Promoting Parent-Child Interaction And Communication For Healthy Development Of Adolescents: Lessons From A Pilot Project In Rural Bihar,
2014
Population Council
Promoting Parent-Child Interaction And Communication For Healthy Development Of Adolescents: Lessons From A Pilot Project In Rural Bihar, Shireen J. Jejeebhoy, A.J. Francis Zavier, K.G. Santhya, Santosh Kumar Singh, Rajib Acharya, Aparajita Gogoi, Vinita Nathani
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
There is a recognition in India’s policies and programs of the need to actively engage parents in enabling their adolescent children to make safe and healthy transitions to adulthood. The Population Council, in partnership with CEDPA India, initiated an intervention project for parents of adolescents aimed at developing and testing a program to foster closer relationships between parents and their adolescent children. The project was formulated on the hypothesis that a program intended to build parenting skills would enable parents to develop closer relationships with their adolescent children and communicate more effectively with them on various concerns, particularly those related …
Balika Fact Sheet: Highlight On Girls' Social Lives,
2014
Population Council
Balika Fact Sheet: Highlight On Girls' Social Lives, Population Council
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
In Bangladesh, in addition to schooling, work opportunities, and family-building patterns, social networks, mobility, and civic participation are important dimensions of young people’s lives. Previous studies have suggested ways in which the seclusion of Bangladeshi women by purdah exerts a strong influence on girls’ lives. This Bangladeshi Association for Life Skills, Income, and Knowledge for Adolescents (BALIKA) fact sheet, “Highlight on Girls’ Social Lives,” concludes that school enrollment plays a positive role by affording girls greater mobility and access to clubs and institutions, and by promoting social interactions. Adolescent girls in rural Bangladesh are usually socially isolated, and have restricted …
Expanding The Evidence Base On Comprehensive Care For Survivors Of Sexual Violence In Sub-Saharan Africa,
2014
Population Council
Expanding The Evidence Base On Comprehensive Care For Survivors Of Sexual Violence In Sub-Saharan Africa, Population Council
Reproductive Health
The Expanding the Evidence Base on Comprehensive Care for Survivors of Sexual Violence in sub-Saharan Africa program was a four-year agreement between the Swedish-Norwegian Regional HIV and AIDS Team for Africa, Embassy of Sweden, Lusaka (the S-N Team), and the Population Council. From 2009 to 2013, the program sought to mitigate the impact and incidence of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in sub-Saharan Africa by strengthening the capacities of medical, legal, and justice sectors to care for survivors of such violence. This approach was intended to serve the S-N Team’s larger development objectives of preventing HIV transmission in sub-Saharan Africa …
Evaluation Of The Impact Of The Voucher Program For Improving Maternal Health Behavior And Status In Bangladesh,
2014
Population Council
Evaluation Of The Impact Of The Voucher Program For Improving Maternal Health Behavior And Status In Bangladesh, Md. Noorunnabi Talukder, Ubaidur Rob, Syed Abu Jafar Md. Musa, Ashish Bajracharya, Kaji Tamanna Keya, Forhana Rahman Noor, Eshita Jahan, Md. Irfan Hossain, Jyotirmoy Saha, Benjamin Bellows
Reproductive Health
Vouchers, a demand-side financing (DSF) instrument for health-care services, were introduced in Bangladesh in 2006. The DSF program grants vouchers to pregnant women to receive free antenatal, delivery, and postpartum care services as well as free medicine, and financial assistance is provided for transportation. Deliveries with skilled service providers are financially incentivized and providers are reimbursed for their services from a special fund. After piloting DSF initially in 21 subdistricts (upazilas), the government expanded it to another 12 upazilas in 2007 (the second phase), and in its third phase in 2010 the program was expanded to another 11 upazilas. To …
Barriers To Obstetric Fistula Treatment In Low-Income Countries: A Systematic Review,
2014
Population Council
Barriers To Obstetric Fistula Treatment In Low-Income Countries: A Systematic Review, Benjamin Bellows, Rachel Bach, Zoe Baker, Charlotte E. Warren
Reproductive Health
Obstetric fistula is a maternal morbidity condition that occurs in some low-income countries and is caused by prolonged obstructed labor that results in a hole between the vagina and the bladder or rectum through which urine or feces leak. Unrepaired fistula can lead to lifelong ostracism, stigma, and shame. Obstetric fistula is preventable and treatable, but women in these countries experience delays in seeking repair due to a number of factors including awareness of their condition as well as the potential for treatment, resources necessary for seeking care, lack of skilled fistula surgeons, and long hospital waiting times. UNFPA estimates …
Social Accountability: What Are The Lessons For Improving Family Planning And Reproductive Health Programs?,
2014
Population Council
Social Accountability: What Are The Lessons For Improving Family Planning And Reproductive Health Programs?, Victoria Boydell, Jill Keesbury
Reproductive Health
The concept of accountability is increasingly important in the family planning (FP) and reproductive health (RH) field. While much recent discussion has focused on developing global or national-level mechanisms for accountability, less emphasis has been placed on understanding the relevance of “social accountability” approaches for ensuring access to, and quality of, FP/RH services. Social accountability refers to the efforts of citizens and civil society to scrutinize and hold duty bearers (politicians, government officials, and service providers) to account for providing promised services, actions most often at the subnational or community level. In the FP/RH field, this concept builds on a …
Research Gaps In Scale Up Of Family Planning And Reproductive Health Programming,
2014
Population Council
Research Gaps In Scale Up Of Family Planning And Reproductive Health Programming, The Evidence Project, E2a, Hpp, Measure Evaluation
Reproductive Health
The Evidence Project, in collaboration with the Evidence to Action Project, the Health Policy Project, and MEASURE Evaluation convened a meeting to discuss research gaps related to scale-up. The meeting was held at the request of USAID’s Office of Population and Reproductive Health (OPRH) to help guide their research strategy. The meeting had four objectives: discuss scale-up experiences and the role of research and monitoring for strengthening program performance at scale; identify research gaps related to scale-up; prioritize the scale-up research gaps for OPRH; identify next steps for addressing these priority research gaps. This meeting generated a rich discussion about …
Strengthening The Evidence Base On Social Accountability For Improving Family Planning And Reproductive Health Programs,
2014
Population Council
Strengthening The Evidence Base On Social Accountability For Improving Family Planning And Reproductive Health Programs, Victoria Boydell, Jill Keesbury, Kelsey Wright
Reproductive Health
The concept of accountability is important in the family planning (FP) and reproductive health (RH) sector, building on a rich history of community involvement and civil society participation. There are three categories of FP/RH accountability initiatives: tracking donor and government financial commitments, tracking national-level program implementation, and tracking service-delivery outcomes. The third category, often referred to as “social accountability,” includes the efforts of citizens and civil society to scrutinize and hold duty bearers to account for providing promised services, most often at the subnational or community levels. Social accountability is premised on the assumption that increased and targeted citizen and …
Assessing The Potential Market For A Progesterone Contraceptive Vaginal Ring (Pcvr) As A New Contraceptive Option In Sub-Saharan Africa Using Needs-Based Market Segmentation,
2014
Population Council
Assessing The Potential Market For A Progesterone Contraceptive Vaginal Ring (Pcvr) As A New Contraceptive Option In Sub-Saharan Africa Using Needs-Based Market Segmentation, Francis Obare, Deepa Rajamani, Saumya Ramarao
Reproductive Health
Developing countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, have disproportionately high unmet contraceptive needs compared to other regions, and especially high levels of unmet need for spacing pregnancies. To address some of sub-Saharan Africa’s barriers to effective contraception, there is renewed focus on new methods that offer greater ease of use. New methods under investigation would not require daily action, their use would be controlled by women themselves, and they would require no medical providers or significant health-system infrastructure for service delivery. Contraceptive vaginal rings hold great potential by offering not only ease of use but a safe and effective FP solution. …
Validating Indicators Of The Quality Of Maternal Health Care: Final Report, Mexico,
2014
Population Council
Validating Indicators Of The Quality Of Maternal Health Care: Final Report, Mexico, Karla Berdichevsky, Claudia Diaz, Katharine Mccarthy, Ann K. Blanc
Reproductive Health
Despite widespread use, the majority of indicators proposed as measures of the quality of maternal health services have not been sufficiently validated. To help accurately track progress toward national and global maternal health goals, the present study sought to validate and identify a set of maternal health indicators that can be practically applied in facility and population-based surveys. To evaluate the indicators, the study employed a facility-based design. The study was conducted in public/government hospital facilities in Kenya and Mexico. Participants included women aged 15–49 who underwent labor and delivery at participating study facilities and the providers who attended them. …
Achieving Mdgs 4 And 5 In Balochistan: The Role Of Family Planning,
2014
Population Council
Achieving Mdgs 4 And 5 In Balochistan: The Role Of Family Planning, Population Council
Reproductive Health
This brief focuses on the policy options available to the Balochistan government to affect the province’s population growth by 2050 and its potential to achieve MDGs 4 and 5. Maternal mortality is a leading cause of death among women of reproductive age in Balochistan—about 35 percent of the deaths in this age group are pregnancy-related. Approximately 3,000 women die each year in Balochistan due to pregnancy-related factors. Pregnancies that occur too early, too late, or too frequently increase the risk of maternal death. Lowering fertility rates by increasing the use of family planning can help reduce pregnancy-related deaths. The maternal …
Achieving Mdgs 4 And 5 In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: The Role Of Family Planning,
2014
Population Council
Achieving Mdgs 4 And 5 In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: The Role Of Family Planning, Population Council
Reproductive Health
This brief focuses on the policy options available to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government to affect the province’s population growth by 2050 and its potential to achieve MDGs 4 and 5. Maternal mortality is a leading cause of death among women of reproductive age in KP—about 27 percent of the deaths in this age group are pregnancy-related. Approximately 1,700 women die each year in KP due to pregnancy-related factors. Pregnancies that occur too early, too late, or too frequently increase the risk of maternal death. Lowering fertility rates by increasing the use of family planning can help reduce pregnancy-related deaths. …
Increasing Access To Family Planning In Ghana Through Policy Change: Task-Sharing To Enable Auxiliary Nurses To Provide Contraceptive Implant Services,
2014
Population Council
Increasing Access To Family Planning In Ghana Through Policy Change: Task-Sharing To Enable Auxiliary Nurses To Provide Contraceptive Implant Services, Population Council
Reproductive Health
Ghana has made significant progress toward reducing the maternal mortality ratio but the rate is still unacceptably high. Up to 26 percent of married Ghanaian women have unmet need for family planning and one in four currently married women is using a modern contraceptive method. Satisfying unmet need for family planning could cut the number of maternal deaths by almost a third. One factor contributing to low usage of modern methods is shortage of trained staff, particularly those skilled in providing long-acting reversible and permanent methods. Until recently, implant services were provided primarily by Ghana Health Service (GHS) trained midwives, …
Achieving Mdgs 4 And 5 In Sindh: The Role Of Family Planning,
2014
Population Council
Achieving Mdgs 4 And 5 In Sindh: The Role Of Family Planning, Population Council
Reproductive Health
This brief focuses on the policy options available to the Sindh government to affect the province’s population growth by 2050 and its potential to achieve MDGs 4 and 5. Maternal mortality is a leading cause of death among women of reproductive age in Sindh—about 24 percent of the deaths in this age group are pregnancy-related. Approximately 2,800 women die each year in Sindh due to pregnancy-related causes despite some recent improvement in reproductive health indicators. Pregnancies that occur too early, too late, or too frequently increase the risk of maternal death. Lowering fertility rates by increasing the use of family …
An Evaluation Of Population Services Zimbabwe’S Mobile Outreach Model,
2014
Population Council
An Evaluation Of Population Services Zimbabwe’S Mobile Outreach Model, Ravikanthi Rapiti, Saiqa Mullick
Reproductive Health
This report documents a service evaluation of Population Services Zimbabwe’s (PSZ) mobile outreach program in four provinces of Zimbabwe. The evaluation was conducted by the Population Council between September and October 2013. It provides key findings on the quality of the PSZ outreach program in expanding choice and access to long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) and permanent methods (PMs) of contraception, as well as recommendations for PSZ and other family planning programs to consider in scaling up and strengthening mobile outreach services. The evaluation, conducted by the Population Council, was designed to focus on various components of quality including adequate information …
Facilitator's Guide For Training On Monitoring And Evaluation Of Social And Behavior Change Communication Health Programs,
2014
Population Council
Facilitator's Guide For Training On Monitoring And Evaluation Of Social And Behavior Change Communication Health Programs, Praween Kumar Agrawal, Kumudha Aruldas, M.E. Khan, Subrato Mondal
Reproductive Health
Social and behavior change communication (SBCC) interventions are now incorporated within state project implementation plans and increasing resources are being allocated for SBCC activities. A close monitoring of SBCC activities and an evaluation in terms of reach and effectiveness among intended audiences is thus necessary. This calls for a serious effort to build the capacity of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) personnel to monitor and evaluate performance of SBCC activities. FHI 360’s Improving Healthy Behaviors Program, funded by USAID, aims to provide technical assistance to strengthen the capacities of public program managers at the national, state, and district level to monitor …
Increasing Choice Of And Access To Family Planning Services Via Outreach In Rajasthan, India,
2014
Population Council
Increasing Choice Of And Access To Family Planning Services Via Outreach In Rajasthan, India, Kumudha Aruldas, M.E. Khan, Jaleel Ahmad, Anvita Dixit
Reproductive Health
This report documents a service evaluation of Marie Stopes (MS) India’s mobile outreach program in the state of Rajasthan, which was conducted by the Population Council between March and October 2012. This study was made possible through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Support for International Family Planning Organizations–Marie Stopes International project. It provides important findings on the safety and effectiveness of MS India’s outreach program in expanding choice and access to long-acting reversible contraception methods and voluntary surgical permanent methods of contraception, as well as recommendations for MS India and other family planning programs to consider in …
Induced Abortions And Unintended Pregnancies In Pakistan, 2012,
2014
Population Council
Induced Abortions And Unintended Pregnancies In Pakistan, 2012, Population Council
Reproductive Health
The 2012–13 PDHS (Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey) shows that gains in contraceptive prevalence over the past decade have been small, and unmet need has remained high. Using data from a 2012 national study on post-abortion care, we estimate 2.2 million abortions occurred in Pakistan in 2012, and an annual abortion rate of 50 per 1,000 women. A previous study estimated an abortion rate of 27 for 2002. Even accounting for an underestimation of abortion incidence (private sector abortion services could not be included) in the prior study, the abortion rate in Pakistan has likely increased substantially between 2002 and …
Maternal Health Commodity Landscaping Exercise: A Snapshot Of The Bangladesh Program,
2014
Population Council
Maternal Health Commodity Landscaping Exercise: A Snapshot Of The Bangladesh Program, Sharif M.I. Hossain, Saumya Ramarao, Ismat Ara Hena, Ubaidur Rob
Reproductive Health
Despite consistent efforts of the government and national stakeholders, every year in Bangladesh over 5,000 mothers and thousands of children die. Most of these deaths would be preventable with increased access to quality services including existing medicines and other health commodities. The United Nation’s Commission on Life-Saving Commodities for Women and Children suggests that an important cause of these deaths is lack of access and appropriate use of 13 life-saving commodities. This document describes an effort by the Population Council to assess the country’s policies, guidelines, and availability for these 13 life-saving commodities as well as engaging with key stakeholders …
Reaching The Unreached Through Community Mobilization In An Innovative And Sustainable Way,
2014
Population Council
Reaching The Unreached Through Community Mobilization In An Innovative And Sustainable Way, Arupendra Mozumdar, M.E. Khan, Subrato Mondal
Reproductive Health
This study shows the potential of Self Help Groups (SHGs) to deliver health messages that increase women’s knowledge. The intervention for this operations research (OR) study included a day-long training for Swasth Sakhis in the experimental area. A total of 11 trainings were organized, all conducted by Population Council staff. Before the intervention, at baseline, 803 women from eligible households were interviewed for the quantitative assessment. At endline, 470 women were followed up. Additionally, 16 in-depth interviews with women, Swasth Sakhis, and Rajiv Gandhi Mahila Vikas Pariyojana staff were conducted in the experimental area to understand how the intervention was …
