The INFO Project Blog

While many at last week’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland were wringing their hands over the US housing slump, Jordan’s stunning Queen Rania was ringing in an exciting new campaign with the UN Foundation and Nike-convened Coalition for Adolescent Girls. Read on for Davos diaries from Bangladesh to Guatemala… Read the rest of this entry »

A new report from ICRW, the Center for Global Development, and the Population Council shows why investing in girls can be a boon for social and economic development. Asking,

Why should we pay more attention to girls? What difference can adolescent girls make in achieving positive development outcomes? How can stakeholders initiate effective investments that will give girls in developing countries a full and equal chance for rewarding lives and livelihoods?

The report addresses systematic disadvantes faced by girls over a wide range of welfare indicators, including health, education, nutrition, labor force participation, and burden of household tasks. Read the rest of this entry »

Tostan’s latest news alert reveals a growing movement for health and human rights in West Africa. All 909 communities in Tambacounda in Southeastern Senegal have declared their abandonment of female genital cutting (FGC) and child /forced marriage.

At an event on Sunday, January 14th, 4,000 community members and leaders gathered to declare “From today forward, this practice no longer has a place in our communities.” Read the rest of this entry »

Thanks to 16 year-old television star Jamie Lynn Spears’s pregnancy, and the new movie Juno, teen sex has been appearing in chastising headlines of late. In many less developed countries, teen pregnancy is often the rule, not the exception. However the vast majority of sexual activity takes place within marriage-girls can´t Just Say No.

Early marriage–also referred to as child marriage, because the brides in countries like India and Ethiopia are as young as 5 years old–is a harmful traditional practice that can be emotionally devastating. In unstable and impoverished Afghanistan child brides are married to much older men. In the photo at right by Stephanie Sinclair, which was the UNICEF photo of 2007, a 40 year-old man sits next to his 11 year-old bride. Read the rest of this entry »

In conjunction with our new project on the elements of successful family planning methods, we’ve been querying experts to see which components they believe are crucial. Recently we spoke with the man who wrote the book (literally) on contraception, Dr. Robert Hatcher of Emory University (Dr. Hatcher was a also key technical advisor on the Global Handbook INFO produced earlier this year).

He emphasized the importance of providing highly-effective long-lasting methods such as the IUD and implants, but also of something more basic–the empowerment of women. He said there won’t be the financial support needed for an effective program without this essential element.

Read the rest of this entry »