AFRO-NETS> New Publication: The Uncharted Passage

[Dieter Neuvians MD <neuvians@harare.iafrica.com>]

New Publication: The Uncharted Passage
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The Uncharted Passage: Girls' Adolescence in the Developing World

Barbara S. Mensch, Judith Bruce, Margaret E. Greene;
Population Council, New York USA, 1998, ll6 pp.

Adolescence is a powerfully formative time of transition to adult-
hood, roughly concurrent with the second decade of life. What happens 
between the ages of 10 and 19, whether for good or ill, shapes how 
girls and boys live their adult lives-not only in the reproductive 
arena, but in the social and economic realm as well. Yet, despite its 
impact on human development, adolescence has been sidelined as a sub-
ject for policy and research in developing countries.

While all adolescents deserve our attention, the needs of adolescent 
girls in the developing world are particularly pressing. This mono-
graph focuses on these girls, presenting illustrative statistics to 
examine the social and economic context of their lives at home, 
school, and work, and to investigate adolescent reproductive health, 
marriage, and childbearing. Distinctive features of adolescent girls' 
lives include confinement to domestic roles and responsibilities; re-
stricted mobility; inadequate schooling insufficient opportunities to 
work for wages; pressure, in many countries, to marry early and, in 
virtually all countries, to begin childbearing immediately after mar-
riage; and limited control over their reproductive health and fertil-
ity.

Public policy must chart a positive future for the largest generation 
of girls in history. Toward this end, the authors outline an agenda 
for policy, programs, and research, and provide illustrations of suc-
cessful local efforts to improve the lives of adolescents.


Single copies of this publication are available free to developing-
country professionals and institutions in the fields of population 
and development, family planning, and reproductive health from:

Publications Office
Population Council
One Dag Hammarskjold Plaza
New York, New York 10017, USA
Fax: +1-212-755-6052
mailto:dwarn@popcouncil.org

If you respond by e-mail, you must include your name, shipping ad-
dress, and - as a subscriber of 'Studies in Family Planning' - your 
subscriber number (located on the first line of the mailing label).

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