TRANSITIONS TO ADULTHOOD

Public Choices, Private Decisions: Sexual and Reproductive Health and the Millennium Development Goals

A new report released by the UN Millennium Project (offsite link) confirms that addressing sexual and reproductive health is key to achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Public Choices, Private Decisions: Sexual and Reproductive Health and the Millennium Development Goals (offsite PDF) outlines five strategic interventions to improve sexual and reproductive health:

1. Population and sexual and reproductive health must be integrated into national poverty reduction strategies. As part of this process, key population groups must be identified to target interventions in order to reach people most in need.

2. Sexual and reproductive health services must be integrated into strengthened health systems. Such systems must be client-focused and able to support a continuum of care throughout the client’s life. Planning and monitoring of these systems must be realistic and specific, and the management of trained, competent staff must be flexible.

3. In order to plan, monitor, and evaluate effective management and ensure accountability, data must be systematically collected and databases result-oriented.

4. Coordinated efforts to allocate sufficient national and international financial resources for commodities, supplies, and logistics to spur health improvements within a relative short timeframe are urgently needed.

5. Addressing populations that are in special need of sexual and reproductive health services is crucial for development. Adolescents, postpartum women, and people facing humanitarian crisis have greater health risks and require targeted attention. Similarly, men as partners, agents of change, and clients must be more integrated in reproductive health programs.

Seven background papers were prepared for Public Choices, Private Decisions, two of which were authored by Population Council staff members:

"The diverse universe of adolescents, and the girls and boys left behind: A note on research, program and policy priorities," by Judith Bruce and Erica Chong, highlights the need to target specific subsets of adolescents, and describes four subgroups who are typically neglected by conventional youth programming and who are particularly consequential to the shape of poverty, demographic change, and the HIV epidemic. (offsite PDF)

"Schooling and adolescent reproductive behavior in developing countries," by Cynthia B. Lloyd, compares various aspects of adolescent reproductive behavior between students and the nonenrolled, reviews the evidence on the links between school exit and marriage timing, and assesses the relative contribution of school girl pregnancy to overall pregnancy rates and dropout rates among adolescents. (offsite PDF)

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This page updated 20 June 2006

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