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Youth Behavioral Risks And Psychosocial Resources In Peru's Alternative-Development Zones, Federico R. Leon, Mary L. Claux Jan 2004

Youth Behavioral Risks And Psychosocial Resources In Peru's Alternative-Development Zones, Federico R. Leon, Mary L. Claux

Reproductive Health

Alternative-development programs are being offered to the population of seven regions of central-eastern Peru involved in coca cropping. The youth of these regions are above the national average in risk of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, use of alcohol and drugs, and violence against women. This study sought to identify and describe protective factors expected to function as counterforces to such risks; develop reliable indicators and provide a baseline concerning the risk behaviors and protective factors; compare youth by gender, developmental stage, urbanization, and geography to determine whether segmented interventions are required; and recommend specific intervention strategies. The results of …


Improving The Reproductive Health Of Adolescents In Senegal, Nafissatou J. Diop, Heli Bathidja, Isseu Diop Toure, Thierno Dieng, Babacar Mane, Saumya Ramarao, Susan E. Adamchak, Emelita Wong, Adama Ndoye, Aboubacry Sy, Babacar Fall Jan 2004

Improving The Reproductive Health Of Adolescents In Senegal, Nafissatou J. Diop, Heli Bathidja, Isseu Diop Toure, Thierno Dieng, Babacar Mane, Saumya Ramarao, Susan E. Adamchak, Emelita Wong, Adama Ndoye, Aboubacry Sy, Babacar Fall

Reproductive Health

In October 1999, the Frontiers in Reproductive Health (FRONTIERS) program began a three-year collaboration with the World Health Organization, the Senegal Ministries of Health, Education, and Youth, the Center for Research and Training in Health and Population, and the Population Training Group to test interventions to improve the reproductive health of youth aged 10–19. The community-based intervention included sensitization on adolescent reproductive health for community and religious leaders, reaching parents through women’s groups, and education sessions led by peer educators using a life-skills curriculum. As part of the clinic-based intervention, providers and peer educators were trained to offer youth-friendly services. …


Bridging The Gap Between Evidence-Based Innovation And National Health-Sector Reform In Ghana, John Koku Awoonor-Williams, Ellie S. Feinglass, Rachel Tobey, Maya Vaughan-Smith, Frank K. Nyonator, Tanya C. Jones, James F. Phillips Jan 2004

Bridging The Gap Between Evidence-Based Innovation And National Health-Sector Reform In Ghana, John Koku Awoonor-Williams, Ellie S. Feinglass, Rachel Tobey, Maya Vaughan-Smith, Frank K. Nyonator, Tanya C. Jones, James F. Phillips

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Although experimental trials often identify optimal strategies for improving community health, transferring operational innovation from well-funded research programs to resource-constrained settings often languishes. Because research initiatives are based in institutions equipped with unique resources and staff capabilities, results are often dismissed by decisionmakers as irrelevant to large-scale operations and national health policy. This article describes an initiative undertaken in Nkwanta District, Ghana, focusing on this problem. The Nkwanta District initiative is a critical link between the experimental study conducted in Navrongo, Ghana, and a national effort to scale up the innovations developed in that study. A 2002 Nkwanta district-level survey …


Testing The Effectiveness Of Integrating Community-Based Approaches For Encouraging Abandonment Of Female Genital Cutting Into Care's Reproductive Health Programs In Ethiopia And Kenya, Jane Chege, Ian Askew, Susan Igras, Jacinta Muteshi-Strachan Jan 2004

Testing The Effectiveness Of Integrating Community-Based Approaches For Encouraging Abandonment Of Female Genital Cutting Into Care's Reproductive Health Programs In Ethiopia And Kenya, Jane Chege, Ian Askew, Susan Igras, Jacinta Muteshi-Strachan

Reproductive Health

CARE International, with technical support from the Frontiers in Reproductive Health Program completed a study in Ethiopia and Kenya designed to test the effectiveness of education activities using behavior change communication (BCC) approaches and advocacy activities by religious and other key leaders to abandon female genital cutting (FGC). In Ethiopia, the increased knowledge of harmful FGC effects and human rights issues translated to a positive attitude in support of FGC abandonment and an intention not to cut their daughters in the future. In Kenya, the analysis indicated mixed results in attitude and intended behavior change.


Introduction Of Emergency Contraception In Bangladesh: Using Operations Research For Policy Decisions, M.E. Khan, Sharif M.I. Hossain, Md. Moshiur Rahman Jan 2004

Introduction Of Emergency Contraception In Bangladesh: Using Operations Research For Policy Decisions, M.E. Khan, Sharif M.I. Hossain, Md. Moshiur Rahman

Reproductive Health

The Directorate of Family Planning, Bangladesh, the Population Council, Pathfinder International, and John Snow Incorporated collaborated to conduct this operations research study to assess the acceptability and feasibility of providing emergency contraception pills (ECP) as a backup support to existing family planning methods. The study demonstrated that all categories of health providers, including NGO outreach workers, could be effectively trained to provide ECP services. The study also demonstrated high acceptability of ECP and revealed that if used correctly, the success rate in avoiding unwanted pregnancy was extremely high. The positive findings of the study have helped the Ministry of Health …


Making Motherhood Safer In Egypt, Karima Khalil, Farzaneh Roudi-Fahimi Jan 2004

Making Motherhood Safer In Egypt, Karima Khalil, Farzaneh Roudi-Fahimi

Reproductive Health

Fewer Egyptian women die of maternal causes today than they did 10 or 15 years ago, due in large part to the national safe motherhood program. Nevertheless, maternal mortality is still relatively high, and the country faces challenges in reducing it further. Many of these challenges involve addressing the delays women face when they need essential obstetric care. In Egypt and other countries, most maternal deaths could be avoided if women had timely access to high-quality emergency obstetric services. Although Egypt’s level of maternal mortality is relatively high by international standards, recent evidence suggests that a woman’s lifetime risk of …


Gender Differences In Time Use Among Adolescents In Developing Countries: Implications Of Rising School Enrollment Rates, Amanda Ritchie, Cynthia B. Lloyd, Monica J. Grant Jan 2004

Gender Differences In Time Use Among Adolescents In Developing Countries: Implications Of Rising School Enrollment Rates, Amanda Ritchie, Cynthia B. Lloyd, Monica J. Grant

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Researchers at the Population Council have been involved in the collection of data on time use from adolescents in India, Kenya, Pakistan, and South Africa. Three questions are addressed in this working paper: (1) How does time use change during the transition to adulthood? (2) Does gender role differentiation intensify during the transition? (3) Does school attendance attenuate gender differences? The data document differences in time use patterns between students and nonstudents. Although female adolescent students still work longer hours than male adolescent students, the gender division of labor that typically develops during adolescence is greatly attenuated among students when …


Testing A Community-Based Distribution Approach To Reproductive Health Service Delivery In Senegal (A Study Of Community Agents In Kébémer), Diouratie Sanogo, Mady Cisse, Adama Ndoye, Laty G. Ndoye, Ousmane Faye, Balla Mbacke Mboup Jan 2004

Testing A Community-Based Distribution Approach To Reproductive Health Service Delivery In Senegal (A Study Of Community Agents In Kébémer), Diouratie Sanogo, Mady Cisse, Adama Ndoye, Laty G. Ndoye, Ousmane Faye, Balla Mbacke Mboup

Reproductive Health

The Division of Reproductive Health (DSR) of the Senegal Ministry of Health and Social Action, in partnership with the Population Council’s FRONTIERS in Reproductive Health program and Management Sciences for Health (MSH), conducted a study to test and compare three ways of providing reproductive health services to rural communities in the Kébémer district of Senegal in terms of their effectiveness, cost, and cost-effectiveness. FRONTIERS and MSH collaborated with the DSR to design the interventions, MSH supported the DSR in implementing the interventions, and FRONTIERS undertook the evaluation. This study, funded by USAID, responded to the recommendations of a 1999 workshop, …


Ishraq: Safe Spaces To Learn, Play And Grow: Expansion Of Recreational Sports Program For Adolescent Rural Girls In Egypt, Nadia Zibani Jan 2004

Ishraq: Safe Spaces To Learn, Play And Grow: Expansion Of Recreational Sports Program For Adolescent Rural Girls In Egypt, Nadia Zibani

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Over the past three years, the Ishraq program in the villages of northern El-Minya, Egypt, grew from a novel idea into a vibrant reality. In the process, approximately 300 rural girls have participated in a life-transforming chance to learn, play, and grow into productive members of their local communities. Currently other villages—and soon other governorates—are joining the Ishraq network. Ishraq is a mixture of literacy, life-skills training, and—for girls who have been sheltered in domestic situations of poverty and isolation—a chance to play sports and games with other girls their age and develop a sense of self-worth and mastery; the …


Sexual Coercion: Young Men's Experiences As Victims And Perpetrators, Deepika Ganju, William Finger, Shireen J. Jejeebhoy, Vijaya Nidadavolu, K.G. Santhya, Iqbal Shah, Shyam Thapa, Ina Warriner Jan 2004

Sexual Coercion: Young Men's Experiences As Victims And Perpetrators, Deepika Ganju, William Finger, Shireen J. Jejeebhoy, Vijaya Nidadavolu, K.G. Santhya, Iqbal Shah, Shyam Thapa, Ina Warriner

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Available evidence suggests that a considerable number of young people experience nonconsensual sex across the world, however research has mainly concentrated on the experiences of young girls and their perspectives of perpetrators of violence. Little is known about coercion among young males as victims or perpetrators. Case studies presented at an international consultative meeting in September 2003 in New Delhi, India, challenged the common assumption that only women are victims of violence, and shed light on the experiences of young males as victims of sexual coercion. These case studies also discussed the perspectives of young males as perpetrators of violence …


The Tostan Program: Evaluation Of A Community Based Education Program In Senegal, Nafissatou J. Diop, Modou Mbacke Faye, Amadou Moreau, Jacqueline Cabral, Helene Benga, Fatou Cisse, Babacar Mane, Inge Baumgarten, Molly Melching Jan 2004

The Tostan Program: Evaluation Of A Community Based Education Program In Senegal, Nafissatou J. Diop, Modou Mbacke Faye, Amadou Moreau, Jacqueline Cabral, Helene Benga, Fatou Cisse, Babacar Mane, Inge Baumgarten, Molly Melching

Reproductive Health

This operations research project evaluated the effect and impact of a basic education program, developed by TOSTAN, a nongovernmental organization based at Thiès, Senegal. The basic education program consisted of four modules: hygiene, problem-solving, women’s health, and human rights. Through these four themes, emphasis was placed on enabling the participants, who were mostly women, to analyze their own situation more effectively and thus find the best solutions for themselves. The GTZ Supra Regional Project for the Elimination of Female Genital Cutting funded implementation of the program in 90 villages in Kolda Region, and the Population Council’s Frontiers in Reproductive Health …


Expanding The Care Continuum For Hiv/Aids: Bringing Carers Into Focus, Jessica Ogden, Simel Esim, Caren Grown Jan 2004

Expanding The Care Continuum For Hiv/Aids: Bringing Carers Into Focus, Jessica Ogden, Simel Esim, Caren Grown

HIV and AIDS

This review by the International Center for Research on Women explores the specific issues that cluster around the provision of care in the context of the global HIV/AIDS pandemic. With the support of the Population Council’s Horizons program, this review applies the care economy lens to two key sectors, health and social protection, and finds that while important strides are being made, much more needs to be known and done to enable individuals, families, and households to survive in a world shaken by AIDS. The report documents the challenges faced by family care providers, who are primarily women and unlinked …


Succession Planning In Uganda: Early Outreach For Aids-Affected Children And Their Families, Horizons Program, Makerere University Department Of Sociology, Plan Uganda Jan 2004

Succession Planning In Uganda: Early Outreach For Aids-Affected Children And Their Families, Horizons Program, Makerere University Department Of Sociology, Plan Uganda

HIV and AIDS

This publication reports on an intervention study that evaluated the effectiveness of a succession planning (SP) program in Uganda. Unlike most other programs for AIDS-affected children, succession planning reaches children and their families while their HIV-positive parents are still living and in a position to plan for their children’s long-term well-being. Research carried out by the Department of Sociology at Makerere University (Kampala) and the Population Council Horizons program suggests that succession planning is a promising approach: despite AIDS-related stigma and cultural resistance to acknowledging illness and death, qualitative research indicates that the approach met with a high degree of …


Review Of Field Experiences: Integration Of Family Planning And Pmtct Services, Naomi Rutenberg, Carolyn Baek Jan 2004

Review Of Field Experiences: Integration Of Family Planning And Pmtct Services, Naomi Rutenberg, Carolyn Baek

HIV and AIDS

The Population Council and its research partners have been addressing several key questions about prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) services and how well they function in field settings. The World Health Organization asked the Population Council to provide a review of field experiences regarding the integration of family planning and PMTCT services. This report provides conclusions and recommendations as input into a WHO/UNFPA-sponsored consultative meeting on "The linkages between reproductive health and HIV/AIDS: Family planning and prevention of mother-to-child transmission."


The Implications Of Early Marriage For Hiv/Aids Policy, Judith Bruce, Shelley Clark Jan 2004

The Implications Of Early Marriage For Hiv/Aids Policy, Judith Bruce, Shelley Clark

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This brief is based on a background paper prepared for the WHO/UNFPA/Population Council Technical Consultation on Married Adolescents, held in Geneva, Switzerland, December 9–12, 2003. The final paper is entitled “Including married adolescents in adolescent reproductive health and HIV/AIDS policy.” The consultation brought together experts from the United Nations, donors, and nongovernmental agencies to consider the evidence regarding married adolescent girls’ reproductive health, vulnerability to HIV infection, social and economic disadvantage, and rights. The relationships to major policy initiatives—including safe motherhood, HIV, adolescent sexual and reproductive health, and reproductive rights—were explored, and emerging findings from the still relatively rare programs …


Married Adolescents: An Overview, Nicole Haberland, Erica Chong, Hillary J. Bracken Jan 2004

Married Adolescents: An Overview, Nicole Haberland, Erica Chong, Hillary J. Bracken

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The nascent work reviewed in this compendium indicates that married girls experience significant social isolation and limited autonomy. Across the studies examined, on indicators of mobility, exposure to media, and social networks, married girls are consistently disadvantaged compared to their unmarried peers. Similarly, across studies, on most of the domains explored here (mobility, decision-making, control over economic resources, and possibly gender-based violence), married girls tend to be less empowered and more isolated than slightly older married females. There may also be health issues associated with marriage during adolescence. Married girls are frequently at a disadvantage in terms of reproductive health …


Effects And Cost Of Implementing A Gender-Sensitive Reproductive Health Program In Bolivia, Erica Palenque, Lizzy Montano, Ricardo Vernon, Fernando Gonzales Salguero, Patricia Riveros, John H. Bratt Jan 2004

Effects And Cost Of Implementing A Gender-Sensitive Reproductive Health Program In Bolivia, Erica Palenque, Lizzy Montano, Ricardo Vernon, Fernando Gonzales Salguero, Patricia Riveros, John H. Bratt

Reproductive Health

The Integral Health Coordination Program (Programa de Coordinación en Salud Integral or PROCOSI), a network of 24 Bolivian NGOs, and the Population Council’s Frontiers in Reproductive Health (FRONTIERS) program evaluated the effects of interventions on clinic clients and their partners, and estimated the costs of incorporating a gender perspective into service delivery. Results show that sexual and reproductive health service organizations can implement action plans to change organizational policies and service delivery practices and to improve their infrastructure and equipment to make them more convenient for clients. The results further show that the intervention made modest but important changes in …


Involving Men In Maternity Care In India, Leila Caleb-Varkey, Anurag Mishra, Anjana Das, Emma Ottolenghi, Dale Huntington, Susan E. Adamchak, M.E. Khan, Rick Homan Jan 2004

Involving Men In Maternity Care In India, Leila Caleb-Varkey, Anurag Mishra, Anjana Das, Emma Ottolenghi, Dale Huntington, Susan E. Adamchak, M.E. Khan, Rick Homan

Reproductive Health

The Men in Maternity study investigated the feasibility, acceptability, and cost of a new, more comprehensive model of maternity care that encouraged husbands’ participation in their wives’ antenatal and postpartum care. The study was conducted in India, in collaboration with the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC), Delhi Directorate at their primary health facilities called dispensaries. The study found that men accompanied their wives to the clinics and participated actively in the intervention. There were significant changes in family planning knowledge and behaviors of both men and women; although there was little acknowledgement of STI risk, knowledge and use of dual …


Culturally Appropriate Information, Education And Communication Strategies For Improving Adolescent Reproductive Health In Cusco, Peru, Marco Florez-Arestegui Cornejo, Rosalinda Barreto Silva Jan 2004

Culturally Appropriate Information, Education And Communication Strategies For Improving Adolescent Reproductive Health In Cusco, Peru, Marco Florez-Arestegui Cornejo, Rosalinda Barreto Silva

Reproductive Health

The project Culturally Appropriate Information, Education and Communication Strategies for Improving Adolescent Reproductive Health in Cusco, Peru was designed in response to the evident lack of information and education on adolescent reproductive health in the country and, in particular, in the rural areas of the department of Cusco. Research revealed that a great need for sexual and reproductive health information still exists among indigenous adolescents in the rural areas of the region and that sexual education programs have to be sustainable. This report recommends that the Ministry of Education train more teachers in sexual and reproductive health topics, taking into …


Tulane University Final Report, M. Celeste Marin, Anastasia J. Gage, Suhaila Khan Jan 2004

Tulane University Final Report, M. Celeste Marin, Anastasia J. Gage, Suhaila Khan

Reproductive Health

The Frontiers in Reproductive Health (FRONTIERS) program is a 10-year cooperative agreement between the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Population Council in partnership with Family Health International and Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. This report summarizes the main activities undertaken by Tulane University under its subagreement with the Population Council on the FRONTIERS project from 1998–2004. As a partner, Tulane furthered progress toward all three of the program’s intermediate results: contributing innovative interventions tested to improve reproductive health through the small grants program; helping research staff take a more proactive approach to …


Safe Motherhood Demonstration Project, Western Province: Final Report, Charlotte E. Warren, Wilson Liambila Jan 2004

Safe Motherhood Demonstration Project, Western Province: Final Report, Charlotte E. Warren, Wilson Liambila

Reproductive Health

Since March 2000, the Population Council and the University of Nairobi have been assisting the Kenya Ministry of Health to implement Safe Motherhood activities in Western Kenya. The purpose of this project was to increase utilization of quality maternal services in the selected districts and, in an effort to improve pregnancy outcomes, focused on improving quality of antenatal care, essential obstetric care, clean and safe delivery, postpartum care, postabortion care, and management issues at all levels. In addition, the project focused on strengthening referral practices and addressing factors responsible for delays by pregnant women in making decisions on when, where, …


Experience From A Community-Based Education Program In Burkina Faso: The Tostan Program, Djingri Ouoba, Zakari Congo, Nafissatou J. Diop, Molly Melching, Baya Banza, Georges Guiella, Inge Baumgarten Jan 2004

Experience From A Community-Based Education Program In Burkina Faso: The Tostan Program, Djingri Ouoba, Zakari Congo, Nafissatou J. Diop, Molly Melching, Baya Banza, Georges Guiella, Inge Baumgarten

Reproductive Health

This study describes a project that tested the feasibility and effectiveness of replicating the village empowerment program (VEP) developed by the Senegalese NGO, TOSTAN, in Burkina Faso. Although originally developed for empowering women, the program implemented in Burkina Faso also involved men because of their key role in such decisions. Frontiers in Reproductive Health, with funding from USAID and the GTZ Supra Regional Project for the Elimination of FGC, supported the adaptation, implementation, and evaluation of the VEP model in 23 villages in the province of Bazega/Zoundwéogo. In the existing social climate among the Burkinabé, where there is widespread awareness …


Paving The Path: Preparing For Microbicide Introduction—Report Of A Qualitative Study In South Africa, Julie Becker, Rasha Dabash, C. Elizabeth Mcgrory, Diane Cooper, Jane Harries, Margaret Hoffman, Jennifer Moodley, Phyllis Orner, Hillary J. Bracken Jan 2004

Paving The Path: Preparing For Microbicide Introduction—Report Of A Qualitative Study In South Africa, Julie Becker, Rasha Dabash, C. Elizabeth Mcgrory, Diane Cooper, Jane Harries, Margaret Hoffman, Jennifer Moodley, Phyllis Orner, Hillary J. Bracken

HIV and AIDS

With recently accelerated support for the development of microbicides to prevent HIV transmission and the urgency of the global AIDS epidemic, it is important to begin to identify strategies for introducing a microbicide once it is proven safe and effective and is approved for use. This report presents results from a qualitative study that explored a range of issues likely to influence microbicide introduction—positively or negatively—at three levels: community, health service, and policy. The study, which identified critical issues to be addressed in building support for microbicides and facilitating a smooth introduction, was conducted between September 2002 and September 2003 …


Transitions To Adulthood In The Context Of Aids In South Africa: The Impact Of Exposure To Life Skills Education On Adolescent Knowledge, Skills, And Behavior, The Transitions To Adulthood Study Team Jan 2004

Transitions To Adulthood In The Context Of Aids In South Africa: The Impact Of Exposure To Life Skills Education On Adolescent Knowledge, Skills, And Behavior, The Transitions To Adulthood Study Team

HIV and AIDS

This study is a collaborative research project of the University of Natal-Durban, the Horizons program, and Tulane University. One objective of the study was to contribute to understanding the effectiveness of life skills education in changing behavior in South Africa. The findings indicate substantial short-to-medium-term effects of exposure to life skills education on certain areas of sexual and reproductive health-related knowledge, confidence to use condoms, and condom use behavior. Further research is needed to assess whether the observed effects are transitory or long-term in nature, whether the observed behavioral changes have an impact on HIV infection rates among youth, and …


Using Incentives To Encourage Aids Programs And Policies In The Workplace: A Study Of Feasibility And Impact In Thailand, Simon Baker, Srisuman Sartsara, Patchara Rumakom, Philip Guest, Katie D. Schenk, Anthony Pramualratana, Suparat Suksakulwat, Surachai Panakitsuwan, Sikarat Moonmeung Jan 2004

Using Incentives To Encourage Aids Programs And Policies In The Workplace: A Study Of Feasibility And Impact In Thailand, Simon Baker, Srisuman Sartsara, Patchara Rumakom, Philip Guest, Katie D. Schenk, Anthony Pramualratana, Suparat Suksakulwat, Surachai Panakitsuwan, Sikarat Moonmeung

HIV and AIDS

A recently completed Horizons study in Thailand examined the question of how to encourage the private sector to become actively involved in developing and improving workplace HIV/AIDS programs. The study found that the AIDS-response Standard Organization (ASO) initiative mobilized a moderate proportion of different types of companies to develop and improve HIV/AIDS workplace policies and programs. The data also reveal that companies that were eligible for the insurance discount made the greatest improvements. Thus a financial incentive combined with efforts to tap into managers’ willingness to respond to the epidemic can be important motivators for certain companies to improve their …


Popular Perceptions Of Emerging Influences On Mortality And Longevity In Bangladesh And West Bengal, Sajeda Amin, Alaka Malwade Basu Jan 2004

Popular Perceptions Of Emerging Influences On Mortality And Longevity In Bangladesh And West Bengal, Sajeda Amin, Alaka Malwade Basu

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Although new environmental and pathological threats to human survival and longevity have been documented, relatively little is known about how these threats are perceived in the popular imagination. During fieldwork in rural Bangladesh and West Bengal, India, researching the changing costs of and motivations for reproduction, the authors included survey questions on respondents’ perceptions of changing mortality. Child-mortality levels were perceived to have fallen drastically in recent times, but for the middle-aged and the elderly, the past was seen as a better time in terms of health and survival. The decline in adult health is attributed to environmental deterioration and …


Healing Wounds, Instilling Hope: The Tanzanian Partnership Against Obstetric Fistula, Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, Erica Chong Jan 2004

Healing Wounds, Instilling Hope: The Tanzanian Partnership Against Obstetric Fistula, Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, Erica Chong

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This edition of Quality/Calidad/Qualité describes a partnership formed to combat obstetric fistula in Tanzania. The Bugando Medical Center, the Women’s Dignity Project, the Tanzania Midwives Association, and the government cooperated on an extensive program for surgical repair, prevention, and policy research and activities. Lessons learned: 1) Fistula programs need to address social as well as medical issues. 2) Most repairs are successful, making an enormous difference in women’s lives. 3) Relatively little funding is necessary to start up a fistula program. 4) Fistula programs are vehicles for broader conversations about gender and poverty.


Long-Range Trends In Adult Mortality: Models And Projection Methods, John Bongaarts Jan 2004

Long-Range Trends In Adult Mortality: Models And Projection Methods, John Bongaarts

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This Population Council working paper has two objectives: (1) to test a new version of the logistic model for the pattern of change over time in age-specific adult mortality rates, and (2) to develop a new method for projecting future trends in adult mortality. A test of the goodness-of-fit of the logistic model for the force of mortality indicates that its slope parameter is nearly constant over time. This finding suggests a variant of the model that is called the shifting logistic model. A new projection method based on the shifting mortality model is proposed and compared with the widely …


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 …


Urban Poverty And Health In Developing Countries: Household And Neighborhood Effects, Mark R. Montgomery, Paul C. Hewett Jan 2004

Urban Poverty And Health In Developing Countries: Household And Neighborhood Effects, Mark R. Montgomery, Paul C. Hewett

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

In the United States and other high-income countries, where most people live in cities, there is intense scholarly and program interest in the effects of household and neighborhood living standards on health. This paper investigates whether in these cities the health of women and young children is influenced by both household and neighborhood standards of living. To judge from our results, it appears that as a rule, poor urban households do not tend to live in uniformly poor communities; indeed, about one in ten of a poor household’s neighbors is relatively affluent, belonging to the upper quartile of the urban …