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PROGRAMS
Facts About Adolescents from the Demographic and Health Survey:
The Population Council began its work on adolescents in the mid-1990s, and has emphasized the need to look beyond the health sector in addressing adolescents' needs, focusing on early marriage, livelihoods, schooling, and social structure. The Council has especially concerned itself with the adolescent girl, whose world contracts at this stage in her life, as limitations on her autonomy, mobility, opportunity, and power increase.
One challenge to moving beyond the health sector has been that comprehensive data on adolescents in developing countries have not been easily accessible nor compiled with this multisectoral view in mind. To fill this void, the Population Council began analyzing Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data in a way that could clearly illustrate the diversity of adolescents' lives. It is the Council's goal that these analyses be used to improve understanding about the adolescent experience and to build interventions based on fact rather than assumption. These analyses are presented in 46 individual country reports; each report consists of 14 data tables and commentary highlighting some of the more noteworthy information. Annexes: Selected DHS data on 10–14-year-olds There is a dearth of data on very young adolescents (VYAs)—those 10–14 years old—as adolescents ages 10–19 often are grouped together in statistical reporting, and 10–14-year-olds typically are excluded from reproductive health surveys. To learn more about the lives and needs of VYAs, Council researchers returned to the Demographic and Health Survey, focusing particularly on the presence of potentially protective structures (such as family and school) and access to media. Forty-nine country reports were presented and disseminated at the World Health Organization’s Technical Meeting on 10–14-year-olds, “Very Young Adolescents: The Hidden Young People,” held in April 2003. The reports are intended to complement the above-mentioned series, “Facts about adolescents from the Demographic and Health Survey,” and are best considered in conjunction with those reports to view young adolescents’ experiences in context. Both French and English versions are available for West African countries where noted. The Council will produce updated reports as new data become available. The reports are available in PDF format. If you would like copies sent to you, please e-mail publications@popcouncil.org.
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