Age at first sexual intercourse may be a predictor of future sexual behaviour and an important indicator for exposure to HIV transmission. The purpose of the study is to establish risk factors associated with age at first intercourse among Lesotho women aged 15 to 49 years. The data used came from the 2009 Lesotho Demographic and Health Survey and probit models were applied for analysis. It was found that women who have had their first sexual intercourse at age 16 or below were at risk of being married at age 18 or below (p < 0.001), are likely not to make it to secondary school (p < 0.001) and having the highest chance of not have known about the AIDS disease as compared to women who have had their sexual intercourse after the age of 16 years (p < 0.05). Delaying entry into sexuality could be safer and more secure to protect the sexual and reproductive health in young women. The more time women spend at school the less likely that they can engage in sexual intercourse at a young age (Afr. J Reprod Health 2016; 20[2]: 34-42).

Under-five mortality remains a public health challenge in South Africa and other developing countries where children are likely to die before reaching five years. This paper aimed to identify factors associated with under-five mortality in South Africa taking into account clustering using the 1998 South African Demographic and Health Survey data. Survival analysis techniques were used to understand under-five mortality and its determinants. Frailty models incorporating family and community frailty effects were implemented. The results revealed that preceding birth interval, birth type, breastfeeding and dwelling unit type were significant determinants of under-five mortality. The findings further confirmed that children belonging to the same family and children belonging to the same community shared certain unobserved characteristics that put them at risk of death.

Reducing adolescent childbearing has been a global priority since the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development. Age of a woman at first birth is significant in her life because motherhood involves a substantial commitment of time and resources, and it tends to set the stage within which other roles are assumed. There are consequences related to early age at first birth for both the mothers and the children. Data and Methods: The data used for analysis came from the 2015-2016 MIHS of Angola which was its first DHS. The 2015-2016 Angolan MIHS collected information from 14 379 women aged 15-49 years from 16 109 households. Women were asked questions around ages at which they gave births to their children. The Tarone-Ware test was used to test the equality of the survival functions. The Cox PH model was used to determine the factors that were associated with early age at first birth. Results and Conclusion: Results revealed that women who had their sexual intercourse at a young age (HR = 4.66; p < 0.001), women who never had a termination of pregnancy (HR = 1.22; p < 0.001), women who were never married (HR = 1.19; p < 0.001), women with no education (HR = 3.22; p < 0.001), women with primary education (HR = 5.08; p < 0.001), women with secondary education (HR = 5.06, p < 0.001), women of Christian religion (HR = 1.10; p = 0.035) and women who resided in informal houses (HR = 1.30; p < 0.001) were significantly associated with the risk of early age at first birth.

The purpose of this study is to explore the perceptions of residents staying in suburbs and townships regarding the service delivered by a municipality under administration. The South African literature shows that residents in different locations behave differently when they receive poor service delivery from municipalities. Internationally, service delivery by municipalities has been measured using two research instruments. The research design was a survey and the sample size was 522 respondents. The convenient sampling technique was used to select them. The primary data were collected via face-to-face interviews, and a validated services perception (SERVPERF) questionnaire, developed by Cronin and Taylor, was adapted and used to collect data. The main finding of the study was that residents in the townships did not organize themselves and voice their dissatisfaction by embarking on protests, and they significantly agreed (Odds ratio = 0.54; P = 0.005; 95 confidence interval = 0.3516; 0.8279), more than the suburbs residents, that in the past eight months the service had improved. The study concludes with recommendations for future research and implications for municipal managers. Keywords: Hirschman theory, service delivery, SERVPERF, suburbs and townships residents. JEL Classification: M31

No abstract