Early childhood development through an integrated program : evidence from the Philippines

More attention and resources have been devoted in recent years to early childhood development (ECD) in low- and middle-income countries. Rigorous studies on the effectiveness of ECD-related programs for improving children's development in various dimensions in the developing world are scant. The authors evaluate an important ECD initiative of the Philippine government using longitudinal data collected over three years on a cohort of 6,693 children age 0-4 years at baseline in two"treatment"regions and a"control"region that did not receive the intervention. The initiative includes a wide range of health, nutrition, early education, and social services programs. The authors estimate its impact by using"intent-to-treat"difference-in-difference propensity score matching estimators to control for a variety of observed characteristics measured at the municipality, barangay, household, and child level and unobserved fixed characteristics, with differential impacts by age of children and duration of exposure to the program. There has been a significant improvement in the cognitive, social, motor, and language development, and in short-term nutritional status of children who reside in ECD program areas compared to those in non-program areas, particularly for those under age four at the end of the evaluation period. The proportions of children below age four with worms and diarrhea also have been lowered significantly in program compared to non-program areas, but there are effects in the opposite direction for older children so the overall impact on these two indicators is mixed.Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Early Childhood Development,Youth and Governance,Primary Education,Educational Sciences

Male involvement in the prevention of violence against women and children in Metro Cebu: Influences, extent and effects

This is an exploratory study on male involvement in the prevention of violence against women and children (VWAC) in Metro Cebu. It describes Men Opposed to Violence against Women and Children (MOVAWC) as a male-led organization that is working on male involvement in Metro Cebu. Likewise, it identifies the factors motivating men\u27s involvement in MOVAWC and examines the nature and scope of their involvement and the perceived intrapersonal and interpersonal effects from their involvement in MOVAWC. Key informant interview and review of documents were utilized in gathering the data for this study. Nine MOVAWC officers and four members were interviewed using a key informant interview guide. MOVAWC documents were reviewed using a document review guide. The five MOVAWC founders were interviewed to clarify the documents. MOVAWC is an informal organization formed in 1998 in Cebu City. It aims to achieve a gender-responsive community that fosters equal treatment of men and women. It has a total of 150 registered members working on a voluntary basis. It is operating under Kauswagan Community Social Center, Inc. and it only undertakes advocacy. The informants are mostly middle aged and with high educational attainment. Likewise, they are married and with an average number of children of 2. They have different professional background and are employed in different organizations in Metro Cebu. They are engaged in gender-related activities prior to their involvement in MOVAWC. Organizational, familial and personal factors motivate men\u27s involvement in MOVAWC. The extent of their involvement in MOVAWC is limited only to advocacy-related roles. Likewise their involvement in MOVAWC has significant intrapersonal effects and interpersonal effects. Results indicate that male involvement in the prevention of VAWC is limited. Issues about organizational and personal motivating factors to male involvement in VAWC prevention are discussed

Use and non-use of intra-uterine device in the Philippines: Perspectives for the commercial sector

The public sector has been dispensing intra-uterine device for free to Filipino women for more than three decades now. Following the country\u27s movement towards contraceptive self-reliance, the government\u27s role would soon be diminished while the role of the private sector, which is already the major source of pills and condoms, would be expanded to include the provision of intra-uterine device. A study was carried out to review existing published quantitative data on the use of intra-uterine device and to collect qualitative evidence on women\u27s perceptions and experiences regarding their use or non-use of the method. Data were intended to inform the private sector about the method\u27s potential number of users and factors that influence women to use or not to use the contraceptive. The quantitative evidence was derived from the published reports of the National Demographic and Health Survey and the Family Planning Survey, while the qualitative data were drawn from focus group discussions involving current and former users of the intra-uterine device, intenders and limiters. Quantitative results indicate that the number of intra-uterine device users has been limited. Whereas its users grew by 0.8 percentage-points (3.3% to 4.1%) or by 40,000 new users in 2001-2003, the trend was not sustained; the rates have been declining from 4.1% in 2003 to 3.9% in 2004 and 3.7% in 2008. Since the device has the lowest discontinuation rate and is long lasting, the pool of users has comprised the same individuals through the years. Fortunately, there would be 0.391 million potential users. Qualitative findings suggest that women\u27s use and non-use of the intra-uterine device was guided by their perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages of the method, respectively. As a consequence of their actual experiences in using the method, their perceptions were enhanced, which subsequently influenced their continued or discontinued usage of the method. Thus, continued use was contingent on having positive experiences and discontinued use on having negative experiences of using the contraceptive. The extent in which women had positive or negative experiences depended on the quality of services they had received from health providers. The private sector has to market and promote the intra-uterine device as the next alternative method among contraceptive users and as a top choice among non-users. Whereas strategies must highlight the advantages of the method, these must also incorporate approaches to address the method\u27s disadvantages. Strategies must thus seek to address both perceptions and experiences of women. A study was carried out to review existing published quantitative data on the use of intra-uterine device and to collect qualitative evidence on women\u27s perceptions and experiences regarding their use or non-use of the method. Data were intended to inform the private sector about the method\u27s potential number of users and factors that influence women to use or not to use the contraceptive. The quantitative evidence was derived from the published reports of the National Demographic and Health Survey and the Family Planning Survey, while the qualitative data were drawn from focus group discussions involving current and former users of the intra-uterine device, intenders and limiters. Quantitative results indicate that the number of intra-uterine device users has been limited. Whereas its users grew by 0.8 percentage-points (3.3% to 4.1%) or by 40,000 new users in 2001-2003, the trend was not sustained; the rates have been declining from 4.1% in 2003 to 3.9% in 2004 and 3.7% in 2008. Since the device has the lowest discontinuation rate and is long lasting, the pool of users has comprised the same individuals through the years. Fortunately, there would be 0.391 million potential users. Qualitative findings suggest that women\u27s use and non-use of the intra-uterine device was guided by their perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages of the method, respectively. As a consequence of their actual experiences in using the method, their perceptions were enhanced, which subsequently influenced their continued or discontinued usage of the method. Thus, continued use was contingent on having positive experiences and discontinued use on having negative experiences of using the contraceptive. The extent in which women had positive or negative experiences depended on the quality of services they had received from health providers. \u27 The private sector has to market and promote the intra-uterine device as the next alternative method among contraceptive users and as a top choice among non-users. Whereas strategies must highlight the advantages of the method, these must also incorporate approaches to address the method\u27s disadvantages. Strategies must thus seek to address both perceptions and experiences of women

Filipino women\u27s use of intra-uterine device and some contextual variables: Knowledge for commercial promotion

In its effort to achieve contraceptive self-reliance as a result of the gradual withdrawal of foreign donations of contraceptive supplies, the Philippines has been instituting \u27e user-pay scheme. This scheme, which requires women to pay for their contraceptives has already been implemented, albeit in differing levels, for condoms, and injectables. The IUD is next to be marketed as a commercial product. To guide the IUDs transition, a synthesis of relevant and existing quantitative and qualitative information in the Philippines was undertaken. Findings suggest that IUD has commercial prospects because it has potential groups of users, and it has unique attributes on which its commercial value can be packaged. To enhance its prospects, IUD’s service provision and marketing and promotion must be improve