Adolescent/Youth Reproductive Mobile Access and Delivery Initiative for Love and Life Outcomes (ARMADILLO) Study: formative protocol for mHealth platform development and piloting

BACKGROUND: There is a high unmet need for sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information and services among youth (ages 15-24) worldwide (MacQuarrie KLD. Unmet Need for Family Planning among Young Women: Levels and Trends 2014). With the proliferation of mobile technology, and its popularity with this age group, mobile phones offer a novel and accessible platform for a discreet, on-demand service providing SRH information. The Adolescent/Youth Reproductive Mobile Access and Delivery Initiative for Love and Life Outcomes (ARMADILLO) formative study will inform the development of an intervention, which will use the popular channel of SMS (text messages) to deliver SRH information on-demand to youth. METHODS/DESIGN: Following the development of potential SMS message content in partnership with SRH technical experts and youth, formative research activities will take place over two phases. Phase 1 will use focus group discussions (FGDs) with youth and parents/caregivers to develop and test the appropriateness and acceptability of the SMS messages. Phase 2 will consist of ‘peer piloting’, where youth participants will complete an SRH outcome-focused pretest, be introduced to the system and then have three weeks to interact with the system and share it with friends. Participants will then return to complete the SRH post-test and participate in an in-depth interview about their own and their peers’ opinions and experiences using ARMADILLO. DISCUSSION: The ARMADILLO formative stage will culminate in the finalization of country-specific ARMADILLO messaging. Reach and impact of ARMADILLO will be measured at later stages. We anticipate that the complete ARMADILLO platform will be scalable, with the potential for national-level adoption

The political, research, programmatic, and social responses to adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights in the 25 years since the International Conference on Population and Development

Among the ground-breaking achievements of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) was its call to place adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) on global health and development agendas. This article reviews progressmade in low- and middle-income countries in the 25 years since the ICPD in six areas central to ASRH-adolescent pregnancy, HIV, child marriage, violence against women and girls, female genital mutilation, and menstrual hygiene and health. It also examines the ICPD's contribution to the progress made. The article presents epidemiologic levels and trends; political, research, programmatic and social responses; and factors that helped or hindered progress. To do so, it draws on research evidence and programmatic experience and the expertise and experiences of a wide number of individuals, including youth leaders, in numerous countries and organizations. Overall, looking across the six health topics over a 25-year trajectory, there has been great progress at the global and regional levels in putting adolescent health, and especially adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights, higher on the agenda, raising investment in this area, building the epidemiologic and evidence-base, and setting norms to guide investment and action. At the national level, too, there has been progress in formulating laws and policies, developing strategies and programs and executing them, and engaging communities and societies in moving the agenda forward. Still, progress has been uneven across issues and geography. Furthermore, it has raced ahead sometimes and has stalled at others. The ICPD's Plan of Action contributed to the progress made in ASRH not just because of its bold call in 1994 but also because it provided a springboard for advocacy, investment, action, and research that remains important to this day. (C) 2019 Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine

The social context of induced abortions among young couples in Côte d\'Ivoire

The background of the study is the very high prevalence of mortality and morbidity in Sub-Saharan countries due to abortions induced by unsafe methods. This paper draws on fieldwork conducted in 1998 and 1999 in the city of Bouaké in Côte d\'Ivoire. The study is based upon qualitative semi-structured interviews with men and women. This paper presents some case stories based on interviews with young women having had an abortion, or with men having had a young partner who has had an abortion, both married and unmarried. It discusses how illegally induced abortion may be understood in relation to ongoing social processes characterised by economic hardship and tensions between the sexes and generations. One important finding is that the young often choose abortion because they cannot count on economic and practical assistance from parents in feeding and raising the child. Parents are also often pushing their children to have an abortion Le contexte social de l\'avortement provoqué chez les jeunes couples en Côte d\'Ivoire Cette étude trouve sa justification dans la très haute prévalence de la mortalité et de la morbidité dans les pays subsahariens causée par les avortements provoqués à travers des méthodes dangereuses. Cet article se fonde sur les recherches menées sur le terrain en 1998 et 1999 dans la ville de Bouaké en Côte d\'Ivoire. L\'étude est basée sur des interviews semi-structurées qualitatives auprès des hommes et des femmes. Cet article présente des basées sur les interviews auprès des femmes qui ont eu un avortement ou bien amprès des hommes qui ont eu un jeune partenaire qui ont eu un avortement, mariées et non-mariées. Il étudie comment l\'avortement provoqué illégalement peut être compris par rapport aux processus sociaux en cours qui sont caractérisés par la souffrance économique et les tensions entre les genres et les générations. Une importante découverte est que les jeunes choisissent souvent l\'avortement parce qu\'ils ne peuvent pas compter sur leurs parents pour l\'aide economique et pratique pour nourrir et pour élever l\'enfant. Les parents poussent souvent leurs enfants à avoir un avortement.. Keywords: unsafe abortion, family planning, reproductive health, youth, Côte d'Ivoire African Journal of Reproductive Health Vol. 11 (2) 2007: pp. 13-2

The social context of induced abortions among young couples in Côte d'Ivoire

The background of the study is the very high prevalence of mortality and morbidity in Sub-Saharan countries due to abortions induced by unsafe methods. This paper draws on fieldwork conducted in 1998 and 1999 in the city of Bouaké in Côte d'Ivoire. The study is based upon qualitative semi-structured interviews with men and women. This paper presents some case stories based on interviews with young women having had an abortion, or with men having had a young partner who has had an abortion, both married and unmarried. It discusses how illegally induced abortion may be understood in relation to ongoing social processes characterised by economic hardship and tensions between the sexes and generations. One important finding is that the young often choose abortion because they cannot count on economic and practical assistance from parents in feeding and raising the child. Parents are also often pushing their children to have an abortion.Le contexte social de l'avortement provoqué chez les jeunes couples en Côte d'Ivoire Cette étude trouve sa justification dans la très haute prévalence de la mortalité et de la morbidité dans les pays subsahariens causée par les avortements provoqués à travers des méthodes dangereuses. Cet article se fonde sur les recherches menées sur le terrain en 1998 et 1999 dans la ville de Bouaké en Côte d'Ivoire. L'étude est basée sur des interviews semi-structurées qualitatives auprès des hommes et des femmes. Cet article présente des basées sur les interviews auprès des femmes qui ont eu un avortement ou bien amprès des hommes qui ont eu un jeune partenaire qui ont eu un avortement, mariées et non-mariées. Il étudie comment l'avortement provoqué illégalement peut être compris par rapport aux processus sociaux en cours qui sont caractérisés par la souffrance économique et les tensions entre les genres et les générations. Une importante découverte est que les jeunes choisissent souvent l'avortement parce qu'ils ne peuvent pas compter sur leurs parents pour l'aide economique et pratique pour nourrir et pour élever l'enfant. Les parents poussent souvent leurs enfants à avoir un avortement