Research Unit: Population Dynamics and Urbanization in Africa

“I was tricked”: Understanding reasons for unintended pregnancy among sexually active adolescent girls

While the Kenya government is mobilizing high-level strategies to end adolescent pregnancy by 2030,
a clear understanding of drivers of early unintended pregnancy in the country is a necessary precursor. In this study, we determine the prevalence, associated factors, and reasons for unintended pregnancy among sexually active adolescent girls (aged 15–19 in two Kenya counties with the highest rate of teenage pregnancy. […]

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Adolescent Girls Initiative–Kenya: Endline evaluation report

Early pregnancy is a challenge for girls in Kenya that often has immediate effects on their educational opportunities, future implications for their social, health, and economic outcomes, and negative impacts on their children. However, early pregnancy is an outcome shaped by a myriad of issues affecting an adolescent girl’s life— including community norms on gender roles, violence, and the value of girls; barriers to formal education; household poverty; lack of economic independence; experience of violence; and social isolation. For girls to achieve well-being in early and late adolescence, no single-sector intervention—whether it be education, health, wealth creation, or the prevention of violence—will be adequate.
The Adolescent Girls Initiative–Kenya (AGI-K) delivered multi-sectoral interventions to over 6,000 girls ages 11–15 in two marginalized areas of Kenya: 1) the Kibera informal settlement in Nairobi and 2) Wajir County in Northeastern Kenya. Implemented by Plan International in Kibera and Save the Children in Wajir, these interventions were carried out for two years (2015 to 2017) and comprised a combination of girl-level, household-level, and community-level interventions. The hypothesis is that these interventions would build girl-level social, education, health, and economic assets, as well as improve household economic assets in the medium term, which will lead to delayed childbearing in the longer term. […]

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Aging and the Rising Burden of Noncommunicable Diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa and other Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are a prevalent and growing burden among older cohorts in sub-Saharan Africa and other low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) as in many wealthier parts of the world. This stems from the combined effects of factors such as demographic aging, behavioral transitions, and developmental origins of health and disease. A crucial characteristic of many NCDs is that their personal and family impacts and costs are not accurately reflected in mortality data. Their effects are often chronic and long-term and can cause morbidity, loss of work ability, and impaired quality of life over a prolonged period. Unless addressed seriously, the continuing increase of NCDs and their burden in sub-Saharan African countries and other LMICs will almost certainly undermine progress toward achieving the target of reducing by 25% premature mortality from NCDs in these countries by 2025 and also one-third reduction of NCDs target by 2030. To have any chance of meeting or even getting near to these targets, this article calls for action by national and regional governments to strengthen universal health coverage (UHC), economic empowerment of vulnerable groups, public–private partnerships, effective fiscal regulation, and public education on NCDs, their risk factors and impacts in sub-Saharan Africa in particular and most LMICs globally. […]

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