International Public Health Commons^™

Participatory Research Results From Training With The Mabinti Tushike Hatamu Out-Of-School Girls Program: Tanzania 2015, Kelly Hallman, Ilan Cerna-Turoff, Neema Matee

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The Mabinti Tushike Hatamu (Girls let’s be leaders!) program is designed to test and evaluate strategies for reducing the vulnerability of out-of-school adolescent girls in Tanzania aged 10–19 years to HIV/AIDS, pregnancy, and unfavorable life outcomes. MTH is led by the Tanzania AIDS Commission, implemented by Restless Development, and supported by UNICEF. The Population Council developed a strategy for Restless Development to capture the richness of its activities. The Council designed a training session and a companion toolkit in participatory action research for community volunteers, aged 19–23 years, to use within their girl groups. This report describes the findings from …

Building Assets Toolkit: Developing Positive Benchmarks For Adolescent Girls—Resource Manual, Judith Bruce, Sarah Engebretsen, Kimberly Glazer

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This document contains the Building Assets Toolkit’s Resource Manual, which includes valuable information about building meaningful program content as well as detailed notes on each asset for use in the toolkit’s “Asset Building Exercise.” This exercise is designed to involve multiple stakeholders in determining what assets girls need in order to survive and thrive. 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, engage stakeholders at different levels …

Las Adolescentes Indígenas: Una Prioridad De Hoy Para Un Mejor Futuro Nacional En El 2015, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Esta hoja informativa detalla los problemas prioritarios que enfrentan los adolescentes guatemaltecos y presenta las acciones recomendadas para un mejor futuro nacional. Las áreas prioritarias incluyen la educación primaria y secundaria, la salud reproductiva y los medios de vida. La hoja incluye un ejercicio de cobertura—una herramienta simple, rápida y económica que permite entender a quién están llegando los servicios. Permite además identificar problemas comunes entre organizaciones, comprender el acceso diferenciado, identificar vacíos programáticos y modificar el alcance de los programas.

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This fact sheet details the priority problems facing Guatemalan adolescents and presents recommended actions for a better national …

Is Agep Building Assets For Vulnerable Girls In Zambia? Preliminary Research Findings, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (AGEP) is a randomized controlled trial that evaluates a multisectoral program intended to increase girls’ social, health, and economic resources. AGEP involves over 10,000 vulnerable girls aged 10–19 in Zambia. The girls participate in weekly girls’ group meetings (safe spaces), receive vouchers for health services, and open savings accounts. AGEP operates in ten sites—five urban and five rural—across four provinces in Zambia. The AGEP evaluation is based on the randomization of girls to participate in one of four arms of the program: 1) safe spaces only, 2) safe spaces + health voucher, 3) safe spaces …

Community Opinion Leaders In Ghana Speak Out On Adolescent Sexuality: What Are The Issues?, Selina F. Esantsi, Francis Onyango, Gloria Quansah Asare, Emmanuel Kuffour, Placide Tapsoba, Harriet Birungi, Ian Askew

Reproductive Health

This policy brief reports on a study that is a component of a larger study that assessed the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs of adolescents in four slums in two regions of Ghana. The study’s focus on this perspective stems from the fact that there is a lack of evidence surrounding the outlook of community opinion leaders on adolescent reproductive health in this setting. Understanding what adults think about major adolescent SRH issues in their communities (including the SRH rights of adolescents, adult–adolescent communication about SRH issues, and service-seeking and sexual behavior outcomes) provides insight into how adults perceive …

Are Parents Talking To Adolescents About Sexuality? Evidence From Four Slums In Ghana, Selina F. Esantsi, Francis Onyango, Gloria Quansah Asare, Emmanuel Kuffour, Placide Tapsoba, Harriet Birungi, Ian Askew

Reproductive Health

This evidence brief summarizes the essential information from a part of a larger study that assessed the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs of adolescents in four slums in two regions of Ghana. The objective of this brief is to provide evidence to support and facilitate the improvement of parent–adolescent communication on sexuality. This study echoes several other studies by providing evidence that a majority of parents are not opposed to in-school sex education for their children and welcome the idea of empowering themselves (parents) to have productive discussions with their children. Nevertheless, there is a mismatch between the proportion …

What Are The Sexual And Reproductive Health Needs Of Adolescents In Ghana’S Slums?, Selina F. Esantsi, Gloria Quansah Asare, Placide Tapsoba

Reproductive Health

To address the need for quality evidence on the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs of adolescents in slums, the STEP UP project conducted a study in four slum settings in Ghana. This policy brief highlights key points, including the need for a well-designed, comprehensive sex education curriculum; interventions that address sexual coercion and violence as an integral component of current adolescent reproductive health programs; and the need to involve all stakeholders including parents/guardians and community leaders in addressing adolescent SRH needs. Evidence from the study can be used to improve ASRH programming so that it better meets the needs …

Expanding Access To Secondary School Education For Teenage Mothers In Kenya: A Baseline Study Report, Chi-Chi Undie, Harriet Birungi, George Odwe, Francis Obare

Reproductive Health

Carried out in Homa Bay County, Kenya, this study provides a baseline assessment involving the following data collection components: a household survey with out-of-school teenage girls (regardless of whether they had ever been pregnant or not), teenage mothers, and their household heads; and a school survey with secondary school principals and students. The objectives of the study were to: 1) foster an understanding of the current situation and context in regard to out-of-school teenage mothers and their potential support systems for school re-entry at the household and school levels; 2) clarify possible solutions for promoting school re-entry on the part …

Comprendre Les Grossesses Non Désirées Au Sénégal : Rapport Du Profil Pays [Compte Rendu De L’Atelier De Dissémination Des Résultats Auprès Des Parlementaires], Babacar Mane, Bocar Mamadou Daff, Marie-Jesus Buabey, Abdelylah Lakssir

Reproductive Health

En partenariat avec le Ministère de la Santé et de l'Action Sociale et l’initiative Partners in Population and Development, le bureau du Population Council—Sénégal a organisé une rencontre avec des membres de l’Assemblée Nationale et d’autres acteurs locaux clés pour diffuser les résultats du rapport de l’étude sur le profil pays menée dans le cadre du projet de recherche "Strengthening Evidence for Programming on Unintended Pregnancy” plus connu sous l’acronyme “STEP UP.” A l’issue de la réunion, les recommandations ont été formulées concernant la législation, le renforcement des capacités et la prise en charge des problèmes de santé de la …

Education Sector Response To Early And Unintended Pregnancy: A Review Of Country Experiences In Sub-Saharan Africa, Harriet Birungi, Chi-Chi Undie, Ian Mackenzie, Anne Katahoire, Francis Obare, Patricia Machawira

Reproductive Health

In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), early and unintended pregnancy leads to a colossal loss of educational opportunities for girls. Existing studies that show associations between early/unintended pregnancy and school dropout lead to critical questions about how the education sector is responding to the issue in SSA. Conducted from August 2014 to April 2015, this review was devoted to an examination of such responses across six countries: Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. The review focused on several key issues, including: education-sector policies for pregnant students and adolescent mothers; integration of pregnancy prevention into sexuality education curricula; the school environment as …

Strengthening School Health Programming In Nairobi City County, Joyce Mumah

Reproductive Health

No abstract provided.

The Education Sector Response To Early And Unintended Pregnancy (Eup): A Review Of Selected Sadc Countries, Chi-Chi Undie, Harriet Birungi, Francis Obare, Patricia Machawira

Reproductive Health

No abstract provided.

Education Sector Response To Early And Unintended Pregnancy: A Policy Dialogue In Homa Bay County, Kenya, Chi-Chi Undie, Ian Mackenzie, Harriet Birungi, Stephen Barongo, Diosiana Ahindukha, Caleb Omondi

Reproductive Health

In collaboration with the Strengthening Evidence for Programming on Unintended Pregnancy (STEP UP) Research Programme Consortium, the Population Council implemented a project to increase the demand for secondary school education in Homa Bay County, Kenya—an area characterized by high, unintended teenage pregnancy and female school drop-out rates. To foster awareness of the school re-entry policy, the Population Council collaborated with the Homa Bay County Department of Education (Ministry of Education) to convene a policy dialogue for all principals of public, day, girls-only, and co-educational secondary schools in the area. The policy dialogue helped to create visibility around the issue of …

Balika Fact Sheet: Highlight On Livelihoods, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

There are few income-earning opportunities for adolescent girls in the Bangladeshi Association for Life Skills, Income, and Knowledge for Adolescents (BALIKA) study area, and livelihoods opportunities vary considerably by economic status and education. The ability to acquire livelihood-relevant skills, networks, and work experience during adolescence can be an important predictor of productive capacity later in life. However, across the study districts, the proportion of adolescent girls who are working is low. Most girls work as tutors or are engaged in the agricultural and poultry sector. Better-educated girls are more likely to be engaged in paid work. This BALIKA “Highlight on …

Adolescents In Rajasthan 2012: Changing Situation And Needs, Shireen J. Jejeebhoy, Rajib Acharya

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Several national policies and programs formulated since 2000 have underscored India’s commitment to addressing the multiple needs of youth. The Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK) program launched in 2014 helped provide the framework for services for young people’s health in general, and their sexual and reproductive health, mental health, and prevention and care of noncommunicable diseases, in particular. The earlier Youth in India: Situation and Needs 2006–2007 study was the first-ever subnationally representative study conducted to identify key transitions experienced by married and unmarried youth in India. Data have now become available from a repeated survey conducted in 2012 in …

Formative Research To Develop An Intervention For Addressing Mental Health/Psychosocial Issues And Hiv Vulnerability Of Marginalized Adolescents In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Nrupa Jani, Katie D. Schenk

HIV and AIDS

Children and adolescents who migrate from rural regions to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia often flee their households to escape from abusive families, forced marriages, poverty, lack of economic opportunity and education, and other social problems. They are often met with equally harsh, if not worse, challenges when they arrive in Addis Ababa, including treacherous living situations, abusive working conditions with meager compensation, limited opportunities for education and socialization, and absence of family support. This study conducted a qualitative needs assessment to determine type and extent of mental health and psychological needs among adolescent migrants living in Addis Ababa in order to …

Retention Of Adolescents Living With Hiv In Care, Treatment, And Support Programs In Uganda, Livingstone Ssali, Sam Kalibala, Josephine Birungi, Aggrey Egessa, Jonathan Wangisi, Joanne Lyavala Okullu, Celestin Bakanda, Stephen Okoboi, Francis Obare

HIV and AIDS

Understanding the extent to which adolescents aged 10–19 years who are living with HIV are retained in HIV care, treatment, and support is important for informing the design of effective services for this population to better meet their needs across three main areas of HIV and AIDS programming: treatment; care and support; and prevention. Retention in HIV programs is, in turn, important for positive clinical outcomes including viral suppression and survival. In 2013–2014, The AIDS Support Organization and the Population Council undertook a study to generate evidence on factors associated with retention of adolescents in HIV and AIDS programs in …

Education Sector Response To Early And Unintended Pregnancy (Eup): A Review Of Country Experiences In East And Southern Africa, Harriet Birungi, Chi-Chi Undie, Francis Onyango

Reproductive Health

No abstract provided.

Balika Fact Sheet: Highlight On Gender And Rights, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Data presented in this Bangladeshi Association for Life Skills, Income, and Knowledge for Adolescents (BALIKA) fact sheet, “Highlight on Gender and Rights,” reveal that attitudes about gender equitability differ across domains and by the background characteristics of respondents in terms of education, marital status, and age. Those who are married, less educated, and young are less aware of gender equality and rights including domestic violence, autonomy, and confidence. The data suggest specific areas where interventions may produce positive outcomes. The BALIKA survey included a number of questions to measure the values held about gender equality in terms of marriage expectations, …

Balika Fact Sheet: Highlight On Married Adolescents, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

In Bangladesh, marriage marks the beginning of sanctioned sexual activity as well as increased social isolation. When girls are not in school, they miss the opportunity to interact with same-age peers and form social networks. They may be less likely to gain skills and knowledge and have less earning power. Married adolescents have poorer sexual and reproductive health knowledge and more unequal gender attitudes. Young girls who are married to much-older men are in a disadvantaged position to negotiate in their marital home. This can have implications for realizing sexual and reproductive choice and health rights. This Bangladeshi Association for …

Balika Fact Sheet: Highlight On Schooling, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

School attendance is universal in the Bangladeshi Association for Life Skills, Income, and Knowledge for Adolescents (BALIKA) study area, but the persistence of early and child marriage leads to high dropout rates among girls. Compulsory primary education is free in Bangladesh, and policies to improve access to schooling are generally credited with universal schooling at young ages. Only 1 percent of 12–15-year-olds have never attended school compared to 9 percent among 15–18-year-olds in the study area. The recent expansion of educational opportunity presents new challenges. Bangladesh is unusual by global comparison in the high proportion of girls who are married …

Supporting Girls In Their Transition To Secondary Education: An Exploratory Study Of The Family, School And Community Environments Of Adolescent Girls In Gujarat, K.G. Santhya, Shireen J. Jejeebhoy, A.J. Francis Zavier, Rajib Acharya, Neeta Shah

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Despite government commitment to universal secondary education in India, few adolescents transition to and successfully complete secondary education. In India, limited efforts have been directed at parents to promote positive attitudes toward education and school completion. Recognizing the need for identifying effective intervention strategies to engage parents and communities to promote secondary education for girls, the Population Council and partners are pilot-testing an intervention to support adolescent girls’ transition to and retention in secondary education. Located in the state of Gujarat, the intervention focuses on girls in the last year of primary school and first year of secondary school and …

Enhancing Livelihood Opportunities For Young Women In Rural Upper Egypt: The Neqdar Nesharek Program, Nada Ramadan, Nahla G. Abdel-Tawab, Khaled El Sayed, Rania Roushdy

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

During the 30+ years that the Population Council has been operating in Egypt, Council researchers have examined many facets of young people’s lives, including conducting nationally representative surveys in 1997, 2009, and 2014. This research has documented the marginalization of Egyptian women in the public sphere, including the labor market, as well as gender inequities in mobility and access to schooling. Neqdar Nesharek is a social and economic empowerment program that evolved in response to this research and from the Council’s experience over the last few years working closely with out-of-school girls in Upper Egypt via the Ishraq program. The …

Provision Of Adolescent Reproductive And Sexual Health Services In India: Provider Perspectives, Shireen J. Jejeebhoy, K.G. Santhya, Santosh Kumar Singh, Shilpi Rampal, Komal Saxena

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The recently launched Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK) program seeks to enable all adolescents and youth to realize their full potential by making informed decisions concerning their health and well-being and by accessing the services and support they need to implement their decisions. To realize this vision, the RKSK framework acknowledges the strengthening of Adolescent Friendly Health Clinics (AFHCs) and providing correct knowledge and information through counseling services as two of its seven critical components. As the government makes an effort to roll out the RKSK program at scale across the country, reviewing the experiences of the AFHCs established under …

Trafficking Of Minor Girls For Commercial Sexual Exploitation In India: A Synthesis Of Available Evidence, K.G. Santhya, Shireen J. Jejeebhoy, Sharmistha Basu

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Understanding factors that place minor girls at risk of being trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) and the consequences of trafficking for their health and life-course trajectories is limited by the scattered evidence available on these issues. The role of various stakeholders in trafficking, namely, families, traffickers, and brothel owners, and the role of law enforcement agencies in preventing it are also poorly understood. Further, adequate data consolidating the responses of government and nongovernmental organizations to issues related to CSE of minor girls are lacking. There is a need, therefore, to consolidate this scattered body of evidence and to identify …

Balika Fact Sheet: Highlight On Marriage, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Early marriage deprives girls of the opportunity for personal development and their rights to full reproductive health and well-being, education, and participation in civil life. Bangladesh stands out in international comparisons as having an extraordinarily early age at marriage for girls and a considerable average age difference in marriage between girls and their husbands. This Bangladeshi Association for Life Skills, Income, and Knowledge for Adolescents (BALIKA) fact sheet, “Highlight on Marriage,” concludes: In Bangladesh, marriage remains early by most standards and the majority of girls still get married before reaching the legal age of 18 years. By age 19, more …

Adolescent Girls Empowerment Programme: Research And Evaluation Baseline Technical Report, Paul C. Hewett, Karen Austrian, Erica Soler-Hampejsek, Jere R. Behrman, Christine A. Kelly, Dela Kusi-Appouh, Fiammetta Bozzani, Barbara Mensch, Minyoi Maimbolwa

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The theory of change behind the Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (AGEP) posits that adolescent girls are empowered by acquiring social, health, and economic assets. Girls can draw on these assets to reduce vulnerabilities and expand opportunities, thereby increasing their likelihood of completing school, delaying sexual debut, and reducing the risk of early marriage, unintended pregnancy, acquisition of HIV, and so on. AGEP serves vulnerable adolescent girls in Zambia aged 10–19 in two age cohorts: 10–14-year-olds and 15–19-year-olds. AGEP operates in ten “master sites,” five urban and five rural, in four provinces of Zambia. The three core components of AGEP in …

Evaluation Of Health And Education Impacts Of A Girls’ Safe Spaces Program In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Annabel Erulkar, Girmay Medhin

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Approximately one in eight of the world’s population is a girl or young woman aged 10–24 and attention is increasingly focusing on the central role of adolescent girls in achieving global health and development goals. Areas of focus by the development field include girls’ education, health, child marriage, and the experience of violence. This study analyzes the educational and health impacts of a program for slum-dwelling girls, including child domestic workers and rural-urban migrants. Established in 2006, Biruh Tesfa (Bright Future) aimed to increase social networks and support for the most marginalized girls in the poorest urban areas of Ethiopia. …

Building The Assets To Thrive: Addressing The Hiv-Related Vulnerabilities Of Adolescent Girls In Ethiopia—Policy Brief, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

In Eastern and Southern Africa, HIV is the leading cause of death among girls aged 15–19. Despite decades of investment and substantial progress against HIV, adolescent girls remain at disproportionate risk of infection. Few programs have sought to take a “whole girl” approach to addressing the multiple vulnerabilities to HIV infection experienced by the most marginalized adolescent girls in the poorest communities in Africa. “Building the Assets to Thrive: Addressing the HIV-related Vulnerabilities of Adolescent Girls in Ethiopia” is a comprehensive review of three programs implemented and evaluated by the Population Council and the Ethiopian government beginning in 2007: Biruh …

From Evidence To Action: Results From The 2013 Baseline Survey For The Balika Project, Sajeda Amin, Sigma Ainul, Farhana Akter, Mohammad Masudul Alam, Md. Irfan Hossain, Johana Ahmed, Ubaidur Rob

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The Population Council and partners are working on a program to generate evidence on what works to prevent child marriage in Bangladesh. This report is an integral part of the program and presents evidence from a baseline study conducted in three districts in southern Bangladesh. The study documents data from a survey conducted in 96 villages on education, livelihoods, sexual and reproductive health, and social life. The program, which offers skills development for girls who are at highest risk and live in impoverished areas of the country with the highest child marriage prevalence, explores the potential benefits of investing in …