Gender Equality
Gender EqualityGender, in a given society at a specific time and place, is of critical importance to young child survival and development (YCSD). Effective YCSD programmes must respond to how gender influences the character of social norms, processes of decision-making, division of labour and differences in access to resources among girls, women, boys and men. In… Read more
Refugee schools in West Africa tend to be dominated by men, with even early years classes taught mostly by male teachers. There are very few female teachers and even fewer female head teachers or education administrators. Although enrollment in the lower classes is more or less gender balanced, by the upper primary level, many of… Read more
Rosemary Morgan is a Research Fellow at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. In this HEART talks video, she talks about the project she works on, ‘Research in Gender and Ethics (RinGs): Building Stronger Health Systems’, and about the importance of making gender integral in health systems research. RinGs came about as a project… Read more
This article examines the outcomes of affirmative action policies aimed at improving access for women students to university education in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Different interpretations of affirmative action are found in the three countries. These include lower entry scores, remedial pre-university programmes and financial assistance. There are limitations and weaknesses inherent in the piecemeal… Read more
This helpdesk provides a rapid analysis on the existing evidence related to effective behaviour change interventions. It has a particular focus on where interventions are related to hygiene and sanitation, nutrition, gender based violence, indoor air pollution, family planning adoption, unsafe sex, motor vehicle driving. The geographic focus is Malawi, but where necessary it draws… Read more
In a group interview Sarah Ssali (Makerere University), Sally Theobald (Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine), Rosemary Morgan (John Hopkins University) and Asha George (John Hopkins University) talk about essential gender issues in relation to health systems. They also promote the RinGs Initiative (Research in Gender and Ethics) and talk about how people can get involved…. Read more
The nature and scale of the problem Depression is a mental disorder characterised by low mood, loss of interest or enjoyment, and reduced energy, leading to increased fatigue, reduced activity, and marked functional impairment (WHO, 1990). Other common symptoms are reduced concentration, reduced self-esteem, ideas of guilt or unworthiness, pessimistic views of the future, ideas… Read more
It is increasingly recognised that in emergency programming efforts adolescents need to be viewed as a distinct group with distinct vulnerabilities and also great potential for contributing to the emergency response. Adolescents tend either to be ignored as a target group during times of emergencies or to be conceptualised as passive victims or active security threats…. Read more
Maternal mental health is largely neglected in low- and middle-income countries. There is no routine screening or treatment of maternal mental disorders in primary care settings in South Africa. The Perinatal Mental Health Project (PMHP) developed an intervention to deliver mental health care to pregnant women in a collaborative, step-wise manner making use of existing… Read more
The perinatal mental health of women living in low- and lower-middle-income countries has only recently become the subject of research, in part because greater priority has been assigned to preventing pregnancy-related deaths. In addition, some have argued that in resource-constrained countries women are protected from experiencing perinatal mental problems through the influence of social and… Read more
Introduction The international evidence that high quality early childhood development (ECD) programmes benefit all children’s development, life experiences, and life chances, is overwhelming. The evidence comes from studies of all kinds, including well-known large quantitative longitudinal studies (e.g. High/Scope Perry studies in the USA and the work of Heckman, at http://heckmanequation.org/) to more localised qualitative… Read more