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Community-Level Assessment Of Droughts In Odisha: Effects, Resilience, And Implications, Sangram Kishor Patel

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

India has been severely affected by drought—one-third of the country is either drought-prone or classified as desert. Odisha’s geographic location makes it vulnerable to various natural disasters and climatic risks so the Population Council conducted a study there to explore the impact of drought on people and their resilience, as well as examine the perceptions of state-level infrastructure and institutional initiatives to strengthen responses to droughts. The study found that farmers, laborers, and the poor are severely affected physically, financially, and psychologically as a result of consecutive droughts that have affected agriculture and livelihoods. The report notes a number of …

Community-Level Assessment Of Floods And Cyclones In Coastal Odisha, India: Impact, Resilience, And Implications, Sangram Kishor Patel

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

India is among the countries that have been severely affected by both floods and cyclones. In 2012, the Government of India estimated that nearly 12 percent of India’s land is prone to floods and river erosion. The Population Council conducted formative research in the state of Odisha to explore the people’s perceptions on impact and resilience to cyclones and floods, and to examine the state-level infrastructure and institutional initiatives to strengthen responses to these events. Findings reported in this brief indicate that flooding and cyclones have had a disproportionate affect on vulnerable groups, including women, children, the elderly, and disabled …

Girlsread! Zambia: Dreams Innovation Challenge, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

GirlsRead! is an education and empowerment program in Zambia. It includes three interventions: 1) safe space groups for girls, 2) e-readers designed for rural Africa, and 3) community engagement to bolster learning outcomes and reduce the likelihood that girls will leave school early. This brief describes the program, evaluation results, and implications.

Abriendo Oportunidades: Material Didáctico Para Sesiones De Trabajo, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Este documento es parte de los materiales de enseñanza para mentores en el programa Abriendo Oportunidades. La hoja informativa presenta los derechos de las niñas, adolescentes y mujeres indígenas. Incluye un mapa de los 22 departamentos administrativos de Guatemala.

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This document is part of the teaching materials for mentors in the Abriendo Oportunidades program. The fact sheet outlines the rights of indigenous girls, adolescents, and women. It includes a map of Guatemala's 22 administrative departments.

Abriendo Oportunidades A La Incidencia Política En Mi Comunidad: Guía Curricular, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

La propuesta de Abriendo Oportunidades® a la Incidencia Política en Mi Comunidad enfatiza en la condición ciudadana de las niñas y adolescentes, impulsando su interés por comprometerse con mejoras en su comunidad a través de su participación en el diseño y ejecución de acciones de incidencia política a nivel familiar, escolar, comunitario y municipal. Esta guía es un instrumento para las mentoras comunitarias que apoyan a las niñas y adolescentes participantes en el fortalecimiento de sus habilidades para la vida y en el desarrollo de competencias para realizar incidencia política a nivel comunitario. Siguiendo el modelo educativo de Abriendo Oportunidades, …

Trabajando En Incidencia Política Hacia Una Mejor Vida Para Las Niñas, Jóvenes Y Mujeres En Mi Comunidad, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Las guías de trabajo para la incidencia política comunitaria se hacen con el objetivo de enfatizar la condición ciudadana de las niñas y adolescentes e impulsar su interés por comprometerse a mejoras en su comunidad a través de su participación política. El Population Council ha desarrollado estas herramientas para apoyar el trabajo de jóvenes lideresas en el diseño y ejecución de acciones de incidencia a nivel familiar, escolar, comunitario y municipal. El contenido abordado en este material se enfoca especialmente en temas relativos a la prevención de la violencia y garantía de derechos a mujeres, niñez y juventud, y pueblos …

Program Modalidades Flexibles: Integrated Curriculum Guide—Primer Semestre, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Guatemala ha enfrentado grandes desafíos para garantizar a sus habitantes el acceso a la educación secundaria, especialmente a las mujeres jóvenes que enfrentan mayores retos para continuar su vida escolar. Ante esta realidad, el Population Council se suma a los esfuerzos de la Dirección General de Educación Extraescolar del Ministerio de Educación de Guatemala para acercar el Nivel de Educación Media a las comunidades más vulnerables. Esto se ha logrado al incorporar el programa Modalidades Flexibles para Ciclo Básico como componente clave en la atención a la población joven y más excluida del sistema escolar. Mediante el diseño y elaboración …

Program Modalidades Flexibles: Integrated Curriculum Guide—Segundo Semestre, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

El Population Council se suma a los esfuerzos de la Dirección General de Educación Extraescolar del Ministerio de Educación de Guatemala para acercar el Nivel de Educación Media a las comunidades más vulnerables. Esto se ha logrado al incorporar el programa Modalidades Flexibles para Ciclo Básico como componente clave en la atención a la población joven y más excluida del sistema escolar. Mediante el diseño y elaboración de esta guía de aprendizaje se ofrece un recurso para estudiantes y docentes que están participando en el segundo semestre de la etapa II del Ciclo Básico del programa Modalidades Flexibles. El abordaje …

Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (Agep), Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

For Zambian girls, social isolation, economic vulnerability, and lack of appropriate health information and services are critical problems that prevent a healthy transition from girlhood to womanhood. The challenges that girls are confronted with—high rates of gender-based violence, unsafe sex that puts them at risk for unwanted pregnancy and HIV infection, school dropout, lack of economic resources and income-generating options, lack of agency and participation—are linked together through their root causes. Through the Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (AGEP), the Population Council and partners implemented a social, health, and economic asset-building program for vulnerable adolescent girls in Zambia. This brief summarizes …

Fortaleciendo Las Capacidades De Programación Centradas En Niños, Niñas, Adolescentes Y Jóvenes: Ejercicio Para La Construcción De Activos Protectores—Tercer Taller, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Diseñemos juntos nuestro programa es una colección de herramientas elaboradas con el objetivo de complementar el aprendizaje de las y los coordinadores de los Programas de Infancia, Adolescencia y Juventud (PMIAJ/COMVIDA) que se implementan en diferentes municipios de Honduras. Estas herramientas son un complemento al material producido por Population Council como parte de una serie de talleres llamados “Fortaleciendo las capacidades programáticas centradas en niños, niñas, adolescentes y jóvenes,” impartidos en 2017.

Las herramientas de esta colección (ver más abajo) ayudarán a quienes las utilicen a asesorar estrategias de reclutamiento de participantes del programa, identificar subgrupos de participantes en mayores …

Programas Municipales De Infancia Adolescencia Y Juventud, Honduras: Diseñemos Juntos Nuestro Programa, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Diseñemos juntos nuestro programa es una colección de herramientas elaboradas con el objetivo de complementar el aprendizaje de las y los coordinadores de los Programas de Infancia, Adolescencia y Juventud (PMIAJ/COMVIDA) que se implementan en diferentes municipios de Honduras. Estas herramientas son un complemento al material producido por Population Council como parte de una serie de talleres llamados “Fortaleciendo las capacidades programáticas centradas en niños, niñas, adolescentes y jóvenes,” impartidos en 2017.

Las herramientas de esta colección (ver más abajo) ayudarán a quienes las utilicen a asesorar estrategias de reclutamiento de participantes del programa, identificar subgrupos de participantes en mayores …

Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (Agep): Sexual And Gender-Based Violence, Karen Austrian, Erica Soler-Hampejsek, Natalie Jackson Hachonda, Paul C. Hewett

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Acceptability and experience of sexual and gender-based violence is alarmingly high among adolescent girls in Zambia. Even more striking is the very young age from which notions of violence are ingrained and experience with violence begins. This brief summarizes the Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (AGEP) evaluation which demonstrated that in the Zambian context, a program focused on changing norms among girls themselves is not enough to impact attitudes toward and experience of violence. Social and cultural norms are shaped by households, schools, communities, and all of the adults that girls interact with in these places—even the mentors of their own …

Child Domestic Work And Transitions To Commercial Sexual Exploitation: Evidence From Ethiopia, Annabel Erulkar

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

There are an estimated 17.2 million child domestic workers in the world, and the vast majority are girls. Domestic work keeps children out of school, confined to the home, socially isolated, and burdened with excessive domestic duties. Furthermore, evidence is emerging that domestic work is a feeder profession for sex work. In 2015–16, the Population Council undertook a study of migrant, out-of-school girls in Ethiopia. The domestic work conditions described in this brief create unbearable conditions for girls who enter into commercial sex work as an alternative, hoping for an improvement in their work situation. The study found that a …

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 …

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 …

Migration And Child Domestic Work: Evidence From Ethiopia, Annabel Erulkar

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Domestic work is frequently the initial survival strategy for rural Ethiopian girls migrating to urban areas. Following migration from rural areas, most girls enter the workforce as domestic workers, because it is a readily available form of work requiring little or no education. In 2015–16, the Population Council undertook a study of migrant, out-of-school girls in urban and rural areas in six Ethiopian regions which demonstrated that this is a common phenomenon. Originating from poor rural areas and armed with little in the way of education, domestic workers receive low pay and frequently work in abusive situations, including sexual abuse. …

Nisitu (Nisikilize Tujengane): Listen To Me, Let’S Grow Together, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Evidence from several studies, including in Kenya, supports the idea that empowerment and asset-building interventions targeting multiple levels of the socio-ecological environment can improve education, health, economic and social capital, gender-equitable attitudes, and violence outcomes for girls. This brief describes efforts by researchers to test the effects of engaging boys and men alongside girl-centered programming to improve the lives of adolescent girls. In 2017, the Population Council and partners undertook formative research to understand from girls: 1) what are the most influential types of males in their lives; 2) how and what they influence; and 3) what behavior changes among …

Adolescent Girls' Voices On Enhancing Their Own Productivity In Pakistan, Iram Kamran, Tahira Parveen, Maqsood Sadiq, Rehan M. Niazi

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This study was conducted in the Punjab province of Pakistan to examine the lives, aspirations, and perspectives of the largely invisible and marginalized group of older adolescent girls (ages 15–19 years) who are “not in education, employment for pay or profit, nor in marriage” (“NEEM”). The study seeks to identify the reasons for the exclusion of the NEEM girls from education and participation in paid work; explore opportunities and avenues for changing these girls’ existing opportunity structures; and probe the gender norms and behaviors underlying their marginalization to obtain insights into what it would take to change their situation.

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 …

Las Uniones Infantiles Forzadas: De La Reforma Legal A La Disrupción Social—Investigación Formativa En Cinco Comunidades En Chisec Alta Verapaz, Paola Broll, Cecilia Garcés

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

La evidencia ha demostrado que el matrimonio y las uniones infantiles forzadas (M/UIF) son nocivos a los derechos y el desarrollo de las niñas y adolescentes. También se ha demostrado que aumentar la edad mínima del matrimonio no es suficiente para erradicar este fenómeno que subyace en la práctica de las instituciones sociales a nivel comunitario. Se ha realizada esta investigación en el momento en que se aprobó la modificación al Código Civil, seguido de una modificación para aumentar la edad mínima para el matrimonio en Guatemala, con el propósito de identificar las normas, prácticas, y actitudes vigentes en la …

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.

Community-Level Assessment Of Heatwaves In Odisha State, India: Effects, Resilience And Implications, Sangram Kishor Patel

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Heatwaves constitute a potential threat to many of India’s states, including Odisha, and their impact could become acute without adaptive capacity. This research brief explores the perceived causes and experiences of climate change and heatwave by stakeholders in the district. It summarizes reported effects on livelihoods, food security, and livestock; water and sanitation; and health, and reviews coping strategies offered by respondents. The report includes a number of recommendations to meet the needs of the population as indicated by the findings.

Addressing Barriers To Quality Of Underutilized Commodities And Services For Prevention And Management Of Pre-Eclampsia And Eclampsia In Kenya, Charity Ndwiga, Pooja Sripad, Charlotte E. Warren

Reproductive Health

The Ending Eclampsia Project seeks to increase access to quality, underutilized interventions and commodities for the prevention, detection, and management of pre-eclampsia and eclampsia (PE/E), including promoting correct use of antihypertensive drugs and magnesium sulphate (MgSO4). This final report details the findings of a qualitative study that explored health system bottlenecks that prevent access to quality maternal and newborn health care in two Kenyan counties, Kakamega and Kitui, with a specific focus on PE/E. The study explored policy implementation gaps in Kenya’s newly devolved county government structure, to:1) assess the policy and health system environment for PE/E diagnosis, referral, and …

How Are Educated Women In Ghana Regulating Fertility Without High Levels Of Modern Contraceptive Use?, Kazuyo Machiyama, Cicely Marston, Nancy Termini Lachance, Terence Adda-Balinia, Placide Tapsoba

Reproductive Health

While Ghana has made striking gains in enabling its women to use family planning to reduce family size—the total fertility rate shifted from 7.0 to 4.2 children per woman from the 1970s to the 2010s—the Strengthening Evidence for Programming on Unintended Pregnancy (STEP UP) studies found that educated women in Ghana are achieving their fertility goals by limited use of highly effective contraceptive methods. Their fertility regulation strategies involve contraceptive method mosaics that have not been captured by the DHS. This evidence summary aggregates research from the STEP UP Research Programme Consortium along with other related evidence to explore this …

Expanding Access To Family Planning For Married Adolescent Girls In The Urban Slums Of Dhaka, Fauzia Akhter Huda, Nancy Termini Lachance

Reproductive Health

Early pregnancy is associated with adverse health, social, and economic consequences for girls, and Bangladesh has an adolescent fertility rate that is among the highest in the region. Poor, slum-dwelling girls are especially vulnerable. This policy brief outlines a project that icddr,b, a STEP UP project partner, initiated to test three innovative strategies aiming to support the unmet family planning needs of these girls. This brief concludes with government-level policy and program recommendations based on the evidence of this project for leveraging existing government health programs to better serve the needs of married adolescent girls and reduce their risks of …

Accelerating Uptake Of Voluntary, Rights-Based Family Planning In Developing Countries, Kazuyo Machiyama, Francis Obare, Venkatraman Chandra-Mouli, Doris Chou, Mario Festin, Rajat Khosla, James Kiarie, Lale Say, Nandita Thatte

Reproductive Health

This brief summarizes evidence on the benefits of family planning for girls and women, their children, families, and societies. It also provides evidence on the cost-effectiveness of family planning programs; discusses reasons for unmet need for contraception and identifies ways to reduce unmet need and discontinuation; and describes progress in meeting FP2020 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To meet the FP2020 and SDGs, significant investments are required by countries and donors in the following priority areas: sustainable financing, reaching all adolescents, expanding availability of services to the poorest and hard-to-reach populations, improving the quality of services, increasing the range …

Expanding Contraceptive Choice, Heather Clark, Saumya Ramarao, Catherine Unthank, Kazuyo Machiyama, Nandita Thatte

Reproductive Health

Expanding the range of contraceptive options helps individuals to make choices appropriate to their needs and circumstances, allows them to switch from one method to another if desired, and reflects a program focus on quality and rights. This policy brief outlines policy and program considerations in order to establish and maintain well-functioning supply chains for an expanded choice of contraceptives: introducing new contraceptive technologies to satisfy the diverse preferences of women and their partners; overcoming access barriers to existing methods such as adverse economic and social circumstances, including gender norms; and maximizing the potential of expanded contraceptive choice by ensuring …

Ensuring Adequate Financing Of Family Planning Commodities And Services, Moazzam Ali, Benjamin Bellows

Reproductive Health

Increasing efficient and effective investment in family planning (FP) through the public and private sectors is key to meeting the FP2020 goal of helping 120 million additional women become modern contraceptive users. This policy brief identifies several policy and program considerations to ensure adequate financing of family planning commodities and services: sustained fundraising, pooling, and strategic purchasing; reaching new users and improving continuation rates among current users; and conducting further research on family planning quality performance metrics to test their correlation with higher continuation rates. Future efforts to reduce unmet need for FP must consider consumers’ out-of-pocket costs, programmatic cost-effectiveness, …

Reducing Early And Unintended Pregnancies Among Adolescents, Francis Obare, Caroline W. Kabiru, Venkatraman Chandra-Mouli

Reproductive Health

Interventions to reduce unmet need for contraception and early and unintended pregnancies among adolescents should be critical components of family planning programs in developing countries. This evidence brief highlights evidence and provides research and program considerations for improving access to family planning and reducing unintended pregnancy. It describes the following five elements that must be in place in order to apply evidence to large-scale, national-level programs: collect, analyze, and use accurate and up-to-date data; formulate or revise national laws and policies; develop national adolescent sexual and reproductive health strategies; implement strategies with careful monitoring; and conduct periodic program reviews.

Using Evidence To Improve Quality Of Pharmacy-Delivered Medical Abortion, Katharine Footman, Nancy Termini Lachance

Reproductive Health

The goal of family planning and reproductive health operations research is to generate evidence that helps policies and programs maximize access to and quality of services for women and their families. Yet the crucial step of ensuring the utilization of that evidence often receives inconsistent or inadequate attention. The goal of this case study is to document an activity of Marie Stopes International (MSI) in Kenya, part of the STEP UP research program consortium, which resulted in successful evidence utilization. STEP UP research on quality of care for medical abortion, particularly on pharmacy provision of medical abortion, has provided the …