Insights And Evidence Gaps In Girl-Centered Programming: A Systematic Review,
2018
Population Council
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 …
Delivering Impact For Adolescent Girls: Emerging Findings From Population Council Research,
2018
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.
Early Results Demonstrate The Importance Of Early Treatment Of Hiv And The Feasibility And Acceptability Of Community-Based Antiretroviral Treatment Delivery For Female Sex Workers In Tanzania,
2018
Population Council
Early Results Demonstrate The Importance Of Early Treatment Of Hiv And The Feasibility And Acceptability Of Community-Based Antiretroviral Treatment Delivery For Female Sex Workers In Tanzania, Project Soar
HIV and AIDS
Project SOAR in collaboration with the National AIDS Control Program of the government of Tanzania, National Institute of Medical Research, and Jhpiego’s Sauti Program, is conducting implementation science research to investigate the delivery of community-based antiretroviral treatment (ART) services to female sex workers (FSWs) in Tanzania. This brief summarizes key findings from a baseline survey administered to a cohort of FSWs enrolled in the study, qualitative interviews with FSWs conducted three months after the start of the community-based ART services, and routine monitoring data. Early findings support the feasibility and acceptability of Sauti’s community-based antiretroviral treatment model—important first steps in …
Feasibility And Acceptability Of Hiv Self-Testing Among Men Who Have Sex With Men In Nigeria,
2018
Population Council
Feasibility And Acceptability Of Hiv Self-Testing Among Men Who Have Sex With Men In Nigeria, Population Council
HIV and AIDS
HIV self-testing (HIVST) provides an alternative to facility-based HIV testing services, particularly for key populations such as men who have sex with men (MSM), who face barriers to testing due to stigma, discrimination, and criminalization. This brief reports on a study in Nigeria that demonstrates high acceptability for HIVST among MSM. Lessons learned from this study indicate that the scale-up of HIVST in Nigeria must include provision of adequate pre- and post-test counseling information, as well as the availability of helpline support to improve linkage to care for those who test positive. Future research should explore how HIV retesting can …
Evaluating A Multidisciplinary Integrated Management Team Intervention To Improve Maternal And Child Outcomes And Hiv Service Uptake And Retention In Lesotho,
2018
Population Council
Evaluating A Multidisciplinary Integrated Management Team Intervention To Improve Maternal And Child Outcomes And Hiv Service Uptake And Retention In Lesotho, Project Soar
HIV and AIDS
Pregnant and postpartum HIV-positive women face a particularly complex set of barriers to prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) uptake at the policy, health facility, community, and individual levels. They are vulnerable to poor retention in care and adherence to treatment, especially in the first three months after initiation of treatment and the postpartum period. In addition, counseling and support for primary prevention among HIV-negative pregnant women is almost nonexistent in PMTCT programs. This brief describes the IMPROVE study—a multidisciplinary integrated management team intervention to increase maternal and child health and HIV service uptake and retention—that Project SOAR is …
Modeling The Expected Cost-Effectiveness And Impact Of Oral Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis In Uganda And Swaziland,
2018
Population Council
Modeling The Expected Cost-Effectiveness And Impact Of Oral Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis In Uganda And Swaziland, Project Soar
HIV and AIDS
Clinical trials have shown that oral antiretrovirals (ARVs) containing tenofovir/emtricitabine used by HIV-negative individuals to prevent HIV acquisition, called oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), are safe and effective in several populations. Prior modeling work has demonstrated that oral PrEP is most cost effective when targeted to populations at very high risk of infection, with risk dependent on a combination of individual behavior and epidemic contexts. This brief describes a study Project SOAR is conducting to assist Uganda and Swaziland in making critical decisions about oral PrEP introduction and scale up by modeling the expected cost effectiveness and impact of oral PrEP …
Proposed Metrics To Measure Quality: Overview,
2018
Population Council
Proposed Metrics To Measure Quality: Overview, Anrudh K. Jain, John Townsend, Saumya Ramarao
Reproductive Health
The first quality-of-care framework in family planning was articulated over 25 years ago and a considerable amount of work has been done since then to measure quality in the context of routine service delivery, yet, we do not have agreed-upon indicators to measure quality that can be applied uniformly across different health systems and social contexts. This paper takes a slightly different approach and uses a common definition of quality from the outset. Indicators of quality are required for describing the nature of family planning services and quality of care offered by a health service delivery program, and for improving …
Namibia Has A Strong Foundation For Implementing The Treat All Guidelines And Reaching The Unaids 90-90-90 Targets,
2018
Population Council
Namibia Has A Strong Foundation For Implementing The Treat All Guidelines And Reaching The Unaids 90-90-90 Targets, Project Soar
HIV and AIDS
In late 2015, the World Health Organization announced new treatment guidelines recommending that anyone who has tested positive for HIV should begin antiretroviral therapy (ART) as soon as possible. In light of this policy, the Government of Namibia included “treat all” in the 2016 National Guidelines for ART, and began nationwide implementation in April 2017. Project SOAR is generating evidence on how the national rollout of the treat all guidelines and decentralization of ART services affect client-level treatment outcomes, quality of ART services, and treatment costs in Namibia. This brief highlights baseline findings that provide a snapshot of ART services …
Indigenous Adolescent Girls’ Empowerment Network (Imagen): Adapting The Girl Roster™ For Lakota Communities,
2018
Population Council
Indigenous Adolescent Girls’ Empowerment Network (Imagen): Adapting The Girl Roster™ For Lakota Communities, Kelly Hallman, Stephanie Martinez
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
This brief reports on a first-of-a-kind meeting between the Population Council’s GIRLCenter and organizations such as the White Buffalo Calf Woman Society (WBCWS) that work locally with Native American communities to understand the specific needs of adolescent girls in Indian Country. This followed an inaugural meeting of the Indigenous Adolescent Girls’ Empowerment Network (IMAGEN) with its wealth of insight concerning the needs of the Native communities they serve, and the GIRL Center’s myriad programmatic tools and resources that have been tried and tested in global settings for several decades. The IMAGEN Approach is an adaptable process that links these two …
Girlsread! Girls’ Rights: An Empowerment Curriculum,
2018
Population Council
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 …
Exploring Barriers And Opportunities For Pre-Eclampsia And Eclampsia Prevention And Management In Ethiopia,
2018
Population Council
Exploring Barriers And Opportunities For Pre-Eclampsia And Eclampsia Prevention And Management In Ethiopia, Pooja Sripad, Hussein Ismail, Amy Dempsey, Karen Kirk, Charlotte E. Warren
Reproductive Health
The Ending Eclampsia Project is a five-year cooperative agreement between the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Population Council, in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Health Ethiopia, which seeks to expand access to quality underutilized interventions and commodities for the prevention and treatment of pre-eclampsia/eclampsia (PE/E). This report presents qualitative findings from formative research conducted to: 1) assess the policy and health systems environment related to PE/E prevention and management, 2) identify potential bottlenecks in the supply chain, 3) investigate PE/E knowledge, attitudes, and practices at policy, health system, and community levels, 4) describe the barriers …
A Study Of Employment Outcomes Among Technical And Vocational Secondary Education Graduates In Egypt [Arabic],
2018
Population Council
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 Program (Agep): Endline Results—Executive Summary,
2018
Population Council
Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (Agep): Endline Results—Executive Summary, Population Council
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Adolescent girls in Zambia face a range of risks and vulnerabilities that challenge their healthy development from girls into young women, and they often lack the social, health, and economic assets that are necessary to mitigate these risks. The issues that confront vulnerable girls—high rates of gender-based violence, unsafe sex that puts girls at risk for unwanted pregnancies and HIV infections, school dropout, lack of economic resources and income-generating options, and lack of agency and participation—are interdependent and have similar causes. The vulnerabilities confronting Zambian adolescent girls formed the basis for designing the Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (AGEP), which 1) …
Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (Agep): Financial Literacy And Savings—Two-Year Follow-Up,
2018
Population Council
Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (Agep): Financial Literacy And Savings—Two-Year Follow-Up, Karen Austrian, Erica Soler-Hampejsek, Natalie Jackson Hachonda, Paul C. Hewett
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 in Zambia for over 11,000 vulnerable adolescent girls aged 10–19 years. The AGEP intervention was comprised of three major components: 1) weekly safe spaces groups in which girls met once a week for 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 general wellness and sexual and reproductive health services; and 3) a savings account that was designed by the …
Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (Agep): Health,
2018
Population Council
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 …
Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (Agep): Nutrition,
2018
Population Council
Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (Agep): Nutrition, Paul C. Hewett, Amanda L. Willig, Jean Digitale, Erica Soler-Hampejsek, Natalie Jackson Hachonda, Jere R. Behrman, Karen Austrian
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Adolescence is a critical period in the lives of young people and potentially a time to reap lasting benefits from interventions that improve general, sexual, nutritional, and maternal and child health. The government of Zambia is committed to improving the nutritional status of adolescents and pregnant women and their children. Nonetheless, adolescent girls in Zambia remain at risk for macro- and micro-nutrient deficiencies that have deleterious effects on growth, development, and maternal and child health. The Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (AGEP) nutritional curriculum, developed in partnership with PATH, was tailored to provide age-appropriate information and covered six sessions on nutrition. …
Adolescent Girls Empowerment Programme: Endline Technical Report,
2018
Population Council
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 …
Climate Change, Resilience, And Population Dynamics In Pakistan: A Case Study Of The 2010 Floods In Mianwali District,
2018
Population Council
Climate Change, Resilience, And Population Dynamics In Pakistan: A Case Study Of The 2010 Floods In Mianwali District, Zeba Sathar, Muhammad Khalil, Sabahat Hussain, Maqsood Sadiq, Kiren Khan
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
In 2010, Pakistan experienced massive flooding that went on uninterrupted for more than eight weeks, and seriously affected more than 20 million people. This study explores the effects of the floods on one of the most adversely affected districts, Mianwali, in Punjab province. The study focuses on four areas pertaining to resilience: movements and migration processes; shifts in poverty levels and living conditions; changes in livelihood activities; and health-seeking behavior, particularly fertility-related processes. This study highlights the need to include demographic and health information in the analysis of natural disasters. The report marks the beginning of a research agenda that …
Marriage And Sexual And Reproductive Health Of Rohingya Adolescents And Youth In Bangladesh: A Qualitative Study,
2018
Population Council
Marriage And Sexual And Reproductive Health Of Rohingya Adolescents And Youth In Bangladesh: A Qualitative Study, Sigma Ainul, Iqbal Ehsan, Eashita Haque, Sajeda Amin, Ubaidur Rob, Andrea J. Melnikas, Joseph Falcone
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
This qualitative study focuses specifically on displaced Rohingya adolescents and youth (ages 14–24) and explores how the crisis has impacted their sexual and reproductive health (SRH), marriage practices, safety and security, and related attitudes and aspirations. This research aims to identify approaches to improve adolescents’ knowledge of SRH issues and their access to and uptake of services, and to identify gaps in programming knowledge and practice. Findings from this formative research and recommended actions will help the Government of Bangladesh, donors, and other relevant stakeholders to mobilize resources and deliver SRH services in a more organized and efficient way and …
Pedaleando Hacia El Futuro: Una Oportunidad Para Incrementar Y Mantener La Asistencia Escolar De Niñas Adolescentes Encomunidades Indígeneas Del Árearural En Guatemala,
2018
Population Council
Pedaleando Hacia El Futuro: Una Oportunidad Para Incrementar Y Mantener La Asistencia Escolar De Niñas Adolescentes Encomunidades Indígeneas Del Árearural En Guatemala, Paola Broll
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Population Council Guatemala, con el apoyo de UNFPA y otros donantes, desarrolló la estrategia de expansión y escala de Abriendo Oportunidades (AO) a través de conglomerados geográficos con abordaje ecológico. La provisión de 250 bicicletas fue un componente adicional de AO para probar su efectividad en el aumento de movilidad y la asistencia escolar en cuatro municipios guatemaltecos. Este reporte describe como el proyecto fue exitoso en el aumento de la movilidad, reinserción, y finalización del ciclo escolar 2017 de sus participantes. Los resultados muestran como la dotación de las bicicletas incrementó en 24% la reinserción escolar del ciclo 2016 …
