Suchergebnisse

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.

Economic development is strongly connected to the longevity,
growth and structure of country's population [Bloom and Canning (2003)].
Pakistan currently has the largest cohort of young people in its history
(25 million aged 15-24, Census 1998) that has serious implications for
the provision of schooling, health services and adequate jobs. Therefore
the well being of these valuable young cohorts is profoundly important
for the social and economic development and prosperity of Pakistan
[Population Council (2003)]. This demographic lift can promote economic
lift-off [Bloom and Canning (2003)]. In fact, Pakistan will face dire
consequences if this resource is not capitalised and young people remain
uneducated and unskilled [Faizunnisa and Ikram (2003)]. Work is one of
the key transitions in the lives of young people. It is an important
marker of adulthood, with strong implications for a country's social and
economic development. Work depending on its nature and remuneration can
be the most important factor shaping adult lives. Youth employment has
many implications for the labour market, poorer households and for the
youth themselves.

The principal aim of this study is to assess the strength in Pakistan of a set of hypothesized obstacles to practicing contraception. Survey data are analyzed that were collected in Punjab province in 1996 and that contain unusually detailed measurement of various perceived costs of practicing contraception, as well as focused measurement of fertility motivation. The framework guiding the research specifies six major obstacles to contraceptive use: the strength of motivation to avoid pregnancy, awareness and knowledge of contraception, the social and cultural acceptability of contraception, perceptions of the husband's preferences and attitudes, health concerns, and perceived access to services. Net effects of each obstacle are estimated through structural equation modeling of the intention to practice contraception in the near future, in which the six obstacles are treated as latent variables. The estimates indicate that the two principal obstacles to using a contraceptive are the woman's perception that such behavior would conflict with her husband's fertility preferences and his attitudes toward family planning and her perception of the social or cultural unacceptability of contraception. The results confirm the value of taking contraceptive costs seriously, and, in particular, of attempting to measure these costs in empirical research on family planning.

The international conference on population and development
held in Cairo in 1994 has became a historical turning point in the way
population policies and programmes are perceived and sexual and
reproductive health services are conceptualised and delivered. Inherent
in the ICPD plan of action is the concept of care that recommends
providing a range of reproductive health services to both men and women,
that are safe and effective, and that satisfy clients, needs and wants.
Clients are far more likely to use services that are of high quality.
Achieving quality care requires complying with high technical and
ethical standards (such as freedom of choice, informed consent, and
freedom from coercion and abuse) and providing services at costs that
are affordable to both clients and health care system. The most common
barriers to quality are negative provider attitudes or behaviours, poor
interactions between clients and providers, a lack of essential drugs
and supplies in facilities, and delays in referrals to other necessary
services.

Pakistan is a high‐fertility country with elevated levels of maternal mortality and unmet need for family planning. Limited access to and poor quality of reproductive health services and gender‐related problems comprise the major explanations for these poor indicators. The authors designed an intervention to address some of these issues and implemented it on a quasi‐experimental basis in Bhalwal Tehsil of the Sargodha district of Punjab. The intervention introduced a client‐centered approach to providing reproductive health services, including family planning and infant, child, and maternal health care. The intervention consisted of training health‐care providers based in fixed‐location clinics and in communities. It introduced the concept of SAHR (an acronym for salutation, assessment, help, and reassurance), to inculcate a client‐centered approach to care that acknowledges explicitly and addresses a client's gender and power relations within her family and household. Results of the intervention indicate significant effects on providers' behavior related to SAHR elements. The changes provide demonstrable evidence that the public sector can shift toward client‐centered services in reproductive health care in a challenging setting.

This report presents the results of a longitudinal study of changing educational opportunities in rural Punjab and N.W.F.P. from 1997 to 2004. The purpose of the study was to answer two major research questions: what were the effects of changes in schooling opportunities in the community over the past six years on enrollment and attainment, and what were the effects on family planning and fertility behavior? This study builds on an earlier study undertaken in 1997. As noted in this report, the study is innovative in several ways: (1) it is longitudinal; (2) it combines consideration of three dimensions of schooling opportunity structures in the community—access, choice, and quality; (3) it considers the availability of school choice, in particular private versus government and religious versus secular, as a factor in educational attainment and performance; and (4) it defines schooling opportunity structures separately for boys and girls on all three dimensions—quality, choice, and access. The longitudinal nature of the study has two dimensions: a school component and a household-based component. All schools visited in the first survey were revisited in the second survey as were women previously interviewed in 1997.

This article presents the results of a number of operations research studies (OR) of family planning services provided by a new cadre of female village-based family planning workers in Punjab Province, Pakistan. This cadre of workers, recruited nationwide, has been trained to visit women in their villages to provide information and family planning services. The studies were conducted as part of a broad program of technical assistance to the Government of Pakistan. Surveys investigated the quality of their training as well as attitudes among clients to the new program. They found that the program is developing well but there is room for improvement, particularly in counseling and training. Additional field studies are ongoing and recommendations for change have been incorporated in training and supervision. The program is expanding on a national scale.

Published by the Population Council's Islamabad office, this is the first comprehensive survey of Pakistani youth. The report provides an unprecedented view of young people's experiences with and attitudes about education, employment, families, and marriage. The report findings confirm the large differences in the current situation of adolescents and youth, males versus females, from different strata of residence and economic status. Addressing these requires government intervention, changes in attitude, and input from the media, women and youth groups, and members of civil society.