of data from a household survey of married women ages 15–49 years. It is one of a series of briefs that present findings from a Breakthrough RESEARCH study that uniquely captures data on a wide range of psychosocial drivers of behavioral outcomes in the areas of …

Promises To Keep: Impact Of Covid-19 On Adolescents In Kenya, Presidential Policy And Strategy Unit (Kenya), Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Around the world, reports have highlighted the educational, health, and societal challenges that people have experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Few reports, however, have exclusively covered the effects on adolescent girls and boys, especially in Kenya. Given the limited data on the impact of the pandemic on adolescents, this study set out to collect data and outline the challenges facing Kenyan adolescents in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. In Kenya, adolescents aged 10 to 19 years comprise about 24 percent of the country’s population. This study captured data on school enrollment, experiences of sexual and gender-based violence, time spent …

Reducing Hiv Risk For Adolescent Girls And Young Women And Their Male Partners: Learnings From The Dreams Partnership, Julie Pulerwitz, Ann Gottert, Jerry Okal, Sanyukta Mathur

HIV and AIDS

No abstract provided.

Endline Results Brief: What Works To Improve Outcomes For Kenya's Adolescent Girls?, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The Adolescent Girls Initiative–Kenya is a study that evaluates the long-term impact of a multisectoral intervention targeted at adolescent girls aged 11 to 15 years from Kibera and rural Wajir. The intervention consists of four 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. A random selection of 6,000 girls were exposed to different components of the intervention. Key results, noted in this brief, are: conditional cash transfers are a key driver of improvement in education outcomes, and of delaying sexual debut and pregnancy in …

The Adolescent Girls Initiative-Kenya—Executive Summary: Two-Year Follow Up Results, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

In Kenya, early pregnancy is a challenge for girls that often has immediate effects on their educational opportunities, future implications for their social, health, and economic outcomes, and immediate and ongoing negative impacts on their children. Early pregnancy is an outcome shaped by a myriad of issues affecting an adolescent girl’s life—including community norms on gender roles, violence, and the social value of girls; barriers to formal education; household poverty; lack of economic independence; experience of violence; and social isolation. For girls to achieve well-being in early and late adolescence, no single-sector intervention—whether it be education, health, wealth creation, or …

Positioning Community-Based Girl Group Programs For Success: Lessons Learned From The Population Council's Technical Assistance Partnership With Unfpa-Mozambique's Rapariga Biz, Miriam Temin, Arune Estavela, Craig Heck, Natalie Jackson, Joana Mendes

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The Population Council provided technical assistance and strengthened capacity for Rapariga Biz, a large-scale UN program in 20 districts across Nampula and Zambezia provinces in Mozambique. The program was established to reduce child marriage and early pregnancy through a set of multisectoral interventions. The partnership between the Council and UNFPA-Mozambique generated useful lessons regarding the opportunities and challenges of using the community-based girl groups (CBGG) model in low-resource settings, especially when implemented at scale. In CBGG programs, girls and young women meet regularly with a leader (e.g., a mentor) who uses a variety of pedagogical methods to address sexual and …

Impulsiveness, Depression, Sexual Behavior, And Sexually Transmitted Infections And Hiv-Related Outcomes Among Out-Of-School Adolescent Girls And Young Women In Rural Southern Malawi, Project Soar

HIV and AIDS

Under Project SOAR, the Population Council in collaboration with the University of Malawi College of Medicine monitored key HIV prevention, care, and treatment outcomes among populations who are targeted by the One-C program. Under that study, the Population Council investigated associations between impulsiveness, depression, sexual behavior, sexually transmitted infections, and HIV among out-of-school adolescent girls and young women. Impulsivity is a personality trait that has been associated with risky sexual behavior among young people in different settings in the developed world.

Building Assets Toolkit: Developing Positive Benchmarks For Adolescent Girls—Asset Cards [Arabic], Judith Bruce, Sarah Engebretsen, Kimberly Glazer

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This document contains the Building Assets Toolkit’s Asset Cards (110), set of Age Cards (age 6 to 20), and Program Planning Worksheet (sample provided). The Age Cards are to be printed out and placed according to the instructions. The Asset Cards are to be printed out and cut in half. Blank Asset Cards are provided to create customized assets. The Building Assets Toolkit is an approach for developing programs for specific segments of girls that will prepare them to better face the challenges of growing up. It will help program managers understand the needs of the girls in their community, …