A new study, “Global and National Declines in Life Expectancy: An End-of-2021 Assessment,” reports on changes in life expectancies around the world. It is authored by Patrick Heuveline, professor of sociology and associate director of the California Center for Population Research at UCLA, and published in Population and Development Review, a journal of the Population Council.

The Population Council’s Center for Biomedical Research has been awarded an $11 million P50 Clinical Research Center Grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute for Child Health and Development (NICHD) of the National Institute of Health (NIH). Queen’s University Belfast and Weill Cornell Medical College will partner with the Council on this grant over the next five years.

As gender disparities in education persist and continue to undermine girls’ opportunities, a new review finds that significant knowledge gaps remain in our understanding of which interventions are most likely to work and improve girls’ education and skills.

The Population Council is pleased to announce Raya Muttarak and Joshua Wilde as new Editors of Population and Development Review (PDR).

SAN FRANCISCO and NEW YORK, NY (December 1, 2021) – Medicines360, a mission-driven nonprofit women’s health pharmaceutical organization, and the Population Council, a global nonprofit research organization, have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding to develop a dual prevention pill (DPP) product to prevent both pregnancy and HIV in a single tablet – for global distribution. The organizations intend to expedite the development, regulatory, and manufacturing pathways of one of the newest multi-purpose prevention technologies (MPTs) specifically for women. The organizations are seeking philanthropic support for product development, and clinical and regulatory work to bring the product to market.

An exciting, new study from the Population Council’s Kenya office and Girl Innovation, Research, and Learning (GIRL) Center tested the assumption that sanitary pads would improve girls’ education outcomes and ultimately found that distribution of sanitary pads did not in fact impact school attendance, performance, or the transition to secondary school, contrary to popular belief. However, the adolescent health education curriculum component of the intervention did indeed improve attitudes regarding reproductive health, demonstrating increased pride and comfort about menstruation, as well as enhanced knowledge of reproductive health, endorsement of equitable gender norms, and general self-confidence.   

NEW YORK, NEW YORK (September 14, 2021) – The Population Council is thrilled to announce the appointment of our colleague Dr. Karen Austrian as the Director of the Council’s Girl Innovation, Research, and Learning (GIRL) Center – a global research hub that generates, synthesizes, and translates evidence on adolescents to support investments that transform their lives, especially for girls.  

NEW YORK, NY (July 13, 2021) – Research conducted by the Population Council in Kenya and published in a new report by Kenya’s Presidential Policy and Strategy Unit (PASU) shows the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the lives of adolescent girls and boys in Kenya. The report, “Promises to Keep: Impact of COVID-19 on Adolescents in Kenya," points to the critical need for bold action to address school dropout, adolescent pregnancies, lost learning momentum, violence and other negative consequences of the pandemic on the lives of adolescents in Kenya.

It is our great honor to announce the appointment of Dr. Harriet Birungi as the Vice President of International Programs and Dr. Thoại Ngô as the Vice President of Social and Behavioral Science Research – colleagues who have been promoted to our executive leadership team following recent transitions. Harriet currently serves as Director of the Population Council’s office in Kenya and Thoại serves as Director of our Poverty, Gender and Youth program.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK (July 15, 2020) -- New Population Council research shows that the COVID-19 data being collected and reported across the United States (U.S.) is inconsistent and incomplete exposing the country’s inability to analyze and use data to guide its response. These shortcomings further restrict health officials’ ability to understand the key demographic factors that place certain populations and communities at increased risk of contracting and experiencing adverse health outcomes from COVID-19.