Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Adolescent Sexual And Reproductive Health Situation: Insights From The 2014 Kenya Demographic And Health Survey, Francis Obare, George Odwe, Harriet Birungi

Reproductive Health

The 2015 Kenya National Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Policy recognized the importance of addressing adolescent sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs for achieving the country’s development goals. Although estimates from the 2014 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) show the country registered improvements in key reproductive, maternal, and child health outcomes, adolescent outcomes likely remain poor given the challenges associated with adequately addressing their sexual and reproductive health needs. This report presents findings of further analysis of the 2014 Kenya DHS on key SRH outcomes among adolescent girls and boys 15 to 19 years old in Kenya. Understanding the …

Acceptability And Feasibility Of Introducing Strengthened School-Based Sexual And Reproductive Health Information And Services In Accra, Ghana, Terence Adda-Balinia, Philip Teg-Nefaah Tabong, Maya Teye, Philip Baba Adongo, Placide Tapsoba, Harriet Birungi

Reproductive Health

An initial study conducted by Population Council under the Strengthening Evidence for Programming on Unintended Pregnancies (STEP UP) project in 2012 assessed the knowledge and reproductive health needs of adolescents living in selected slums in Brong Ahafo and Greater Accra regions with the view of informing an improvement in adolescent sexual health (ASRH) programming in Ghana. The study concludes that stakeholders generally believed there was the need for enhanced adolescent sexual and reproductive health services in school as the present system of delivering these services were not sufficiently addressing ASRH needs. The use of trained psychologists and health workers was …

The Africa Regional Sgbv Network Learning Brief Series: Learning Updates From Zambia (Brief #5), Population Council

Reproductive Health

Over a third of sexual violence cases reported at police stations and health facilities in Lusaka, Zambia from 2000–04 involved children ages 10–14, according to a 2009 Population Council review. National gender crime statistics show that 2,234 cases of defilement were reported to the police in Zambia in 2013 alone. In an attempt to ensure that child survivors receive the full range of both legal/justice and healthcare services, Zambia Police Service, the Ministry of Health, and the Population Council are working to operationalize Zambia’s National Guidelines for the Multidisciplinary Management of Survivors of Gender-Based Violence. This Learning Brief is one …

Invertir Cuando Vale La Pena: Revisión De Las Evidencias Para Trazar Un Rumbo De Investigación Y Acción Para Adolescentes Muy Jóvenes, Katharine Mccarthy, Martha Brady, Kelly Hallman

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Desde 2006, ha habido un rápido crecimiento e interés en la población de adolescentes muy jóvenes y un conjunto de programas en expansión destinado a abordar sus necesidades sociales y de salud y desarrollo. El presente informe se basa en el ímpetu generado por los esfuerzos recientes en investigación y programas, y por la mayor cantidad de datos disponibles en la última década. El informe tiene como objetivo ser útil para quienes planean, administran, implementan, monitorean, evalúan, o financian investigación o programas relacionados con adolescentes jóvenes. Describe varias áreas clave que se beneficiarían con más experimentación y nuevas investigaciones. Un …

The Africa Regional Sgbv Network Learning Brief Series: Learning Updates From Swaziland (Brief #3), Population Council

Reproductive Health

Nearly half of girls aged 13–24 in Swaziland suffer some form of sexual violence, according to the country’s 2007 Violence Against Children (VAC) survey. About 10 percent of girls reported experiencing sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in school in particular. The Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse (SWAGAA) is recognized as Swaziland’s leading SGBV prevention, response, and advocacy organization. This Learning Brief describes how SWAGAA is tackling SGBV in schools in three different ways: 1) helping girls take more control of their school experience through a new self-efficacy module in the Girls’ Empowerment Clubs; 2) encouraging girls, and giving them the …

Adolescents In Bangladesh: Programmatic Approaches To Sexual And Reproductive Health Education And Services, Sigma Ainul, Ashish Bajracharya, Laura Reichenbach

Reproductive Health

There is a gap in knowledge and understanding of effective adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) programming in Bangladesh, especially programming at scale. Initiatives to address ASRH have been implemented at different times by both the Government of Bangladesh and NGOs, but these activities have often been fragmented and are not well documented or evaluated, making it difficult to know what worked well and what did not. This policy brief presents selected findings from a comprehensive review and analysis of ASRH programming in Bangladesh, carried out by the Population Council’s Evidence Project, with financial support from USAID/Bangladesh, as part of …

Investir Quand Cela Compte: Passer En Revue Les Preuves Et Établir Un Plan De Recherche Et D’Action Pour Les Très Jeunes Adolescents, Katharine Mccarthy, Martha Brady, Kelly Hallman

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Depuis 2006, on a pu constater un intérêt grandissant pour la population des très jeunes adolescents, ainsi qu’une expansion continue des programmes visant à répondre à leurs besoins sociaux, de santé, et de développement. Ce rapport s’appuie sur la dynamique engendrée par les recherches et les efforts récents déployés dans le cadre des programmes, et le volume plus important de données générées au cours de la dernière décennie. Le rapport se veut utile à toute personne chargée de planifier, gérer, mettre en œuvre, suivre, évaluer, ou financer des recherches ou des programmes impliquant les jeunes adolescents et adolescentes. Le rapport …

Développer Les Compétences De Protection Des Filles: Ensemble D’Outils Pour La Conception D’Un Programme, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Les adolescentes sont devenues une population cible clé pour les initiatives d'autonomisation, de santé et de développement dans les pays en développement. Cette collection d’outils est destinée aux organisations qui se sont engagées à étendre leurs programmes pour atteindre les sous-catégories de filles et jeunes femmes exclues: les filles les plus pauvres dans les communautés les plus pauvres; les filles âgées de 10 à 14 ans non scolarisées et n’habitant pas avec leur père ou leur mère; ou d’autres sous-catégories de jeunes filles qui sont tout simplement susceptibles d’être laissées pour compte. Cet ensemble contient des outils et des exercices …

Youth In Pakistan: Priorities, Realities And Policy Responses, Zeba Sathar, Iram Kamran, Maqsood Sadiq, Sabahat Hussain

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Youth is a pivotal stage during which the right policies and interventions in the health, social, educational, and economic sectors can protect young people against risks, and turn the trajectories of their lives toward a safe and productive path of growth. This report explores some of the key issues facing youth in Pakistan, in the main spheres marking their transition to adult roles. It also presents the results of an age-based segmentation analysis capturing where youth in Pakistan stand in terms of school enrollment, work force participation, and marriage, with a view to identifying the broad developmental priorities for each …

Addressing Adolescent Girls' Vulnerability To Hiv/Aids: Lessons From The Meri Life Meri Choice Project, Sunil Mehra, Rajesh R. Singh, Vandana Nair, K.G. Santhya, A.J. Francis Zavier

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This report details findings from an assessment of the Meri Life Meri Choice (MLMC) project in India, implemented by MAMTA—Health Institute for Mother and Child, with the support of the Elton John AIDS Foundation. The MLMC project sought to reduce the vulnerability of rural adolescent girls to HIV by enhancing their knowledge about sexual and reproductive matters and equipping them with skills that enable them to address vulnerability to HIV; increasing their utilization of sexual and reproductive health services from the public sector; and developing a supportive environment that enables adolescent girls to adopt protective actions to reduce vulnerability to …

Methodology: Reaching The Most Vulnerable Adolescent Girls, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The objective of the Adolescent Girls Empowerment Programme (AGEP) is to provide vulnerable adolescent girls with needed social, health, and economic assets that they can draw upon to overcome their vulnerabilities and expand their opportunities. As a component of the AGEP evaluation, a household census was conducted in 2013 in the areas where the program was to be implemented. The census revealed that a significant percentage of adolescent girls aged 10–19 contend with multiple levels of socioeconomic vulnerability that include—but are not limited to—geographic remoteness, social isolation, living without parents, living in low-income households, and not attending school. The analysis …

Sexual And Reproductive Health Knowledge, Attitudes, And Practices Among Early Adolescents And Young Adults In Uganda: Findings From A Link Up Exploratory Study, Population Council

HIV and AIDS

The Population Council collaborated with Makerere University’s Child Health and Development Centre to conduct a study of males and females ages 10–24 to help inform future programs and policies affecting these young people. This study was conducted as part of the Link Up project, a global consortium led by the International HIV/AIDS Alliance that aims to improve the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of young vulnerable people. Results indicate that adolescents and young adults have broad gaps in their knowledge about HIV and SRHR; early adolescents fared significantly worse in these areas than their older counterparts, suggesting that …

How To Reduce Hiv Risk Among Adolescent Girls And Young Women In Sub-Saharan Africa? Implementation Science Around The Dreams Initiative, Population Council

HIV and AIDS

The Population Council, with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the US Agency for International Development through Project SOAR, is leading the implementation science portfolio of the timely and innovative DREAMS partnership in 10 sub-Saharan countries, producing evidence to strengthen DREAMS activities and other community-based programming. The Council’s research focuses on how best to reach the most vulnerable adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) and their male partners and engage them in activities and services, and how to roll out pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention among AGYW. By examining these critical HIV prevention issues, the Council’s …

Abriendo Oportunidades Para Alcanzar Mi Plan De Vida: Programa De 5 Meses—14 A 18 Años, Cecilia Garcés, Paola Broll

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Esta es la guía curricular del programa Abriendo Oportunidades del Population Council de Guatemala. Este programa de cinco meses ayuda a las niñas a desarrollar pasos para lograr su plan de vida, en módulos sobre los temas siguientes: llevarse bien con otras mujeres; conocerse y valorarse a sí mismo; autoestima; derechos humanos; aprendiendo a ser mujer; la fertilidad y el embarazo; reconociendo el peligro; y la importancia del ahorro.

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This is the curriculum guide for the Abriendo Oportunidades program of the Population Council of Guatemala. This five-month program helps girls develop steps to achieve their life plan, in modules …

Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (Agep): Mid-Term Findings—Brief, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (AGEP) is a four-year effort to support more than 11,000 of the most vulnerable adolescent girls in Zambia. AGEP was led by the Population Council, in partnership with the Young Women’s Christian Association of Zambia, the National Savings and Credit Bank of Zambia, and the Government of Zambia. The program design was based on the asset-building framework which posits that if girls are able to build social, health, and economic assets in the short term, there will be longer-term dividends on health and education outcomes. This brief reports on midterm findings of the study which …

Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (Agep): Savings Account, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

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

Adolescent Girls Empowerment Programme In Zambia: Qualitative Evaluation Report, Zoe Duby, Chipo Natasha Zulu, Karen Austrian

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (AGEP) reaches over 10,000 vulnerable girls 10–19 years old in five urban and five rural sites spread across four provinces in Zambia. The program works to build adolescent girls’ social, health, and economic assets, providing them with key skills and opportunities to help them transition from adolescence to adulthood in a healthy way. This report presents these valuable insight into the views and experiences of girls who were involved in the AGEP program, as well as the perceptions of program mentors, the girls’ parents, and community leaders. In addition, these findings highlight the areas in …

Adolescent Girls Empowerment Programme: Research And Evaluation Mid-Term Technical Report—Executive Summary, Karen Austrian, Paul C. Hewett, Erica Soler-Hampejsek, Fiammetta Bozzani, Jere R. Behrman, Jean Digitale

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The Adolescent Girls Empowerment Programme (AGEP) was an ambitious project directed toward changing girls’ lives in a significant and meaningful way across areas of education, sexual and reproductive health, marriage and fertility, and experience of violence. This Executive Summary of the project’s findings shows that, overall, the AGEP cohort data, and lessons they have generated from the AGEP are rich, nuanced, and important for informing the next generation of programs for adolescents in Zambia and elsewhere. Even though the study is still under way, and the full longer-term effects of AGEP remain to be seen, the information presented in this …

Adolescent Girls Initiative-Kenya: Qualitative Report, Eunice N. Muthengi, Karen Austrian, Amanda Landrian, Benta Abuya, Joyce Mumah, Caroline W. Kabiru

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The Adolescent Girls Initiative-Kenya (AGI-K) is currently delivering multisectoral interventions, targeting violence prevention, education, health, and wealth creation, to adolescent girls aged 11–14 in two marginalized areas of Kenya. This report provides a brief overview of the research design and intervention components being delivered in AGI-K, and presents findings from the first round of qualitative data collection intended to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the implementation processes thus far. The findings provide important information about the perceived effects of the program from a diverse set of respondents. Overall, beneficiaries, their parents/guardians, and other key stakeholders value the program and …

Investing When It Counts: Reviewing The Evidence And Charting A Course Of Research And Action For Very Young Adolescents, Katharine Mccarthy, Martha Brady, Kelly Hallman

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Since 2006, there has been a burgeoning interest in the very young adolescent population and an ever-expanding array of programs aimed at addressing their social, health, and development needs. This report builds on the momentum generated from recent research and program efforts, and from the greater data available in the past decade. The report is intended to be helpful to anyone who plans, manages, implements, monitors, evaluates, or funds research or programs that involve young adolescent girls and boys. The report outlines several key areas that would benefit from more experimentation and new research. Central to this is the creation …

Kenya: Helping Adolescent Mothers Remain In School Through Strengthened Implementation Of School Re-Entry Policies, Esther Lwanga Walgwe, Nancy Termini Lachance, Harriet Birungi, Chi-Chi Undie

Reproductive Health

By applying robust evidence, securing the support of decisionmakers, and engaging stakeholders, STEP UP enabled national and local decisionmakers to better understand the consequences of unintended pregnancy for adolescent girls’ schooling in Homa Bay County, Kenya. STEP UP is playing an important role in informing the implementation of policies within the Kenyan educational sector that will improve educational opportunities for school-age mothers. Through early stakeholder engagement, strong partnerships, the support of implementers and policymakers, effective communication and dissemination strategies, decisionmaker capacity, and the dedication of the adolescent mothers themselves, evidence generated by STEP UP was successfully utilized by key stakeholders. …

Abriendo Oportunidades Para Alcanzar Mi Plan De Vida: Programa De 5 Meses—8 A 13 Años, Cecilia Garcés

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Esta es la guía curricular del programa Abriendo Oportunidades del Population Council de Guatemala. Esta guía es para niñas de 8 a 13 años. Este programa de cinco meses ayuda a las niñas a desarrollar pasos para lograr su plan de vida, en módulos sobre los temas siguientes: llevarse bien con otras niñas; conocerse y valorarse a sí mismo; autoestima; derechos humanos; aprendiendo a ser mujer; la fertilidad y el embarazo; reconociendo el peligro; y la importancia del ahorro.

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This is the curriculum guide for the Abriendo Oportunidades program of the Population Council of Guatemala. This guide is for …

Building Girls' Protective Assets: A Collection Of Tools For Program Design, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Adolescent girls have become a key target population for empowerment, health, and development initiatives in low- and middle-income countries. This collection of tools is intended for organizations that are committed to extending their programs to reach excluded subpopulations of girls and young women—whether they are the poorest girls in the poorest communities, the 10–14-year-old girls who are out of school and not living with either parent, or another subpopulation of young girls who are likely to miss out. The collection contains tools and exercises to help programmers translate evidence on “what works” into girl-centered programming. The resources in this collection …

Building Evidence To Guide Prep Introduction For Adolescent Girls And Young Women, Nanlesta Pilgrim, Sanyukta Mathur, Ann Gottert, Naomi Rutenberg, Julie Pulerwitz

HIV and AIDS

This document was developed by the Population Council, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to provide DREAMS country teams with practical guidance on building evidence to guide pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) introduction for adolescent girls and young women (AGYW). The primary audiences for this document are health policymakers and program planners who will be making decisions about how PrEP is introduced and the researchers who will assess AGYW’s specific needs and experiences. Our aim is to complement emerging global guidance on PrEP and ongoing work regarding delivery platforms, marketing, and policy and regulatory frameworks for PrEP introduction more …

Developing An Implementation Science Research Agenda To Improve The Treatment And Care Outcomes Among Adolescents Living With Hiv In Sub-Saharan Africa, Julie Denison, Audrey Pettifor, Lynne Mofenson, Deanna Kerrigan

HIV and AIDS

In February 2016, Project SOAR convened a Technical Advisory Network meeting, attended by more than 50 international and domestic thought leaders in adolescent HIV care research and a small group of youth from southern Africa who are living with HIV. To prepare the groundwork for the meeting, SOAR produced a background paper synthesizing the literature on HIV continuum of care outcomes among adolescents living with HIV (ALHIV) in sub-Saharan Africa, where most adolescent cases of HIV are concentrated. This report presents the findings from the literature review and highlights from the Technical Advisory Network meeting. The first section is a …

Reducing Provider-Held Stigma And Improving Young Client Satisfaction In Bangladesh: Findings From A Link Up Evaluation, Population Council

HIV and AIDS

To address HIV stigma in Bangladesh, a training program was designed and evaluated among service providers as part of Link Up, a global project led by the International HIV/AIDS Alliance designed to improve the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of young people. These trainings aimed at sensitizing healthcare providers to the needs and rights of young people at high risk of stigmatization—such as sex workers, sexual minorities, or young people who engage in premarital sex. The Population Council collaborated with Marie Stopes International Bangladesh (MSIB) to evaluate whether stigma-reduction trainings improved provider attitudes toward these young marginalized populations, …

Adolescent Girls Empowerment Programme: Research And Evaluation Mid-Term Technical Report, Karen Austrian, Paul C. Hewett, Erica Soler-Hampejsek, Fiammetta Bozzani, Jere R. Behrman, Jean Digitale

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The Adolescent Girls Empowerment Programme (AGEP) was a social, health, and economic asset-building program targeting vulnerable adolescent girls aged 10–19. The Population Council, in partnership with the Young Women’s Christian Association of Zambia, successfully implemented the AGEP program from late 2013 to early 2016. The results presented in this midterm report have implications for recommendations on future programming for adolescent girls in Zambia and elsewhere and should be coupled with burgeoning evidence from AGEP and the literature to adapt programming for vulnerable adolescent girls in order to improve impact. While the underlying root causes of girls’ vulnerabilities are interrelated, it …