Adolescent Reproductive Health: The Role of Agency and Autonomy

The world is experiencing the largest cohort of adolescents in its history, and there are about 1 billion youngsters in this age group, most of whom belong to the developing countries. Worldwide, the adolescent age group is gaining prominence for researchers, policy-makers and donors. This issue is more important for Pakistan where about one-third of 150 million Pakistanis are in the age range of 10–24 years [Pakistan Census Organisation (2001)]. In Pakistan, the fertility transition has just begun [Sathar and Casterline (1998)], and we will have the largest cohort of young people in next five years. With a TFR of 4.1 which represents a significant decline in fertility in the past two decades for about two children [Pakistan (2003)], still we have a large population base. Nearly 33 percent of the population is aged 10–24, and ready to enter marriage and childbearing. Adolescents represents as a “bulge” in the population pyramid of Pakistan that will have serious implications at a variety of levels. Literature available on population and demographics, suggests that productive and reproductive actions of younger people will shape the size, health, and prosperity of the world’s future population. Despite rising trend in contraceptive use, rising age at marriage etc. the population will keep on increasing in absolute numbers, just due to the sheer pressure of the population momentum. Also the population moment our adolescent carry will offset the decline in population growth rates. The paper explores the linkages of such reproductive health outcomes as early marriage and contraceptive intention, desegregated by age, gender, socio-economic status, locality and province, and aims to provide essential information on predicting early marriage in Pakistan. Moreover the role of autonomy, agency and mobility will also be analysed to see if there if these factors play any role in determining the most important transition of a young person, that is marriage. It will also highlight the future demand for fertility control by analysing future intentions of Pakistani youth to use family planning. Results of this paper depict the socioeconomic and regional diversity in adolescents reproductive health across Pakistan and can be used to form youth policy and programmes in Pakistan.

Working capital management and corporate performance of listed manufacturing companies in Sri Lanka

Working capital management plays a significant role in better performance of manufacturing firms. The researcher attempts to analyze the relationship between Working Capital Management and profitability under the heading of ―The impact of working capital management on corporate performance of Listed Manufacturing Companies in Sri Lanka‖, for the period 5 years from 2008 to 2013. For this purpose, balanced panel data of 36 manufacturing firms, which are listed in Colombo Stock Exchange, are used. The research objectives are to identify the nature and extend of the relationship between working capital management and profitability, to find out the impact of variables of working capital management on corporate profitability. Cash conversion cycle was used as a comprehensive measure for working capital management and net operating profitability was used as a measure of profitability. Multiple linear regression tools were used to find out the relationship between independent and dependent variable in this research. The result of regression analysis found a significant positive relationship between Cash Conversion Cycle and Net Operating Profitability

Adolescent Reproductive Health: The Role of Agency and Autonomy

The world is experiencing the largest cohort of adolescents in its history, and there are about 1 billion youngsters in this age group, most of whom belong to the developing countries. Worldwide, the adolescent age group is gaining prominence for researchers, policy-makers and donors. This issue is more important for Pakistan where about one-third of 150 million Pakistanis are in the age range of 10-24 years [Pakistan Census Organisation (2001)]. In Pakistan, the fertility transition has just begun [Sathar and Casterline (1998)], and we will have the largest cohort of young people in next five years. With a TFR of 4.1 which represents a significant decline in fertility in the past two decades for about two children [Pakistan (2003)], still we have a large population base. Nearly 33 percent of the population is aged 10-24, and ready to enter marriage and childbearing. Adolescents represents as a “bulge” in the population pyramid of Pakistan that will have serious implications at a variety of levels

Dimensions of Women Empowerment: A case study of Pakistan

Introduction Over the last three decades, gender equality and empowerment debates are being focused. It has been realized that policies and projects without concerning the female position in the society have adverse impact on development. United NationsInternational Conference on Women in 1995, held in Beijing, stressed on the need to reduce gender inequality and to increase women empowerment. The third target of Millennium Development Goal is regarding gender equality and women empowerment.Numerous countries, regions and International Development Organizationsmade commitments to reduce gender equality as a key for sustainable economic development. The term women empowerment has different connotation which depends on social, economical, and political context in which it is used. World Bank (2001) defines “the expansion of the freedom of choices and action, which could increase women authority and control over resources and decision regarding their life.”Similarly, Women empowerment is a process through which women achieve the ability to control, take ownership over resources and make strategies of life choices(Kabeer 2001). However, the process itself depends on women, through education, capacity building, skills and trainings and changes in legal and structural framework. Women empowerment covers many dimensions including social,economic, cultural, political, legal and psychological (Malhotra et al. 2002). This explains a broad variation in the concept of women empowerment.  Although, these definitions are clear but there are some constraints to measure women empowerment due to lack of standardized ways. Moreover, many researchers  tried to construct set of specific questions based on Population Based Primary Survey for measuring empowerment at individual level, (Kishor and Subaiya 2008). Women empowerment is preferred not only for the development of a country but also required to minimize poverty and promotes economic growth. (Chaudryet al.2012). According to United Nations Women Policy Division (2013), women empowerment need to be focused and all the development projects and policies need to be gender sensitize. In most of the developing countries, due to early marriages, high female unemploymentrate along with limited investment in them comply females to depend on men. Early marriage is one of the crucial reasons of lower participation of females in the labor marketcompared as to developed nations [ (World Bank 2007) , (Doepke et al. 2012)]. Plethora of literature demonstrates that women empowerment are directly associated with contraceptive use, lower fertility, and longer birth intervals[( Gwako 1997), (Schuler et al. 1997), (Balk 1994), (Woldemicael 2009), (Upadhyay and Hindin 2005)]. Furthermore, education is one of the determinants of empowerment of women which also lowers the fertility rate and improves the earnings. (Jejeebhoy1995), ( Mason 1987)]. For political empowerment, education plays a crucialrole as  well educated women are better informed about their legal rights and they can actively participatein political decision making process[ (Moghadam 2003), (Rihani et al. 2006)]. In a patriarchal society like Pakistan, women empowerment is also very difficult to achieve as societies and communities are governed by strictly social and cultural norms. In a traditional society like Pakistan, the entire major as well as the minor decisions related to inside and outside the house are taken by the men. The worse situation has been reported for Pakistan in terms of gender equality and women empowerment.  According to MDG Report (2013), Pakistan is still far away from the targets of 2015 MDGs in terms of access to education, gender equality and women empowerment which are reflected by child mortality, maternal health and nutrition (Government of Pakistan 2013). Pakistan ranks 121st as overall in the Gender Gap Index (GGI) 2014 out of 142 counties, and 146th out of 187 countries in Human Development Index (HDI) 2014,Furthermore,it stands141stfor economic participation and opportunity for women, ineducation attainmentit ranks 132nd, in terms of health and survival 119th and 85th in terms of political empowerment in 2014. Pakistan,Inequality Human Development Index(IHDI) value for 2013 is 0.375, Human Inequality coefficient was 28.7%, Inequality in Life Expectancy at Birth is 29.9% ,Inequality in Education was 45.2%  andInequality in income is 11% .Pakistan GII value is 0.562 and rank is 126th out of 149 countries in the 2013 index. The Maternal Mortality Ratio is 260 per women 100,000 lives birth, Adolescent birth rate is 27.3,and female seats in parliament are 19.7%. Population with at leastSecondary education for male is 46.3% and for female is 19.3%. The impediments of low level of women empowerment in Pakistan is due to regional disparities, social values, cultural norms and traditions, ethnic and political issues (Sustainable Development Policy Institute, 2008). Furthermore, the women’s status and position is also different in terms of rural and urban. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (2012), reports female literacy rate is lower and unequal as compared to men in rural and urban areas. However, women in rural areas spend more hours at work as compared to females in urban areas. Mostly in developing countries like Pakistan, women are restricted to domestic activities like doing household chores and raisings children (Mollel and Metenga ,2000) and women have less access to enjoy the opportunities, decision making, and basic resources. There is strong need of women empowerment especially on economics ground. The reason is that women are the majority of the population and represent majority of the poor. Moreover, the economic empowerment has significant impact on the livelihood of women, children at the household, but also at the community and national level(Singh(2006) , Ogato(2013). According to Awan (2012) cultural issues have more or less same impact on women regarding upper or lower classes. She further explained that the upper class women are more educated with strong financial support and available resources. However, in some tribal areas women are the victims of injustice. The status and position of women in marginalized segment or unprivileged segment of population are vulnerable. Because they don’t have any chance or resources against unfair treatment, especially domestic violence. Even these women are not aware regarding their basic rights. Pakistani women are bounded in a trap of dependency and subordination due to low economic, political and social position in the society. Moreover, majority of them suffers from all kinds of poverty (Social Policy Development Centre,2009). In rural areas, women are expected to perform household choresas well as agriculture and farming activities, however their contribution is hardly appreciated and mostly taken as for granted because they are the unpaid family workers. Later, when women become old then they are able to control over some domestic decision making, the situation is much better in urban areas due to exposure of education, electronic media. However, it cannot be stated that women are empowered in urban areas as the magnitude of women discrimination is different in urban and rural areas. Although political empowerment condition is better in Pakistan as compared to china , India, and Iran, and its represent 22.2% seats in national assembly and In the Senate, women have 17 per cent of the parliamentary seat ,however its cannot explained overall women empowerment on household and community level. These women are needs to be more active for taking part in laws in order to raise women status in the society in reality they are not as much as active as they should be. This paper comprises of IV sections. Section I is introduction followed by review of literature II. Section III highlights the data sources and methodology. Section IV identifies the different dimensions of women empowerment and the last section is the conclusion and policy options

The poverty trap: Leveling the playing field for young people

Family plays a critical role in young people’s lives and is key in determining the conditions under which young people make important transitions to adulthood. This brief examines the impact of family-level poverty on the educational attainment, economic activity, and marriage patterns of Pakistani youth, and shows how strongly socioeconomic status shapes the lives of future generations. More young people aged 15–24 live in Pakistan now than at any other time in its history—an estimated 36 million in 2004. Recognizing the dearth of information on the situation of this large group of young people, the Population Council undertook a nationally representative survey from October 2001 to March 2002. The analysis presented in this brief comes from Adolescents and Youth in Pakistan 2001–02: A Nationally Representative Survey—the largest such survey focusing on young people. The survey sought information from youth aged 15–24, responsible adults in the household, and other community members in 254 communities. A total of 6,585 households were visited and 8,074 young people were interviewed

Import-Led Growth Hypothesis: A Case Study of Pakistan

In 2017, Pakistan has imported amounted $57 billion worth of goods from world which shows significant role of import in domestic consumption. However; most of the imports are capital goods and petroleum products which increased the trade deficit and debts. . Moreover, imports are used to run the production processes in the economy. Hence, it can be said that imports are valuable to increase growth which is the objective of this study. We have investigated the import and economic growth nexus by taking data from 1985 to 2016 for Pakistan.  Growth rate has been taken as dependent variable whereas; import, export FDI and inflation rate are independent variables.  After finding the stationary of the time series, ARDL technique for dynamic perspective in short and long run. We have successfully tested the imports-led growth hypothesis in Pakistan. The finding of the study proves the there is more significant role of import for determining GDP growth than exports due to the largest share of raw material, intermediate manufacturing and capital goods in imports. Although more imports will results in a greater   balance of payment deficits however, import of capital and intermediate goods should be encouraged and imports consumer goods should be discouraged. Moreover, tariff rate on imported goods and border tariff should also be reduced whilst and direction of trade should be more diversified and inclusive from North America to Eastern and Western Asia. Keywords: Import led growth, Export, Foreign Direct Investment, Economic Growth, ARDL DOI: 10.7176/JESD/10-8-04 Publication date: April 30th 201

Computer technology integration and teachers’ knowledge and self-efficacy: Barriers and promise

The purpose of the study is to examine teachers’ technology integration level and teachers’ technology knowledge level in teaching and learning In addition, to determine whether there is a relationship between teachers’ knowledge, self-efficacy and technology integration in teaching and learning in secondary schools of Maldives. Furthermore, to find out if there is a difference in technology integration for science and non-science subject teachers. Study is a correlation study that uses quantitative methods. Sample size of 128 secondary teachers was selected from capital city Male’. Cluster random sampling method was used to randomly select the secondary schools. Data was gathered using survey questioner and data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical techniques. Results revealed that teachers often integrated technology in teaching and learning and teachers had intermediate knowledge regarding how to use technology. Teachers were proficient with basic technology knowledge, however they lack the advance knowledge needed for more complex tasks. A positive correlation was found between technology knowledge, self-efficacy and technology integration. A significant difference was found for technology integration between science subject teachers and non-science subject teachers. These findings could be helpful for school administrators, to encourage teachers to use new technologies in teaching and learning. Findings from this study could be used to conduct future research and to improve current education system

Long-Term Followup Comparing Two Treatment Dosing Strategies of 125

Objective. To investigate the efficacy of two different dosing strategies of radioactive iodine-125 (125I) in the management of small- and medium-sized posterior uveal melanoma. Patients and Methods. The medical records of consecutive patients with choroidal melanomas between 1.5 and 5.0 mm in apical height treated initially with 125I plaque radiotherapy were reviewed. Patients were treated with one of the following two treatment dosing strategies: (1) 85 Gy to the apical height of the tumor (group 1) or (2) 85 Gy to a prescription point of 5.0 mm (group 2). Results. Of 95 patients, 55 patients were treated to the apical height of the tumor, and 40 were treated to a prescription point of 5.0 mm. Comparative analysis of the incidence rates of specific complications between the two groups demonstrates that group 2 had a significantly higher incidence of radiation retinopathy, radiation optic neuropathy, and/or visually significant cataract formation than group 1 (). Conclusion. Treatment of choroidal melanomas less than 5 mm in apical height with 125I brachytherapy to the true apical height is equally effective when compared to treatment with 85 Gy to 5.0 mm. Treatment to the apical height of the tumor may result in lower incidence of radiation-related complications