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Growing the Abriendo Oportunidades® Ecosystem: Equipping young mentors with skills and resources to expand girl-centered programming in Belize
No full textBuilding on the success of the Abriendo Oportunidades® (AO®) program in Guatemala, in 2014 Population Council Guatemala (PC-Guatemala) and Toledo Mayan Women’s Council established the Toledo Adolescent Girls program (TAG), a safe space initiative that equipped young Indigenous girls and female mentors with life skills. The project demonstrated that neighboring countries are interested in expanding the AO model, and that the Council can successfully support programmatic adaptation to meet the needs of other Indigenous communities in Mesoamerica. This was achieved by introducing age-segmented groups, prioritizing transportation funding for mentors and supervisors, and continuing to tailor to local context. This brief is part of the Abriendo Oportunidades® Legacy Series, celebrating and highlighting 20 years of impactful program implementation
Growing the Abriendo Oportunidades® Ecosystem: Sowing seeds of change within government systems
No full textPopulation Council-Guatemala (PC-Guatemala) is supporting and shaping a movement led by young Indigenous leaders to expand inclusive education and civic participation opportunities. Through mechanisms such as professional internships, school re-integration programs, and other government collaborations, young Indigenous women are building the knowledge, skills, and relationships to lead community development efforts and inform inclusive national policies. This brief is part of the Abriendo Oportunidades® Legacy Series, celebrating and highlighting 20 years of impactful program implementation
Policies Addressing Fertility Trends Require a Rights-based Approach
Full text linkThis blog post originally appeared on the Population Council’s website in July 2025
Factors associated with the acceptability of self-injection training by clients receiving DMPA-SC services from community pharmacies and patent and proprietary medicine vendors in Nigeria
No full textBackground: The self-administration of the subcutaneous depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA-SC) has the potential to empower women and improve contraceptive use. Several studies have demonstrated the acceptability of the provider-administered DMPA-SC, for private, public, or community-based health providers, but less is known about self-injection training from community pharmacists (CPs) and Patent and Proprietary medicine Vendors (PPMVs) (also known as drug shops). The purpose of this study was to examine the factors associated with the acceptance of DMPA-SC self-injection training when provided by trained CPs and PPMVs in Lagos and Kaduna states. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 186 women of reproductive age (18–49 years) who received self-injection training on DMPA-SC from trained CPs and PPMVs between August and September 2019, and between May 2022 and June 2023. Women who selected DMPA-SC, opted for self-injection, and were trained by a CP or a PPMV were invited to participate in the study. Quantitative telephone interviews were conducted with eligible clients within six (6) weeks of obtaining DMPA-SC commodities for self-injection from a trained CP or PPMV. Bivariate chi-square test and multivariate logistic regression were used to examine factors associated with acceptability and continued self-injection of DMPA-SC at home. The results were considered significant at a p value \u3c 0.05. Results: More than half of the women had used a contraceptive in the past (55%), and 73% received information on DMPA-SC from a CP or PPMV. Using a family planning method prior to visiting the provider (Odds ratio (OR) = 4.31; 95% Confidence Intervals (CIs): 1.05, 17.69; p = 0.04), receiving information on DMPA-SC from friends/relative (OR = 5.08; 95% CI: 1.01, 25.62; p = 0.05), perceived high-quality care (OR = 7.72; 95% CI: 2.52, 23.61; p = 0.00) and middle-quality care (OR = 3.35; 95% CI: 1.16, 9.69; p = 0.03) were significantly associated with the likelihood of continued DMPA-SC self-injection at home. A high level of acceptance of training in DMPA-SC self-injection was significantly associated with service from PPMVs (OR = 4.94; 95% CI = 1.46, 16.75; p = 0.01) and perceived high-quality care (OR = 4.23; 95% CI = 1.62, 11.05; p = 0.00). Conclusions: The results are promising for expanding DMPA-SC self-injection service delivery in Nigeria through increased method choice, and empowered users. The provision of counseling and DMPA-SC self-injection training by CPs and PPMVs is acceptable among women in Lagos and Kaduna states
Growing the Abriendo Oportunidades® Ecosystem: Spotlight on mentor networks
No full textThe emergence of REDMI Aq’ab’al and Na’leb’ak ONG, two civil society networks of young Indigenous women, represents a monumental evolution of the Abriendo Oportunidades® (AO®) program. As AO® successfully supported young female Indigenous mentors to increase their autonomy, community visibility, and professional skills, the formation and growth of these independent networks now promotes a larger movement of sustainable, responsive, and community-led social progress. It also provides a new platform for mentors to be recognized and credited for their work, even after they have “graduated” from direct participation in AO®. This brief is part of the Abriendo Oportunidades® Legacy Series, celebrating and highlighting 20 years of impactful program implementation
Expanding respectful maternal and newborn care in Kenya, Malawi, Madagascar, and India
Full text linkUnintended pregnancy, induced abortion, and abortion-related complications among women in humanitarian settings in Uganda: Evidence Brief
Full text linkThe Baobab Research Programme Consortium (RPC), in collaboration with the Guttmacher Institute, implemented the first-ever application of the Abortion Incidence Complications Method (AICM) in refugee settings in Uganda. Complementing this effort, the Baobab RPC also conducted a household survey on unintended pregnancy among women residing in these humanitarian contexts. The data presented herein are derived from these two rigorous studies and offer critical insights into the prevalence, drivers, and consequences of unsafe abortion and unintended pregnancy in displacement settings. These findings contribute to a growing body of evidence aimed at informing policy, programming, and resource allocation for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in refugee-hosting countries
Contraceptive use, intention to use, and method preferences among women in refugee settings in Ethiopia: Evidence Brief
Full text linkThe Baobab Research Programme Consortium\u27s unintended pregnancy survey generated evidence of the prevalence of unintended pregnancy and contraceptive use and aims to identify innovative solutions in refugee settings in Ethiopia. This evidence brief presents findings on the current use of contraception, intention to use, and method preferences among women aged 15–45 years who participated in the unintended pregnancy baseline unintended pregnancy survey conducted in four refugee camps in Ethiopia in 2024 to 2025
Not just reproductive: A roundtable on addressing gynaecological health through the life course in South Asia
No full textA roundtable on gynaecological health in South Asia engaged speakers from four countries to share insights on the current context, challenges and priorities for action in the region. Women\u27s gynaecological needs beyond maternal health are overlooked in most settings, with common ailments underdiagnosed or untreated. While over-medicalisation and a lack of data and evidence are two common challenges, midwife-led programmes, investment in primary health care and nationwide data collection on gynaecological health are promising initiatives. The key priorities for evidence generation are to: understand gynaecological health and its interlinked determinants; examine impacts on quality of life; and design approaches that address women\u27s health through the life course
Systematic review of reviews on interventions to engage men and boys as clients, partners and agents of change for improved sexual and reproductive health and rights
No full textObjectives: Evidence regarding interventions to engage men and boys to improve sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) has grown rapidly across subtopics such as HIV, family planning and gender-based violence (GBV). We conducted a review of the effectiveness of interventions to engage men and boys across SRHR domains, lessons learnt about successful programming, and about harms/unintended consequences, in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). Design: Systematic review of reviews following Cochrane guidelines. Data sources: PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Web of Science and Cochrane were searched (18 October–9 November 2022; 9 September 2024). Eligibility criteria: Eligible reviews were published since 2015, covered WHO-defined SRHR domain(s) and focused mostly on LMIC. Data extraction and synthesis: Data extraction by multiple reviewers focused on intervention effectiveness, implementation best practices, unintended consequences, and quality/risk of bias. Results: Thirty-five systematic reviews were included, comprising ~960 primary studies. Reviews focused on HIV prevention/care, reproductive health, maternal and newborn health, and GBV. Reviews consistently concluded that men were successfully engaged, yielding benefits to both women and men’s SRHR outcomes; no adverse intervention impacts on prevalence of SRHR outcomes were reported. We summarised the interventions most consistently found to be effective across reviews, in a programmer-friendly visual mapped onto a framework of men as clients, partners and agents of change. Person-centred, gender-transformative, multilevel approaches were most effective. Remaining evidence gaps include engaging men as contraceptive users, sexually transmitted infections other than HIV, preventing unsafe abortion and SGBV as experienced by men and boys. Conclusions: There is substantial evidence supporting a range of successful interventions to engage men and boys to improve SRHR, with markedly similar principles and approaches emerging across SRHR domains. It is time to scale up and integrate these strategies, monitoring for any potential harms and tailoring as needed to socio-cultural contexts and for specific vulnerable subpopulations