Tap and Reposition Youth (TRY): Providing Social Support Savings and Microcredit Opportunities for Young Women in Areas with High HIV Prevalence

This document describes providing social support savings and microcredit opportunities for young women in areas with high HIV prevelence. Tap and Reposition Youth (TRY) was a multiphase microfinance initiative which aimed to reduce adolescents' vulnerabilities to adverse social and reproductive health outcomes, including HIV infection, by improving their livelihoods options. The project was launched in low-income and slum areas of Nairobi, Kenya, where rates of HIV infection are high and where young women are disproportionately affected. TRY targeted out-of-school adolescent girls and young women aged 16-22. Through continual review and modification, the TRY microfinance model evolved from a limited savings and credit model, to one that expanded upon social support, such as friendship and mentorship

Building the Assets to Thrive: Addressing the HIV-related Vulnerabilities of Adolescent Girls in Ethiopia

Despite decades of investment and dramatic progress against HIV, adolescent girls remain at disproportionate risk of infection. Population Council research shows that the best way to protect girls and young women from HIV and other bad outcomes is to reach them early—before they experience irreversible events like HIV infection or unintended childbearing—and with enough health, social, and cognitive assets to make a measurable difference in their lives. This book is a comprehensive review of three programs launched by the Population Council and the Ethiopian government. Two of the programs work to reduce Ethiopian girls’ HIV risk by providing out-of-school adolescent girls in urban slums and married adolescent girls in rural areas with adult female mentors, education on HIV and AIDS and related issues, non-formal education, and links to health services. The third program focuses on husbands, promoting care-giving to wives and children and addressing extramarital partnerships, alcohol abuse, and violence. The Council’s experiences in Ethiopia show that when HIV prevention programs are shaped by evidence and designed for replication and scale-up, they can reach large numbers of the people at greatest risk and increase their ability to avoid infection

Supporting married girls: Calling attention to a neglected group

In the next ten years, if current patterns continue, more than 100 million girls will marry before the age of 18, according to Population Council analyses of United Nations country data. Child marriage—any marriage that occurs before age 18—is considered a human rights violation by international convention. Marriage transforms virtually all aspects of girls’ lives. Typically, girls who marry are moved from their familial home and village, lose contact with friends, initiate sexual activity with someone they barely know, and soon become mothers. In Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, and elsewhere, the Council is undertaking research to better understand the situation of married girls and to more adequately meet their unique social, health, and development needs. Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief No. 3 outlines Council initiatives to increase understanding of the transition to marriage, to expand married girls’ opportunities, to increase their access to health services, and to develop appropriate health information messages, especially as related to first pregnancy and birth and to HIV and AIDS

Kalkidan (\u27Promise\u27): Addressing marital transmission of HIV in Ethiopia

This program brief describes a Population Council initiative in three low-income areas of Ethiopia. Kalkidan (Amharic for “Promise”) is a three-year program designed to increase discussion and information-sharing on HIV and related topics between marital partners; to promote HIV prevention and health service utilization within marriage, including prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV; and to build husbands’ support of their wives, as well as investment in their health and that of their children. Kalkidan recruits and trains community-based mentors to lead parallel discussion groups of husbands and wives, who periodically come together for joint sessions. The Population Council is measuring changes associated with Kalkidan through a pre- and post-intervention survey that will measure the impact of the project on the knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs at the population level

Consistency in the reporting of sexual behavior among adolescent girls in Kenya: A comparison of interviewing methods

This paper explores the consistency in reporting of sexual behavior in a household survey of adolescents aged 15-21 in the Kisumu district of Kenya. Respondents were randomly assigned to different interviewing modes: face-to-face interviews, paper-and-pencil self-administered interviews, and audio computer-assisted self-interviewing (ACASI). The analysis focuses on the reporting of sexual behavior by adolescent girls in the face-to-face and ACASI modes and compares responses to a variety of questions about sexual activity, including sexual initiation, risky sexual behavior, and coerced sex. All sexual behavior questions were asked of each adolescent girl even if she answered “no” to the initial question about ever having had sex. The paper also compares the consistency of reporting for questions that were asked twice during the survey-once in the main interview and again in a face-to-face exit interview. By comparison with ACASI, the interviewer-administered mode produces highly consistent reporting of sexual activity both within the main interview and between the main and exit interviews. On the other hand, ACASI produces higher reporting of sex with a relative, stranger, or older man, and higher reporting of coerced sex. We argue that the level of consistency and the high response rates in the interviewer-administered mode are suspect and suggest reasons why one might expect inconsistent responses to survey questions about sexual behavior

Population Briefs, Vol. 19, no. 2

IN THIS ISSUE: Understanding and empowering migrant girls | Study highlights data needed to reduce child marriage | Researchers call for a green contraceptive research and development agenda | Lessons from a decade of MSM research in sub-Saharan Afric

Violence against adolescent girls: A fundamental challenge to meaningful equality

Societies, rich and poor alike, are increasingly articulating commitments that guarantee girls safe and equal access to entitlements, services, social participation, and economic opportunities. yet threats of violence in many forms intervene to prevent girls from claiming their rights. Many countries stipulate equality between males and females in their constitutions. Theoretically, safe access to resources and facilities is equally afforded to girls and boys, however a far higher proportion of boys and a smaller subset of usually more privileged girls may actually claim their rights and opportunities. The experience of violence is devastating at the individual emotional and physical level. Its power to interrupt or fully disable girls’ access to entitlements, social participation, and safe and decent livelihoods is an equally compelling reason to stop it. This guide is one of a set of five GIRLS FIRST! Perspectives on Girl-Centered Programming thematic reviews addressing the five strategic priorities defined in the UN Joint Statement, “Accelerating Efforts to Advance the Rights of Adolescent Girls,” which supports governments and partners in advancing key policies and programs for the hardest-to-reach adolescent girls

Addis Birhan Wendoch (\u27New Light Boys\u27): Working with boys and young men to create healthier futures

The Population Council and the Ethiopian Ministry of Women, Children, and Youth Affairs designed Addis Birhan Wendoch to impart life skills and promote gender-equitable, nonviolent, and healthy behaviors among boys and young men aged 10 to 24. The program helps out-of school boys and young men in Ethiopia navigate toward a healthier future by providing them with trained, compassionate mentors and safe environments in which they can find the support needed to share ideas and take positive actions. Through frank and open discussions, boys have the opportunity to get the facts on a range of essential topics from financial literacy to reproductive health issues, including HIV/AIDS and family planning. Mentors share strategies for building vital interpersonal skills and Wendoch participants also reflect on serious social concerns that are widely prevalent yet rarely discussed in a meaningful way, including violence and substance abuse. Boys report changed behavior and attitudes after participating in Addis Birhan Wendoch and their mentors agree with these optimistic assessments

Meserete Hiwot ( Base of Life ): Supporting married adolescents with HIV prevention and reproductive health in rural Ethiopia

To better understand the lives of adolescents in rural Ethiopia, researchers conducted a survey of adolescents in Amhara Region. The study found that many girls experienced early, unwanted arranged marriages, resulting in early unwanted sexual initiation and pregnancy, as well as social isolation in new marital homes. Based on the findings of this study, the Population Council and the Ethiopian Ministry of Youth and Sports created a program to support girls who are married early, with a view to increasing their social networks, improving their ability to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS, and supporting their reproductive health. This program brief reports on the survey data collected before the intervention took place. Another survey will be undertaken in the same areas after 30 months of project implementation to measure changes in girls\u27 knowledge, health-seeking behavior, and levels of familial support

Kalkidan (‘Promise’) preventing marital transmission of HIV in urban Ethiopia

Most mainstream HIV-prevention programs focus on increasing knowledge related to HIV transmission and risky sexual behaviors. These initiatives often do not take into account gender issues or power dynamics, nor do they address the risk that marital partners face within their relationships. Such programs assume that marriage is a safe haven for women and that their HIV risk is minimal. In response, the Population Council launched the “Kalkidan” project to enhance couple communication, promote HIV prevention within marriage, reduce stigma and violence, and increase demand for HIV information and services, including prevention of mother-to-child transmission—which will collectively contribute to HIV-negative women remaining negative. Kalkidan (Amharic for “Promise”) was a community-based initiative launched for husbands and wives in low-income areas of urban Ethiopia. Respected local leaders were recruited from the project communities to serve as mentors. Eligible participants were invited to single-sex groups led by a same-sex mentor. Groups met weekly, and were periodically brought together for collective discussion. As this document details, the groups’ aim was to enhance couple communication, promote HIV prevention, reduce stigma and violence, and increase demand for HIV information and services