The Girl Roster: Install Google Addin—Video plus links to instructions for specific steps

The Girl Roster tool—developed by the Population Council in collaboration with other organizations—is a user-friendly, efficient way to collect program-relevant information about girls in a community using a mobile phone-based questionnaire (or paper and pencil). It enables users to see a full view of girls’ lived realities in defined program areas, comprising walkable communities. Within those boundaries, the identified girls are sorted into meaningful segments by age; school-going, marital, and childbearing status; and living arrangements (living with two, one, or neither parents/guardian). The results are quickly generated into displays of information in a variety of output tables designed for practitioners to make topline assessments of when and to what degree segments of girls are at risk. The process of implementing the tool, and the information it yields, reveals which populations are “on-” or “off-track,” and enables the design of locally relevant programs for girls—especially the most socially and economically marginalized ones in the community. The Girl Roster has been used by approximately 100 organizations in more than 35 countries, and translated into more than 15 languages. This video is part of Step 5 in the Girl Roster Workflow. See below for additional instructional videos on the steps for using the Girl Roster tool

Availability and readiness to provide postabortion care in refugee settlements in Uganda: A signal functions analysis

Introduction: Unsafe abortions contribute to 10% of preventable maternal deaths in Africa, with higher rates in humanitarian settings. In Uganda, home to 1.8 million refugees, women and girls face heightened vulnerabilities, increasing their risk of unsafe abortions. This study assessed the availability and readiness of health facilities serving Uganda’s refugee settlements to provide postabortion care (PAC), identifying gaps and opportunities for improvement. Methods: This cross-sectional study, conducted in March 2023 across all refugee settlements in Uganda, used the health facility survey to assess the availability and readiness to provide basic and comprehensive PAC services through structured interviews with staff of health facilities within and outside refugee settlements. Availability was defined as the provision of the signal function in the past 6 months, while readiness referred to the provision of the service and availability of equipment on the day of data collection. Results: A total of 102 eligible health facilities provided PAC across all the 13 refugee settlements, with 91 (89.2%) located within the settlement borders. The majority of health centres (HCs) were primary-level (HC IIs: 41.2% and HC IIIs: 50.9%) facilities. Only eight (7.8%) were referral-level facilities (defined as HC IV and above). Basic PAC signal function availability and readiness was 73.5% and 51.0% for all facilities. Comprehensive PAC signal function availability and readiness was 75.0% and 37.5% among the eight referral-level facilities. Only three out of the 13 settlements had facilities offering comprehensive PAC within their borders. Conclusion: While the availability of basic and comprehensive PAC signal functions was high in all facilities, overall readiness to provide these services was low, largely due to insufficient equipment and consumable commodities stockouts. Refugee women and girls from 10 out of 13 settlements have limited access to comprehensive PAC, both within the settlements and at nearby referral facilities

Launch of the Violence Against Children and Youth in Humanitarian Settings in Ethiopia Report

On January 15, 2026, the Council\u27s Baobab Research Programme Consortium launched the full report and open‑access dataset of the Ethiopia Humanitarian Violence Against Children and Youth Survey. The event brought together Refugees and Returnees Services leadership, government ministries, United Nations agencies, nongovernmental organizations, civil society organizations, and refugee representatives. This short video captures the day’s key moments, voices, and energy

Trends and patterns of inequality in modern contraceptive use in urban and rural India: Are family planning programmes increasingly reaching the marginalized?

India has made good progress in the use of modern contraceptives in recent decades, however identifying women who are left behind is important to policy makers for further improving availability, accessibility, and coverage of family planning services to the marginalized population and hence achieving the international and national development agenda. Using five rounds of the National Family Health Survey data conducted between 1992–93 to 2019–21, this study examined the trends and patterns in inequality—by household wealth quintile and women’s education—in modern contraceptive prevalence rates (mCPR) and demand for family planning satisfied with modern methods in urban and rural areas. The findings showed a secular trend of increasing rates in the use of modern contraceptives across socioeconomic sub-groups within urban (mCPR among the poorest quintile increased from 32% to 49%, and among the richest quintile from 51% to 60% in 1992–93 to 2019–21, respectively) and rural (mCPR among the poorest quintile increased from 27% to 49%, and among the richest quintile from 49% to 59% in 1992–93 to 2019–21, respectively) areas. Similarly, the inequality over time—measured by the concentration index—in mCPR has declined from 0.311 to 0.158 in urban areas and from 0.247 to 0.143 in rural areas between 1992–93 to 2019–21. Despite the overall decline in inequality, the pro-rich situation persists in contraceptive use in the country, and the extent of the inequality was high for modern reversible methods, both in urban and rural areas. Our findings underscore the increasing availability and accessibility of modern reversible methods, particularly among marginalized populations, along with improved information provided on the range of choices. This will help in achieving the global commitment of universal access to reproductive health, including family planning, and balance the method-mix in a country that is currently dominated by female sterilization

Multilevel correlates of childhood violence in refugee settings: Findings from the Ethiopia humanitarian violence against children and youth survey

Background: Despite their right to protection, children in refugee settings face various forms of violence, including physical, sexual, and emotional violence. Objective: This study examined the factors associated with childhood violence (before turning 18) in refugee settings of Ethiopia, guided by the socioecological framework. Methods: The study used data from the 2024 Ethiopia Humanitarian Violence Against Children and Youth Survey (HVACS). This cross-sectional survey included females and males aged 13–24 years. We estimated a mixed-effects regression model to examine the correlates associated with experiencing violence in childhood in the refugee camps by taking into account camp-level clustering. Results: The study involved a total of 3473 respondents (1937 females and 1536 males) and revealed that about one in three (33.3%; 95% CI: 27.5, 39.6) had experienced childhood violence; the highest proportion 29.1% [23.1,35.9] reported experiencing physical violence, followed by emotional violence (12.4% [8.5,17.8]) and sexual violence (6.6% [5.3,8.1]). Correlates of experiencing childhood violence included being an orphan, having any form of disability, witnessing intimate partner violence against women, and having family members who were killed or died unnaturally. In contrast, households headed by women and children living in families with two or more rooms, had a lower likelihood of experiencing childhood violence. At the community level, witnessing violent attacks in the village was associated with a higher likelihood of experiencing childhood violence. Conclusions: Childhood violence is prevalent in refugee settings in Ethiopia and is associated with factors occurring at multiple levels, suggesting for individual-, household-, and community - level prevention and response strategies

Climate-induced internal migration in India: Looking into the past to understand the present

Understanding how climatic stressors influence internal migration is crucial for anticipating future population movements and resilience planning in India. This paper investigates climate-induced internal migration in India, focusing on district-level migration patterns and their relationship with climatic stressors using historical census data and statistical modeling. Internal migration, which refers to the domestic movement of people, is often driven by intersecting economic, social, and environmental factors. Climate change is increasing but unevenly playing a role in decisions to migrate. The study emphasizes India’s status as a climate-migration hotspot, characterized by diverse geographic and population heterogeneity, and highlights the limitations of existing migration data, particularly the delayed 2021 census. To address these gaps, the paper employs a novel statistical approach to estimate district out-migration, district-to-district migration, and district in-migration around 2021 by leveraging data from the 2001 and 2011 censuses alongside temperature and precipitation extremes derived from historical climate records from 1961 to 2021. The methodology integrates harmonized district boundaries and fixed-effects modeling to account for confounding factors while projecting migration trends under varying climatic conditions. Results reveal significant associations between climatic extremes, both positive and negative, and migration flows, underscoring the role of climate stressors in shaping migration decisions. By generating predictive estimates for 2021 migration patterns, the study offers insights into how climate variability potentially influences internal migration dynamics in India. The findings contribute to broader discussions on how to incentivize climate change adaptation given the reality of highly mobile populations in India and provide pointers on reducing vulnerabilities in migrant-sending and migrant-receiving areas

Extreme weather events and malaria prevention in pregnancy: A mediation analysis of antenatal care and sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine use in two malaria-endemic counties of Kenya

Background: Climate change threatens maternal, and newborn health, particularly by exacerbating climate-sensitive diseases like malaria. Malaria in pregnancy (MiP) contributes to maternal anaemia, stillbirth, preterm delivery, and low birth weight. In Kenya’s Lake Victoria basin, recurrent floods and droughts disrupt antenatal care (ANC), the main delivery platform for intermittent preventive treatment of MiP with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (IPTp-SP). The extent to which these extreme weather events affect IPTp-SP uptake through ANC attendance remains unexplored. Methods: Data are drawn from a cross-sectional household survey conducted under the revive IPTp-SP project among women who had given birth to a live baby in the last 24 months preceding the interview in malaria-endemic counties of Kisumu and Migori. Exposure was self-reported extreme weather events in the past 12 months; the outcome was completion of three or more IPTp-SP doses (IPTp₃ +); and the mediator was attendance of ≥ 4 ANC visits (ANC4+). Using a counterfactual mediation framework, we decomposed the total effect of climate shock on IPTp₃ + into natural direct and indirect effects via ANC4+, adjusting for covariates. Models accounted for the complex survey design, with bootstrapping to estimate 95% confidence intervals (CI) for indirect effects. Results: IPTp₃ + coverage was lower among shock-exposed pregnancies (49.5%) versus unexposed (58.8%). Extreme weather events were associated with reduction in ANC4+ attendance (− 0.23, 95% CI − 0.41 to − 0.05). ANC4+ completion strongly predicted IPTp₃ + uptake (1.71, 95% CI 1.42–2.00). The total effect of shocks on IPTp₃ + was -0.45 (95% CI − 0.68 to − 0.23), of which 76.6% was mediated through ANC. After adjustment, the total effect attenuated (-0.27, 95% CI − 0.56 to 0.02) and was no longer significant. Effects were stronger in flood-prone Kisumu than in Migori. Conclusions: Extreme weather events reduced IPTp₃ + uptake primarily through ANC disruption in unadjusted models, with effects concentrated in Kisumu. However, these associations attenuated after adjustment, suggesting the role of underlying socioeconomic and contextual vulnerabilities

Learning and reproductive health: Do early cognitive skills contribute to better sexual and reproductive health outcomes among adolescents in Ethiopia?

Background: Understanding the relationship between early learning and later fertility preferences and knowledge could yield important lessons for public policy in both the education and health sectors. Methods: With data from the Young Lives study in Ethiopia, we use linear regression models to evaluate how reading and numeracy skills during middle childhood (age 8) and early adolescence (age 12) affect sexual and reproductive health (SRH) knowledge and desired fertility during middle adolescence (age 15). Additionally, we analyze whether learning trajectories are associated with these outcomes, and we test gender differences for all analyses. Results: We find that better skills in numeracy are most consistently associated with higher SRH knowledge. Reading skills are most consistently associated with wanting fewer children and, to a lesser degree, wanting a first child at a later age. We also find that learning trajectories matter, particularly for better SRH knowledge and wanting fewer children. Conclusion: These findings suggest that learning indicators, specifically literacy and numeracy, are possible antecedents on pathways between education and improved SRH outcomes. Contribution: Overall, our study provides critical new evidence showing that children’s early learning experiences may influence their fertility preferences and SRH knowledge during adolescence

The Girl Roster Form: An overview—Video plus links to instructions for specific steps

The Girl Roster tool—developed by the Population Council in collaboration with other organizations—is a user-friendly, efficient way to collect program-relevant information about girls in a community using a mobile phone-based questionnaire (or paper and pencil). It enables users to see a full view of girls’ lived realities in defined program areas, comprising walkable communities. Within those boundaries, the identified girls are sorted into meaningful segments by age; school-going, marital, and childbearing status; and living arrangements (living with two, one, or neither parents/guardian). The results are quickly generated into displays of information in a variety of output tables designed for practitioners to make topline assessments of when and to what degree segments of girls are at risk. The process of implementing the tool, and the information it yields, reveals which populations are “on-” or “off-track,” and enables the design of locally relevant programs for girls—especially the most socially and economically marginalized ones in the community. The Girl Roster has been used by approximately 100 organizations in more than 35 countries, and translated into more than 15 languages. This video provides an overview of the form used in Step 1 of the Girl Roster tool. See below for additional instructional videos on the steps for using the tool