Building the Adolescent Indicators and Gender Gaps Dashboard

The Adolescent Atlas for Action (A3) is a suite of tools that summarizes the lives and needs of adolescents around the world to promote evidence-based decision-making. Through accessible and easy-to-grasp data just one click away, the A3 bridges the gap between decisionmakers and evidence to inform policies and programs. The Adolescent Indicators dashboard and Gender Gaps dashboard are two simple but dynamic dashboards that provide insights on the lives of adolescent girls and boys living in low- and middle income countries (LMICs) across 9 thematic domains of wellbeing. The Adolescent Indicators dashboard showcases how adolescent girls or boys are faring under each theme, globally and subnationally, as well as how the indicators across domains are interlinked. The Gender Gaps dashboard allows you to compare gaps by domain and indicator, both globally and subnationally. This brief elaborates on the methodology for developing both dashboards

Harnessing data to end child marriage: Summarizing learnings to-date

This brief summarizes key findings from five papers that examine child marriage and interventions to address it. While the findings from each of the papers are briefly noted, the brief focuses on the importance of context in understanding the drivers and impact on child marriage. Based on key findings, the brief offers cross-cutting recommendations for research and programs

Conceptual framework of the drivers of child marriage: A tool to guide programs and policies

This brief presents a simplified framework to provide key entry points for understanding which drivers of child marriage may be most important in particular contexts. Decision-makers such as researchers, donors, and program practitioners can use the framework to help design programs and policies tailored to these contexts

Identifying latent classes of empowerment among early adolescent girls and the factors that cultivate them: Evidence from a community-based skills training program

Background: Efforts to empower adolescent girls remain constrained by confusion around how to conceptually define empowerment and how to design interventions. More research, particularly among young adolescents, is needed that considers contextual and age-specific circumstances. This paper examines the latent classes of empowerment among early adolescent girls in Bangladesh and factors associated with membership in these classes. Using data from the Bangladeshi Association for Life Skills, Income, and Knowledge for Adolescents project, a four-arm randomized controlled trial designed to evaluate different community-based approaches for adolescents\u27 skills development, we identify the latent classes before and after intervention and explore whether girls\u27 membership in the study arms was associated with latent class membership at endline. Methods: To identify underlying subgroups among the sample, we conducted latent class analysis at baseline and endline using indicators of seven different constructs of empowerment based on the literature. Using multinomial logistic regression analysis, we assessed whether respondents\u27 background characteristics and membership in the study arms were predictive of latent class membership at both timepoints. Results: A three-class model at baseline and a four-class model at endline showed optimal fit. In both models, three distinct latent classes were observed: (1) a least empowered class, (2) a mobile, socially active class, and (3) a socially progressive class. At endline, a fourth class emerged—the most empowered—that was mobile, socially active, and socially progressive. Girls\u27 marital status, religion, and parents\u27 level of education predicted latent class membership; household wealth was predictive at baseline, but not endline. Study arm was also associated with class membership at endline: girls in the Gender-Rights Awareness Arm had the highest probability of belonging to the fourth, most empowered class. Conclusion: This paper identifies and characterizes latent classes of empowerment that exist among the sample before and after the intervention. The apparent differential effects of interventions in predicting latent class membership have implications for community-based programming. Findings suggest that skills-building curriculum focused on promoting gender equitable norms, voice, and agency has potential to influence early adolescent girls across multiple dimensions of empowerment

Élaboration du tableau de bord A3 des indicateurs relatifs aux adolescents et du tableau de bord des écarts entre les sexes

L\u27Atlas des Adolescents pour l\u27Action (A3) est une suite d\u27outils qui résume la vie et les besoins des adolescents du monde entier afin de promouvoir une prise de décision fondée sur des données probantes. Grâce à ses données accessibles et faciles à saisir en un seul clic, l\u27A3 comble le fossé entre les décideurs et les données factuelles afin d\u27éclairer les politiques et les programmes. Le tableau de bord des indicateurs relatifs aux adolescents et le tableau de bord des écarts entre les sexes sont deux tableaux de bord simples mais dynamiques qui donnent un aperçu de la vie des adolescents, filles et garçons, vivant dans les pays à revenu faible et intermédiaire (PRFM) dans neuf domaines thématiques de bien-être. Le tableau de bord des indicateurs relatifs aux adolescents montre comment les adolescents, filles ou garçons, se débrouillent dans chaque thème, au niveau mondial et infranational, ainsi que les liens entre les indicateurs des différents domaines. Le tableau de bord des écarts entre les sexes vous permet de comparer les écarts par domaine et par indicateur, à l\u27échelle mondiale et nfranationale. Ce dossier présente la méthodologie utilisée pour élaborer ces deux tableaux de bord. --- The Adolescent Atlas for Action (A3) is a suite of tools that summarizes the lives and needs of adolescents around the world to promote evidence-based decision-making. Through accessible and easy-to-grasp data just one click away, the A3 bridges the gap between decisionmakers and evidence to inform policies and programs. The Adolescent Indicators dashboard and Gender Gaps dashboard are two simple but dynamic dashboards that provide insights on the lives of adolescent girls and boys living in low- and middle income countries (LMICs) across 9 thematic domains of wellbeing. The Adolescent Indicators dashboard showcases how adolescent girls or boys are faring under each theme, globally and subnationally, as well as how the indicators across domains are interlinked. The Gender Gaps dashboard allows you to compare gaps by domain and indicator, both globally and subnationally. This brief elaborates on the methodology for developing both dashboards

Smarter investments in girls today to prepare them to thrive tomorrow

While investing in adolescents can foster growth and development opportunities, gender inequity and inadequate policy responses continue to undermine adolescent girls’ potential. The secondary effects of the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbate the health and development risks girls face. This article describes how the number of programs, policies, and studies targeting adolescent girls have increased in recent years, making higher quality evidence more available. However, systematic reviews of the evidence on intervention effectiveness often conclude with mixed results and implications. More research is needed on the under-explored dimensions of gender policies so policymakers can direct limited resources toward approaches proven to improve adolescent girls’ health, education, and wellbeing. Furthermore, ensuring the connection between evidence generation and evidence use remains an important—albeit unfinished—agenda, as demonstrated by case studies on evidence-informed policymaking for rural indigenous girls in Guatemala and girls at high risk of child marriage in Bangladesh. If adolescent girls are to thrive in tomorrow’s world, smarter investments are needed today to enable them to reach their full potential

What influences girls\u27 age at marriage in Burkina Faso and Tanzania? Exploring the contribution of individual, household, and community level factors

Purpose: This comparative study explores the connections between potential drivers of child marriage among girls at the individual, household, and community levels. It provides insight into the multilevel influences on child marriage with the goal of informing policies and programs aimed at eliminating the practice. Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of baseline data from the Building Evidence to Delay Child Marriage Project, a large study undertaken in Burkina Faso and Tanzania. For each country, using data on adolescent girls and parents, we ran a series of nested logistic regression models to identify factors associated with having ever been married among girls aged 15–17 years. Results: Findings indicate that child marriage among girls is shaped by a combination of factors at multiple levels and that the weight of influencing factors varies by context. At the household level, parental relationships were influential in both countries, although in different ways. The influence of the community varied considerably between countries, holding more importance in Burkina Faso than in Tanzania. In Burkina Faso, the importance of schooling and existence of alternative pathways for girls beyond marriage appears crucial to reducing child marriage. Other factors strongly associated with child marriage include girls’ agency, the timing of girls’ sexual initiation, and community norms, specifically views on child marriage among fathers. In Tanzania, early sexual initiation among girls was common and strongly associated with marriage during childhood; parents’ fear of premarital sex and pregnancy also emerged as a significant factor

Webinar—A Look at Subnational Variations for Effective Girl-Centered Programming

This webinar, presented by the Population Council\u27s Community of Practice (CoP) in partnership with the Girl Innovation, Research, and Learning (GIRL) Center, offers viewers: 1) an introduction to the CoP; (2) information on the work of our partners in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic; and (3) an exploration of how a thoughtful use of filtered subnational data sets can help us thoughtfully interrogate and prioritize the geographies in which we work, making for the most effective and thoughtful girl-centered programs

The Adolescent Data Hub: The largest catalog of open access data on adolescents living in low and middle-income countries

The Adolescent Data Hub (ADH) is the first and largest data catalog specifically developed to focus on open access data on adolescents in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Developed by the Population Council’s Girl Innovation, Research, and Learning (GIRL) Center, and launched in August 2018, the ADH has grown to include more than 750 data sources that fit the inclusion criteria of: 1) Self-reported data from females and/or males between ages 10-24 years; 2) One or more rounds of data collected in year 2000 or later; 3) Data collected in one or more LMICs; 4) Data are publicly available for download and use. A dynamic resource, the ADH is regularly updated to include new datasets that meet these criteria. The ADH facilitates access to available data on adolescents for researchers attempting to answer important questions related to the lives of adolescents and for donors and policy-makers eager to identify gaps in existing data to inform their future investments

Violence Outcomes in COVID-19 EPOCH Study (VOCES): A cohort study with adolescents and young adults in Mexico

The social and economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico are poised to have long-lasting and significant impact on adolescents and young adults. To inform government agency strategies and public policies related to youth in Mexico, the Population Council in Mexico, as part of the COVID-19 study team, is implementing a nationwide longitudinal cohort study. The study utilizes online surveys to reach adolescents and young adults between 15 and 24 years of age. The aim of the study is to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the experience and perception of violence among this population, as well as its impact on other social, economic, and health outcomes related to violence. Gathering information about the unintended impacts of social distancing measures on different dimensions of adolescents’ and young adults\u27 lives and including their voices in the existing body of evidence will provide descriptive data about the on-going situation for adolescents and young adults during the pandemic. Data from this study can also be used by policy makers and practitioners to design and implement policies and interventions to reduce long-term negative health, social, and economic consequences of the pandemic for this critically important population, as well as to help design recovery policies. We are committed to openly sharing the latest versions of the study description, questionnaires, datasets, and preliminary results