Esther Miedema

University of Amsterdam | UVA · Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research

The purpose of this special issue (SI) is to develop an emic understanding of decision-making processes and choices of various sets of actors in different parts of the world with regard to child marriage and how these choices may be related to ideas and practices concerning development-whether at individual, familial and/or community levels. In add...

Over the past 25 years, there has been growing investment in concepts of rights in the areas of HIV prevention, care and treatment, including HIV- and AIDS-related education delivered in schools. Despite this increasing commitment to the notion of rights, few efforts appear to have been made to understand the varying conceptions of rights that unde...

Background: Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) is increasingly gaining traction within the international community. CSE is regarded as an important means of informing young people about their rights and sexual health, improving public health outcomes and contributing to sustainable development. Context and objective: Considerable variation ex...

There is a burgeoning body of research on the role of ‘shame’ and ‘honour’ in decisions regarding early marriage in different parts of the world. Conceptualizing shame and honour as idioms through which gendered socio-economic inequalities are created and maintained, we examine early marriage decisions in Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Ghana, Burkina...

In this brief report, we present findings on an exploratory study on silences and silencing in and of feminist and queer academics and activists in different parts of the world. The study seeks to identify how and where these academics and activists encounter silencing, and how they seek to circumvent silencing when it occurs. A range of domains of...

Scrutinising disproportionate media and political attention provided to the ills of the ‘white working-class’, this article examines the framing of their apparent underachievement in education policy and discourse in early post-Brexit vote England. In a political context dominated by anti-immigration and nationalist rhetoric, this article aims to i...

The COVID-19 epidemic provides yet another reason to prioritize inclusive development. Current response strategies of the global community and countries expose a low level of solidarity with poorer nations and poorer people in all nations. Against this background, this paper addresses the question: What are the development challenges that the COVID...

This report presents the findings of the impact evaluation (IE) of the five-year Her Choice programme (HC), conducted by the research partner, AISSR/UvA. The 'Her Choice' programme sought to build child marriage-free communities in rural communities in 10 countries: Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Nepal, Pakistan, Senegal, a...

In recent years, the international community has increasingly directed its attention to reducing the prevalence of child marriage, which is defined as marriage before the age of 18. Child marriage has been shown to disproportionately affect young women in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, and to have a range of adverse health impacts, particularly...

Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) is promoted around the world to improve young people’s sexual and reproductive health and rights, and to address gender-based violence. Teachers play crucial roles in enacting CSE, yet only few studies have placed them centrally to understand CSE re-contextualisation in schools. Hence, drawing on interviews,...

The synthesis report presents findings of the midline evaluation of the Her Choice programme, and was developed by the Her Choice research partner, AISSR/UvA. The Her Choice programme seeks to reduce the prevalence of early marriage in 10 countries in South Asia and Sub-Saharan countries.

The synthesis report presents findings of the midline evaluation of the Her Choice programme, and was developed by the Her Choice research partner, AISSR/UvA. The Her Choice programme seeks to reduce the prevalence of early marriage in 10 countries in South Asia and Sub-Saharan countries.

The synthesis report presents findings of the midline evaluation of the Her Choice programme, and was developed by the Her Choice research partner, AISSR/UvA. The Her Choice programme seeks to reduce the prevalence of early marriage in 10 countries in South Asia and Sub-Saharan countries.

Background: Pregnancy amongst adolescent girls is common in many parts of the world. The dominant discourse in public health unquestioningly paints this as a problem; it does not pay sufficient attention to girls’ views. Objectives: This paper presents a critical account of adolescent South Sudanese girls’ reasons for and explanations of childbeari...

Using Ghana and Ethiopia as case studies, this chapter examines the teaching and learning about sex and sexuality at basic, secondary, and university levels. It explores whether teaching and learning about sex and sexuality changes as students advance to subsequent levels in the education system, that is, from primary to secondary and tertiary leve...

Building on postcolonial feminist scholars and critical anthropological work, this paper analyses the frequent deployment of the notion of ‘culture’ by decision-makers, educators, international agency staff and young people in the design, delivery and uptake of sexuality and HIV prevention education in Mozambique. The paper presents qualitative dat...

Notions of ‘participation’ in sexuality education has gained considerable traction in recent years – with participation being regarded as a fundamental right and a critical means to empower young people. However, the notion has increasingly been subject of debate, with critics problematising the manner in which participation is operationalised, and...

This tool scores different dimensions of schools to assess whether or not they can be considered girl friendly schools (GFS), creating a visual image of the accumulated score. The tool has been developed with a number of aims in mind, including i) facilitating an evaluation of schools, ii) facilitating (multi-) stakeholder discussions on a school w...

This tool scores different dimensions of comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) programs and creates a visual image of this score. The tool has been developed with a number of aims in mind, including i) facilitating an evaluation of CSE programs, ii) facilitating (multi-) stakeholder discussions on a particular CSE program with a view to improving...

This tool scores different dimensions of schools to assess whether or not they can be considered girl friendly schools (GFS), creating a visual image of the accumulated score. The tool has been developed with a number of aims in mind, including i) facilitating an evaluation of schools, ii) facilitating (multi-) stakeholder discussions on a school w...

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) lay the foundations for supporting global health and international development work for the next 15 years. Thirty years ago, the Ottawa Charter defined health promotion and outlined key principles for global action on health, including the importance of advocating, enabling and mediating for health equity. A...

This research report details findings from a case study conducted in Ethiopia in May 2017. The report: a) summarises main findings of the literature review that was conducted within the context of the project (Hague, Miedema & Le Mat, 2017) identifying core components to CSE. b) details the methodology of the case study conducted in Ethiopia. c)...

This literature review discusses literature on Comprehensive Sexuality Education. The report is divided into the following sections: Part 1 discusses the core components of CSE and their inclusion in literature on the topic. Part 2 further discusses the range of definitions attributed to CSE, including its comparison to and synonymic use with othe...

This report presents the findings of the Her Choice baseline study. Her Choice (HC) is one of three Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) alliances working in partnership with the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the issue of child marriage. HC is an alliance of four Netherlands based organisations: Stichting Kinderpostzegels N...

This chapter analyses the historical and socio-political contexts of the design and delivery of school-based sexuality education for young women and men in two Sub-Saharan African countries: Ghana and Mozambique. The chapter interrogates colonising tendencies within, and created through, school-based sexuality education. Emphasis is placed on the f...

This scoping study examines current literature on child marriage in order to give an overview of the topic and identify thematic and geographic gaps in the literature. As well as examining global information and projects, the report specifically focuses on the 11 project countries of the Her Choice SRHR alliance; Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, Et...

Miedema, E., Koster, W. & Pouw, N. (2016). Her Choice Baseline Study: FGD Topic Guide Girls/Boys, Amsterdam: AISSR/UvA

Her Choice Baseline Study: Community level questionnaire

Koster, W., Miedema, E. & Pouw, N. (2016). Her Choice Baseline Study: Health Centre level Tools, Amsterdam: AISSR/UvA

Her Choice Baseline Study: Health Centre level Tools

Her Choice Baseline Study: Questionnaire for SRH Teachers

Her Choice Baseline Study: Questionnaire SRH Health Centre Staff

Her Choice Baseline Study: Questionnaire District Level

Her Choice Baseline Study: Questionnaire School Principal

In this chapter, I examine the role of public schools in shaping young people’s gendered understanding of citizenship and their “sense of place” in Mozambique. I seek to illuminate two interrelated features of processes of civil enculturation, which is defined as education for and about citizenship (Baumann 2004). First, I discuss the centrality of...

There is increasing recognition of the importance of space in the study of education, resulting in a greatly diversified literature on the geographies of education. This article builds on this growing body of scholarly work to examine a number of critical spatial assumptions underpinning school-based HIV- and AIDS-related education in Maputo, Mozam...

This desk study was carried out to review existing standards, guidelines and tools for youth friendly health services (YFHS) and identify what are considered essential characteristics of youth friendly health services, i.e. what makes them ‘youth friendly’.

There exists broad consensus as to the importance of HIV- and AIDS-related education in efforts to decrease young people’s vulnerability to the epidemic. Less agreement exists as to the form such education should take. Drawing on educational philosophy and theory, this study sought to develop a conceptual framework to support the analysis and posit...

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)- and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-related education is seen by many as central to increasing young people's awareness of, as well as decreasing their vulnerability to, HIV. There is less agreement, however, on the central goals of HIV- and AIDS-related education and the form it might best take. This p...

This module looks at SRH, HIV and AIDS¬-related education and how this can best be integrated into the formal school curriculum. The module concentrates on issues relating to teaching and learning about SRH, HIV and AIDS, and the main question educational policy-makers and planners need to address namely, what the implications are for policy and pl...