Previous research on sex-selective abortions has ignored the interactions between fertility, birth spacing, and sex selection, despite both fertility and birth spacing being important considerations for parents when deciding on the use of sex selection.
... See More + This paper presents a novel approach that jointly estimates the determinants of sex-selective abortions, fertility, and birth spacing, using data on Hindu women from India's National Family and Health Surveys. Women with eight or more years of education in urban and rural areas are the main users of sex-selective abortions and they also have the lowest fertility. Predicted lifetime fertility for these women declined 11 percent between the 1985-1994 and 1995-2006 periods, which correspond to the periods of time before and after sex selection became illegal. Fertility is now around replacement level. This decrease in fertility has been accompanied by a 6 percent increase in the predicted number of abortions during the childbearing years between the two periods, and sex selection is increasingly used for earlier parities. Hence, the legal steps taken to combat sex selection have been unable to reverse its use. Women with fewer than eight years of education have substantially higher fertility and do not appear to use sex selection.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS7189 FEB 01, 2015
This report, Europe and Central Asia - Missing Women in the South Caucasus : Local perceptions and proposed solutions, discusses research conducted on skewed sex ratios in the South Caucasus.
... See More + It discusses (i) the factors that encourage sex selection in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, (ii) whether and how these might be changing; (iii) public awareness of and attitudes regarding skewed sex rations; and to propose potential policy responses. The report examines the following: factors contributing to smaller families and unbalanced sex rations in the South Caucasus, the reasons for underlying son preference, attitudes toward daughters, factors that make women vulnerable to pressures to produce sons. It also describes how intergenerational and gender relationships are starting to change and proposes some recommendations for addressing the factors that underlie unbalanced sex rations.
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This report, Europe and Central Asia - Missing Women in the South Caucasus : Local perceptions and proposed solutions, discusses research conducted on skewed sex ratios in the South Caucasus.
... See More + It discusses (i) the factors that encourage sex selection in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, (ii) whether and how these might be changing; (iii) public awareness of and attitudes regarding skewed sex rations; and to propose potential policy responses. The report examines the following: factors contributing to smaller families and unbalanced sex rations in the South Caucasus, the reasons for underlying son preference, attitudes toward daughters, factors that make women vulnerable to pressures to produce sons. It also describes how intergenerational and gender relationships are starting to change and proposes some recommendations for addressing the factors that underlie unbalanced sex rations.
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Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH) is one of five areas of focus of the World Banks Reproductive Health Action Plan 2010-2015 (RHAP), which recognizes the importance of addressing ASRH as a development issue with important implications for poverty reduction.
... See More + Delaying childbearing and preventing unintended pregnancies during adolescence has been shown to schooling, future employment, and earnings (Greene Merrick, 2005). Early marriage often marks the beginning of exposure to the risk of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Research has shown that adolescent marriage is associated with unplanned pregnancy, rapid repeat childbirth, inadequate use of maternal health services, and poor birth outcomes, among other negative maternal and child health outcomes (Godha, Hotchkiss, and Gage, 2013; Raj Boehmer, 2013; Santhya, 2011). Furthermore, research in Ethiopia has found that adolescent females who marry before the age of 15 are at higher risk of intimate partner violence and coercive sex than those who marry between ages 15-18 (Erulkar, 2013). At the 65th World Health Assembly, representatives agreed that early marriage is a violation of the rights of children and adolescents. Early marriage is illegal in most of the places where it occurs. It limits young girls autonomy, knowledge, resources, and decision-making power (World Bank, 2014). Adolescent marriage is also much more likely to affect females than males: in the developing world, 16 percent of females are married in comparison to 3 percent of males (UNFPA, 2013).
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Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH) is one of five areas of focus of the World Banks Reproductive Health Action Plan 2010 - 2015 (RHAP), which recognizes the importance of addressing ASRH as a development issue with important implications for poverty reduction.
... See More + Delaying childbearing and preventing unplanned pregnancies during adolescence has been shown to improve health outcomes and increase opportunities for schooling, future employment, and earnings (Greene and Merrick, 2005). Delaying childbearing and preventing unplanned pregnancies improves health outcomes and increases opportunities for schooling, future employment, and earnings. A couple of key messages were relayed in this brief. An analysis of data from six countries showed that adolescent childbearing is closely tied to marital status. Around half (ranging from 42 percent in Nepal to 55 percent in Nigeria) of ever-married adolescent women have given birth. In comparison, non-marital adolescent childbearing is rare in all countries studied. In Bangladesh and Burkina Faso, childbearing among ever-married adolescent women is positively associated with rural residence, less wealth, and less education.
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Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH) is one of five areas of focus of the World Banks Reproductive Health Action Plan 2010 - 2015 (RHAP), which recognizes the importance of addressing ASRH as a development issue with important implications for poverty reduction.
... See More + Delaying childbearing and preventing unintended pregnancies during adolescence has been shown to improve health outcomes and increase opportunities for schooling, future employment, and earnings (Greene Merrick, 2005). The key messages relayed in this brief are as follows: Early age at sexual debut puts young people - particularly females - at an increased risk for unplanned pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections, maternal mortality and morbidity; An analysis of data from six countries showed that adolescent sexual activity is closely tied to marital status. In all six countries studied, nearly all ever-married adolescent women have had sexual intercourse, but almost all those never-married have abstained, except in Burkina Faso and Nigeria where less than one quarter of never-married women have had sexual intercourse; The age at sexual debut is also closely linked to age at marriage. Over one third of ever-married women had sexual intercourse before age 15 in Nigeria (38 percent), Bangladesh (37 percent), and Niger (37 percent); In Burkina Faso and Nigeria, sexual activity is lowest among never-married adolescent women with no education (15 percent and 7 percent, respectively).
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Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH) is one of five areas of focus of the World Banks Reproductive Health Action Plan 20102015 (RHAP), which recognizes the importance of addressing ASRH as a development issue with important implications for poverty reduction.
... See More + Delaying childbearing and preventing unintended pregnancies during adolescence has been shown to improve health outcomes and increase opportunities for schooling, future employment, and earnings (Greene Merrick, 2005). Knowledge of family planning (FP) methods and how to access them is an important precursor to use of a method and, in turn, the prevention of unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) during adolescence (Agha, 2002; Piotrow, Kincaid, Rimon, Rinehart, and Samson, 1997). Communication campaigns are designed to reach men and women through use of radio, television, magazines, and other media to transmit FP information, as well as information about HIV testing and treatment, among other health issues (Hutchinson and Wheeler, 2006; Van Rossem and Meekers 2007). Health workers also share family planning information in clinic settings through community health worker models (Argaw, 2007; Lehman and Sanders, 2007; Mmari and Magnani, 2003).
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Brief 93551 JAN 26, 2015
Cortez, Rafael; Brindis, Claire; Decker, Mara; Yarger, Jennifer
The extractive industries sector has been vital to the local economy of Papua New Guinea for over 20 years. Extractives have contributed substantially to government revenues but also face challenging social issues and significant environmental impacts in many areas.
... See More + A persistent challenge has been ensuring that extractives benefits reach local communities, including women and children. Research shows that benefits tend to be captured by men, while the impacts of social disruption and environmental harm fall most heavily on women and children.
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The main objective of the UYEP is to provide disadvantaged urban youth between the ages of 16 and 35 in the National Capital District (NCD) with income from temporary employment opportunities, and to increase their employability.
... See More + This will be done through three components: (1) Youth Job Corps: Community awareness, mobilization and screening campaign followed by basic life skills training and 40 days of labor-intensive employment for eligible youth; (2) Skills Development and Employment Scheme: Additional Pre-Employment Training (PET) and a further five months of on-the-job placements/training for eligible youth; and (3) Project Management: Implementation and technical support to NCDC. The project aims to impact 10,500 beneficiaries in the NCD and produce more than one-million work days. Eighty percent of the projects budget will be invested directly into the economy in the form of training, youth stipends, goods, and services through contracted public works. The project will issue mobile phones and establish BSP Kundu bank accounts for almost all youth participants with the help of Bank of South Pacific, Digicel, and PNG Telikom. Exxon Mobil will provide supervision and monitoring support, valuable to improve the delivery of the project, the project's youth and the future of PNG.
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This paper summarizes rigorous impact evaluation results from the Economic Empowerment of Adolescent Girls Project (EPAG) in Liberia and presents long-term project results gathered in an end-line survey.
... See More + The project's pilot phase was implemented in two rounds and included six months of classroom training, followed by six months of placement and support. The aim of the project was to increase wage and self-employment for young women in Liberia. Seventy percent of girls were trained in business development skills (BDS) and thirty percent in job skills (JS) targeted to sectors with high demand for workers. All participants receive life skills training specifically designed for Liberian girls. The EPAG impact evaluation employed a randomized pipeline research design in which trainees were randomly assigned to rounds. The paper summarizes rigorous evaluation results showing the impact of the project on the treatment group (round 1 trainees from March 2010 to February 2011), as compared to a statistically similar control group (round 2 trainees from July 2011 to June 2012). Impacts are estimated using a difference-in-difference regression model. Outcomes are measured by a baseline survey completed in March 2010 and a midline survey completed in May 2011, six months after the treatment group (round 1 trainees) completed the classroom training. It was found that the project led to a forty-seven percent increase in employment among trainees, compared to those in the control group. EPAG's economic impact also appears to be long-lasting. The positive employment outcome was stronger among the business skills trainees. On average, the probability that participants in the BDS track found employment increased twice as much as among those in the JS track. Areas for further research are articulated.
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Adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) is one of five areas of focus of the World Banks reproductive health action plan (RHAP) 2010-2015, which recognizes the importance of addressing ASRH as a development issue with important implications for poverty reduction.
... See More + Delaying childbearing and preventing unintended pregnancies during adolescence has been shown to improve health outcomes and increase opportunities for schooling, future employment, and earnings. This brief highlights the limited contraceptive use among adolescent women and the socioeconomic disparities in family planning among this population. The results indicate the importance of investing in programs aimed at increasing access to safe and effective contraceptive methods and expanding adolescents knowledge of modern contraception, particularly among adolescent women in rural and poor areas and or those with limited or no education, regardless of marital status. Continued investment should be made in female education and empowerment as a means to reach economic development goals, as well as related goals, such as an increase in adolescent contraceptive use to reduce the incidence of unplanned pregnancies.
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In Nepal, both early marriage and motherhood still place adolescents and their children at a great disadvantage. In 2011, one-third of girls aged 15-19 were already married.
... See More + About 60 percent of them were pregnant or had at least one child, and one in ten had two living children (Nepal Demographic Health Survey, 2011). This brief aims to understand why married adolescents in Nepal have low contraceptive use and a high unmet need for family planning, providing policy recommendations based on a literature review, interviews with key-informants, and a comprehensive analysis of secondary data from household surveys (NDHS 2006-2011). Given that early childbearing in Nepal still occurs primarily within marriage, the brief addresses the needs of female married adolescents which are often overlooked by policy-makers. However, it is important to note that unmarried adolescents are progressively engaging in sexual activity in Nepal increasing their risks for contracting an STI or an unplanned pregnancy that warrants special attention.
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Violence against women and girls (VAWG) has negative impacts on physical and mental health. Health care settings provide a unique opportunity to identify VAWG survivors, provide critical support services, and prevent future harm.
... See More + VAWG has intergenerational effects: boys who witness intimate partner violence (IPV) at home are more likely to grow up to perpetrate violence themselves. And girls with childhood exposure to IPV are more likely to experience violence in later relationships. The health sector can play a role in educating clients and the broader community about VAWG as a human rights violation and major public health issue.
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Violence against women and girls (VAWG) has negative impacts on physical and mental health. Health care settings provide a unique opportunity to identify VAWG survivors, provide critical support services, and prevent future harm.
... See More + VAWG has intergenerational effects: boys who witness intimate partner violence (IPV) at home are more likely to grow up to perpetrate violence themselves. And girls with childhood exposure to IPV are more likely to experience violence in later relationships. The health sector can play a role in educating clients and the broader community about VAWG as a human rights violation and major public health issue.
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Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is one of the most oppressive forms of gender inequality and stands as a fundamental barrier to equal participation of women and men in social, economic, and political spheres.
... See More + Such violence impedes gender equality and the achievement of a range of development outcomes. VAWG is a complex and multifaceted problem that cannot effectively be addressed from a single vantage point. The prevention of, and response to, such violence requires coordinated action across multiple sectors. This resource guide was developed through a partnership between the Global Womens Institute (GWI) at George Washington University, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and the World Bank Group (WBG). The primary audiences for the guide are IDB and WBG staff and member countries, as well as other development professionals who do not yet have experience addressing VAWG. The purpose of this guide is to provide the reader with basic information on the characteristics and consequences of VAWG, including the operational implications that VAWG can have in several priority sectors of the IDB and WBG. It also offers guidance on how to integrate VAWG prevention and provide quality services to violence survivors across a range of development projects. Lastly, it recommends strategies for integrating VAWG prevention and response into policies and legislation, as well as sector programs and projects.
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Violence against women and girls (VAWG) has negative impacts on physical and mental health. Health care settings provide a unique opportunity to identify VAWG survivors, provide critical support services, and prevent future harm.
... See More + Ample studies have shown that natural disasters, including tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes, and floods, disproportionately affect women and girls, who are at greater risk of violence and exploitation than men and boys in the face of uprooted housing and traditional support structures, disrupted access to services, and both structural and social obstacles to accessing food, relief, supplies, and latrines. A study conducted four years after Hurricane Katrina occurred in the United States found that the rate of new cases of VAWG among displaced women also increased and did not return to the pre-hurricane baseline during the protracted phase of displacement.
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Working Paper 92967 DEC 01, 2014
Gennari, Floriza; Arango, Diana; Hidalgo, Nidia; McCleary-Sills, Jennifer
For every three years a country is affected by major violence (defined as deaths due to war or excess homicides comparable to a major war), economic growth lags behind by 2.7 percentage points.
... See More + Citizen security issues impact women and men differently. For example, women are more likely to be assaulted or murdered by someone they know - in fact, worldwide the share of homicides by an intimate partner was six times higher for female victims compared with male victims (39 percent versus 6 percent, respectively). Boys who witness intimate partner violence (IPV) during childhood are more likely to exhibit delinquent behavior and to perpetrate IPV in adulthood. And girls who witness violence are more likely to experience IPV in adulthood.
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Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is one of the most oppressive forms of gender inequality and stands as a fundamental barrier to equal participation of women and men in social, economic, and political spheres.
... See More + Such violence impedes gender equality and the achievement of a range of development outcomes. VAWG is a complex and multifaceted problem that cannot effectively be addressed from a single vantage point. The prevention of, and response to, such violence requires coordinated action across multiple sectors. This resource guide was developed through a partnership between the Global Womens Institute (GWI) at George Washington University, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and the World Bank Group (WBG). The primary audiences for the guide are IDB and WBG staff and member countries, as well as other development professionals who do not yet have experience addressing VAWG. The purpose of this guide is to provide the reader with basic information on the characteristics and consequences of VAWG, including the operational implications that VAWG can have in several priority sectors of the IDB and WBG. It also offers guidance on how to integrate VAWG prevention and provide quality services to violence survivors across a range of development projects. Lastly, it recommends strategies for integrating VAWG prevention and response into policies and legislation, as well as sector programs and projects.
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Experiencing violence in schools can negatively impact girls' enrollment as well as the quality of the education they receive. Evidence suggests that sexual harassment is widespread in educational settings in many parts of the world.
... See More + Children who have witnessed violence at home or experienced violence have lower educational attainment. In Zambia, girls who experienced sexual violence were found to have more difficulty concentrating on studies, some students transferred to another school to escape harassment, and others dropped out of school because of pregnancy. Few ministries of education around the world have explicit policies on sexual violence and harassment as unacceptable, and few have developed guidelines on the definition of harassment and how educational institutions should respond.
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Violence against women and girls (VAWG) affects survivors' ability to achieve individual potential and contribute to the economy. Unequal gender norms within a household can limit a womans control over and access to economic resources.
... See More + Restraining women's ability to access economic resources is a form of intimidation and coercion. Although microfinance projects can reduce household vulnerability, merely offering resources to women does not enable and empower them to exert control over those resources or make decisions about their lives. Providing women with an income can contribute to disrupting household and gender dynamics, potentially contributing to VAWG.
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