The roles, responsibilities, and realities of married adolescent males and adolescent fathers: A brief literature review

From the perspective of developing countries, we know relatively little about married adolescent males and adolescent fathers, and much of what we know is inferred from research with young women or comes from a few specific regions in the world. However, there has been a growing interest in the issue on the part of researchers, policy-makers, and program staff. This interest has coincided with increasing attention in general to men, with gender studies, and with sexual and reproductive health initiatives. Early marriage and early childbearing are much more prevalent among young women than young men, and the negative consequences are more significant among young women. Nonetheless, it is the behavior and attitudes of men, within social contexts where gender hierarchies favor men over women, that often create young women’s vulnerability. Much of the research and literature on adolescent fathers comes from Latin America, the Caribbean, North America, and Europe. This paper reviews some of the literature on young married men and young fathers, concluding with suggestions for engaging young men to promote better reproductive and sexual health and more favorable life outcomes for married adolescent women and young men

Funding the Future: Resources for Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health Programs in Developing Countries

Provides a directory of over 90 foundations, agencies, and organizations that support adolescent reproductive and sexual health related programs in developing countries, through direct and/or indirect financing, technical assistance, and information

Start With a Girl: A New Agenda for Global Health

Examines how social factors shape the health issues adolescent girls face in developing countries. Calls for a health agenda for girls, including focused HIV prevention and maternal health advocacy; elimination of child marriage; and secondary education

Girls Count: A Global Investment & Action Agenda

Explains how girls' welfare affects overall economic and social outcomes. Outlines steps to disaggregate health, education, and other data by age and gender; invest strategically in girls' programs; and ensure equitable benefits for girls in all sectors

Adolescent Sexual Health and the Dynamics of Oppression: A Call for Cultural Competency

This paper encourages those who work with youth to understand the impact of prejudice and discrimination on vulnerable adolescents, to assess and address their needs, and to build on their assets. In prevention programming, it is essential to empower young participants by involving them in all aspects of designing and running programs for youth. It is equally essential to provide culturally appropriate interventions, with culturally competent adult and youth staff

Investments in Adolescent Girl's Physical and Financial Assets: Issues and Review of Evidence

This issues paper focuses on strengthening poor adolescent girls' ability to invest in and accumulate physical (including land) and financial assets. The paper begins by presenting a conceptual framework showing the relationship between the gendered distribution of assets, empowerment, and well-being. It then discusses why assets are important for adolescent girls, and then moves on to elucidating the ways through which girls acquire assets across the life course. It continues by reviewing the existing evidence on programs and interventions that have attempted to increase girls' physical and financial assets, emphasizing "bundled" interventions or integrated programs that combine efforts to build stocks of physical and financial assets with education, training, or programming to attain other development objectives, such as delayed marriage or prevention of risky sexual behavior. We end by summarizing "lessons learned," identifying new opportunities, and suggesting steps for future research and implementation. This paper is accompanied by a mapping document which contains the results in more detail

Too Young to Wed: the Lives, Rights and Health of Young Married Girls

Provides data on the rates of child marriage throughout the developing world, and its effect on young girls and on the economy of developing countries. Calls for continued effort to develop innovative strategies to counter this practice

Las chicas sólo quieren divertirse? Sexualidad, embarazo y maternidad en las adolecentes de Bolivia

Este estudio busca cuantificar actividad sexual, embarazo y maternidad adolescente en Bolivia utilizando la Encuesta de Demografía y Salud más reciente. Los resultados descriptivos sugieren que la actividad sexual, el embarazo y la maternidad adolescente son más prevalentes entre aquellas jóvenes que tienen mayor probabilidad de ser vulnerables y socialmente excluidas. Además, la alta tasa de incidencia de embarazos no deseados entre adolescentes bolivianas sugiere que es necesario introducir acciones del gobierno para prevenir embarazos adolescentes. Por último, los resultados de las estimaciones indican que no sólo los factores socioeconómicos y demográficos, sino también los resultados esperados de la maternidad adolescente, los factores de fertilidad regionales, y el conocimiento sobre --y uso de--métodos de planificación familiar están significativamente relacionados a la probabilidad de embarazo/maternidad adolescente.

Adult and young women communication on sexuality : a pilot intervention in Maputo-Mozambique

Background: Communication on sexuality within the family has been considered a determinant factor for the sexual behaviour of young women, contributing to delaying sexual initiation. Taking into account that young women are increasingly exposed to sexualized messages, they need clear, trustful and open communication on sexuality more than ever. However, in Mozambique, communication about sexuality is hampered by strict social norms. This paper evaluates the case of an intervention aimed at reducing the generational barrier for talking about sexuality and to contribute to better communication within the family context. Methods: The intervention consisted of three weekly one-hour coached sessions in which female adults and young interacted about sexuality. Realist evaluation was used as a framework to assess context, mechanisms, and outcomes of the intervention. Interviews were conducted among 13 participants of the sessions. Result: The interaction sessions were positively appreciated by the participants and contributed to change norms and attitudes towards communication on sexuality within families. Recognition of similarities and awareness of differences were key in the mechanisms leading to these outcomes. This was reinforced by the use of visual materials and the atmosphere of respect and freedom of speech that characterized the interactions. Limiting factors were related to the long-standing taboo on sexuality and existing misconceptions on sexuality education and talks about sex. Conclusion: By elucidating mechanisms and contextual factors our study adds knowledge on strategies to improve transgenerational communication about sexuality

Research priorities on ending child marriage and supporting married girls.

Over the past few years the issue of child marriage has received growing political and programmatic attention. In spite of some progress in a number of countries, global rates have not declined over the past decade. Knowledge gaps remain in understanding trends, drivers and approaches to ending child marriage, especially to understand what is needed to achieve results on a large scale. This commentary summarizes the outcomes of an Expert Group Meeting organized by World Health Organization to discuss research priorities on Ending Child Marriage and Supporting Married Girls. It presents research gaps and recommends priorities for research in five key areas; (i) prevalence and trends of child marriage; (ii) causes of child marriage (iii) consequences of child marriage; (iv) efforts to prevent child marriage; (v) efforts to support married girls