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Articles 1 - 14 of 14
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
My Experience In Swaziland With Give Hope, Fight Poverty, Megan Kaser
My Experience In Swaziland With Give Hope, Fight Poverty, Megan Kaser
Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement
Megan Kaser, a recent 2017 alum in the College of Health and Human Sciences at Purdue University, describes her experience with Give Hope, Fight Poverty (GHFP)—a nonprofit organization in Indianapolis, Indiana. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in physician assistant studies. GHFP’s mission is “to foster philanthropy domestically by designing service-learning programs that engage U.S. college students with rural communities in Swaziland, Africa, and work together to educate, empower, and lift orphaned and vulnerable children—particularly those living in child-headed households— out of poverty” (Give Hope, Fight Poverty, n.d.). By incorporating college students in the implementation of GHFP orphan education …
Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (Agep): Health, Karen Austrian, Erica Soler-Hampejsek, Natalie Jackson Hachonda, Paul C. Hewett
Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (Agep): Health, Karen Austrian, Erica Soler-Hampejsek, Natalie Jackson Hachonda, Paul C. Hewett
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
The Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (AGEP) intervention was conducted over two years to support more than 11,000 vulnerable adolescent girls in Zambia. It was led by the Population Council in partnership with the Young Women’s Christian Association of Zambia (YWCA), the National Savings and Credit Bank of Zambia (Natsave), and the Government of Zambia. To assess the impact of AGEP on mediating and longer-term demographic, reproductive, and health outcomes, Population Council researchers designed and implemented a longitudinal, cluster randomized controlled trial across all program areas. This brief presents the final AGEP findings, highlighting, in the Zambian context, what can be …
Girlsread! E-Reader Curriculum, Natalie Jackson Hachonda, Nicole Haberland, Abdul-Kahad Alhassan, Beatrice Ani-Asamoah, Pamela Nyirenda, Barbara Mensch
Girlsread! E-Reader Curriculum, Natalie Jackson Hachonda, Nicole Haberland, Abdul-Kahad Alhassan, Beatrice Ani-Asamoah, Pamela Nyirenda, Barbara Mensch
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Zambian adolescent girls are at risk for premature school leaving and HIV infection due to a host of contextual factors including child marriage, early childbearing, harmful gender norms, and intimate partner violence. This report describes the GirlsRead! program, whose overall goal is to enhance learning and increase progression to secondary school among Zambian adolescent girls in grade 7, the last year of primary school. Through GirlsRead!, the Population Council, together with FAWEZA and Worldreader are aiming to improve school retention by bolstering girls’ learning outcomes, furthering social connections, improving critical thinking skills, increasing agency, and fostering community norms supportive of …
Accelerating Action To End Child Marriage In Bangladesh, Sajeda Amin, Jyotirmoy Saha, Masuma Billah, Nargis Sultana, Eashita Haque, Surojit Kundu
Accelerating Action To End Child Marriage In Bangladesh, Sajeda Amin, Jyotirmoy Saha, Masuma Billah, Nargis Sultana, Eashita Haque, Surojit Kundu
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Despite considerable social and economic progress in Bangladesh, child marriage remains the norm. The Population Council is partnering with UNFPA and the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs to empower girls with gender, life, and livelihood skills, and to engage communities to address fundamental normative drivers of child marriage. The objective of the baseline study is to generate a set of indicators against which change can be measured, and to provide specific information about the status of adolescents in the study area in ways that can guide intervention strategies and inform programs and policies. Baseline findings will provide a benchmark …
Adolescent Girls Initiative–Kenya: Midline Results Report, Karen Austrian, Erica Soler-Hampejsek, Joyce Mumah, Beth Kangwana, Yohannes Dibaba Wado, Benta Abuya, Valsa Shah, John A. Maluccio
Adolescent Girls Initiative–Kenya: Midline Results Report, Karen Austrian, Erica Soler-Hampejsek, Joyce Mumah, Beth Kangwana, Yohannes Dibaba Wado, Benta Abuya, Valsa Shah, John A. Maluccio
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Many adolescent girls in Kenya face considerable risks and vulnerabilities that affect their education status, health, and general well-being. In addition to low educational attainment and health risks, other factors that impact education and health outcomes include household poverty, lack of economic independence, limited income-earning opportunities, illiteracy, violence, and social isolation. Younger adolescent girls who live in environments laden with these vulnerabilities are at risk of experiencing negative outcomes such as school dropout, early sexual initiation, unintended pregnancy, early marriage, and sexual and gender-based violence. The Adolescent Girls Initiative–Kenya (AGI-K) delivered multisectoral interventions to over 6,000 girls aged 11–15 in …
A Study Of Employment Outcomes Among Technical And Vocational Secondary Education Graduates In Egypt [Arabic], Salma Nasser, Ali Rashed
A Study Of Employment Outcomes Among Technical And Vocational Secondary Education Graduates In Egypt [Arabic], Salma Nasser, Ali Rashed
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
In Egypt, some 450,000 students graduate from technical and vocational schools each year. Yet just over 50 percent are employed immediately following their graduation. This brief explores the kinds of jobs that are available to these graduates, and the factors that affect the remaining 50 percent who do not join the work force. The report aims to understand the types of training that best prepare students for the available jobs, differences in opportunities for male and female graduates, and connections between work and the home and/or community circumstances that may hinder employment. The report offers recommendations for improving the education …
Adolescent Girls Empowerment Programme: Endline Technical Report, Karen Austrian, Erica Soler-Hampejsek, Paul C. Hewett, Natalie Jackson Hachonda, Jere R. Behrman
Adolescent Girls Empowerment Programme: Endline Technical Report, Karen Austrian, Erica Soler-Hampejsek, Paul C. Hewett, Natalie Jackson Hachonda, Jere R. Behrman
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
The theory of change behind the Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (AGEP) posited that adolescent girls are empowered by building social, health, and economic assets that they can then draw on to reduce vulnerabilities and expand opportunities. In the long term, they will then increase their likelihood of completing school, delaying sexual debut, and reducing risks of early marriages, unintended pregnancies, acquisition of HIV, and other possibly detrimental outcomes. This endline report indicates that, while there were some changes for the program participants in the medium and long term, they did not translate into longer-term effects on reproductive and demographic outcomes …
Girlsread! Girls’ Rights: An Empowerment Curriculum, Natalie Jackson Hachonda, Nicole Haberland, Barbara Mensch, Pamela Nyirenda, Diana Bulanda-Shalala
Girlsread! Girls’ Rights: An Empowerment Curriculum, Natalie Jackson Hachonda, Nicole Haberland, Barbara Mensch, Pamela Nyirenda, Diana Bulanda-Shalala
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
This curriculum guide is designed to help female mentors in the GirlsRead! program in Zambia to directly engage girls in critical thinking about gender inequalities and discrimination, and help them build the assets and confidence needed to act on their own behalf and as progressive voices in their communities. GirlsRead! participants are girls in grade 7—the last year of primary school—when they are at high risk of leaving school. The curriculum includes 19 sessions that cover a range of topics from gender equality to sexuality to rights, in meetings that provide a space and opportunity for girls to regularly interact …
Skill Retention After School-Leaving: Analysis Of Data From The Malawi Schooling And Adolescent Study, Erica Soler-Hampejsek, Barbara Mensch, Stephanie Psaki, Monica J. Grant, Christine A. Kelly, Paul C. Hewett
Skill Retention After School-Leaving: Analysis Of Data From The Malawi Schooling And Adolescent Study, Erica Soler-Hampejsek, Barbara Mensch, Stephanie Psaki, Monica J. Grant, Christine A. Kelly, Paul C. Hewett
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
The skills young people develop in school provide an essential foundation that can either be reinforced or deteriorate depending on the strength of the foundation and opportunities after leaving school. This brief describes findings from an analysis of a longitudinal data set of Malawian adolescents aged 14–17 attending school when first interviewed in 2007. The study investigated whether literacy and numeracy skills at school-leaving—among those who dropped out before completing secondary school—were retained several years after. Results show a significant gender difference in skill level after school-leaving for English skills, even after controlling for initial skill level and grade attainment, …
Pedaling Toward The Future: Increasing And Maintaining The School Attendance Of Adolescent Girls In Indigenous Communities Of Rural Guatemala, Paola Broll
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Population Council Guatemala, with the support of UNFPA and other donors, developed a strategy of expansion and scale up of Abriendo Oportunidades (AO) through geographic conglomerates with an ecological approach. They provided 250 bicycles as an additional component of AO to assess its effectiveness in increasing mobility and school attendance in four municipalities in Guatemala. This brief describes how the project was successful in increasing mobility, reinsertion, and completion of the 2017 school year among its participants. Results show that the provision of bicycles to adolescents participating in the Abriendo Oportunidades program increased school reintegration from the 2016 cycle to …
Forced Child Unions: From Legal Reform To Social Disruption—Formative Research In Five Communities In Chisec, Alta Verapaz, Paola Broll, Cecilia Garcés
Forced Child Unions: From Legal Reform To Social Disruption—Formative Research In Five Communities In Chisec, Alta Verapaz, Paola Broll, Cecilia Garcés
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Evidence has shown that child early and forced marriage/unions (CEFM/U) are harmful to the rights and development of girls and adolescents. It has also shown that increasing the minimum marriage age is not enough to eradicate this phenomenon because of the underlying practices of social institutions at the community level. This report details an investigation undertaken when a modification to the Civil Code was approved, then modified, in order to increase the minimum age of marriage in Guatemala. The investigation aimed to identify the norms, practices, and attitudes prevailing in the school, family, religion, government, and economy with regard to …
Insights And Evidence Gaps In Girl-Centered Programming: A Systematic Review, Nicole Haberland, Katharine Mccarthy, Martha Brady
Insights And Evidence Gaps In Girl-Centered Programming: A Systematic Review, Nicole Haberland, Katharine Mccarthy, Martha Brady
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Increased attention to the needs of adolescent girls has led to a growing number of programs in low- and middle-income countries. Questions remain, however, about what aspects of program design are most effective. This hinders efforts to effectively allocate resources, scale up programs, and replicate results across settings. This review looks at how the number of program components, involvement of supporting actors who influence the lives of girls, supplemental “booster” activities, intervention exposure level, and community saturation level influenced outcomes for girls. While findings suggest the importance of multicomponent programs and longer program exposure, each area requires further rigorous research …
What Works To Improve Outcomes For Kenya's Adolescent Girls?, Population Council
What Works To Improve Outcomes For Kenya's Adolescent Girls?, Population Council
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
This fact sheet outlines results from the Adolescent Girls Initiative–Kenya, a study that evaluates the long-term impact of a multi-sectoral intervention targeted at adolescent girls aged 11 to 15 years from Kibera and rural Wajir. The intervention consists of four different 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. Results indicate that the approach was a cost-effective way to create positive change across a range of well-being factors for young adolescent girls, including education, health, and economic outcomes.
Delivering Impact For Adolescent Girls: Emerging Findings From Population Council Research, Population Council
Delivering Impact For Adolescent Girls: Emerging Findings From Population Council Research, Population Council
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Despite numerous global commitments to invest in improving the lives of adolescent girls, questions remain as to what package of interventions can deliver the best outcomes. This report synthesizes findings from nine recent Population Council impact evaluations, conducted around the world, which indicate that empowerment and asset-building interventions for adolescent girls can improve education, health, economic, social capital, gender-equitable attitude, and violence outcomes for girls. The report includes implications for programs and investment, and identifies open questions for further research and evaluation.