OPS Hosts Workshops for Australia Awards Fellowship, Seminar on Second Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health and Well-being
The USC Office of Population Studies Foundation, Inc (OPS) hosted the second round of onsite sessions for the Australia Awards Fellowship “Driving Responsive Actions for Adolescent Health in the Philippines Utilizing Local Data” from June 24-25, 2025 in the University of San Carlos-Talamban Campus. The Australia Awards is a prestigious development cooperation window funded by the Australian Government. Among the fellows are faculty members from the University of San Carlos Department of Anthropology, Sociology and History, Economics, and research associates/fellows from OPS. The rest of the Philippine fellows under the grant come from the University of the Philippines Population Institute, the University of the Philippines-Cebu and the Research Institute for Mindanao Culture at Xavier University.
OPS as the UNFPA's Implementing Partner in conducting the "Longitudinal Cohort Study on the Girl and Boy Child"
In 2015, the United Nations launched the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development focused on 17 goals that member countries have pledged to meet in the next 15 years. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim to sustain and complete the progress started by the 2000 Millennium Development Goals: end extreme poverty, inequality and injustice, and ensure sustainable development in the midst of climate change.
The OPS was selected by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to design and conduct the 15-year "Longitudinal Cohort Study on the Girl and Boy Child" which aims to examine how the lives of a nationally representative cohort of 10-year old children are changed over the next 15 years as the Philippines implements the SDG Agenda. The Steering Committee for this study is headed by the National Economic and Development Authority and includes the Department of Health, Philippine Statistical Authority, Department of Education and the Department of Social Welfare and Development. Collaborating with OPS in this study are the Demographic Research and Development Foundation of the University of the Philippines, Research Institute for Mindanao Culture of Xavier University, and the Center for Social Research and Education of the University of San Carlos. The scope of this project places the OPS as the UNFPA's Implementing Partner with the largest coverage. Data collection for Waves 1 and 2 are completed and preparations are underway for Wave 3.
OPS Hosts Meeting on Climate Change and Health with International Collaborators and Conducts Research Forum for World Population Day 2025
On July 7-8, 2025, OPS met with Dr. Alan Stein, Dr. Heather Kitt, and Dr. Victoria Crawford of Oxford University, Dr. Linda Adair of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Dr. Joshua Miller of the University at Buffalo, New York. This two-day meeting focused on discussions on the effects of climate change on the health and well-being of children and adolescents, and collaborating on a grant proposal submission to further examine this crucial research topic using data from the Longitudinal Cohort Study on the Filipino Child (LCSFC) and the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey (CLHNS). The LCSFC and CLHNS are two of the longest-running age cohort studies in the country that are currently implemented by OPS. Representing OPS in the meeting were Director and Research Associate Francisco Largo, Deputy Director and Research Fellow Dr. Nanette Mayol, Research Associate Sonny Bechayda, and Consultants Dr. Judith Borja, Lorna Perez, Delia Carba, and Isabelita Bas.
OPS Participates in kNOwVAWdata Training Course : Measuring Violence Against Women in Asia and the Pacific
Josephine Avila of the USC-Office of Population Studies Foundation, Inc. (OPS) and Meiji Centeno of the Philippine Statistics Authority Central Office represented the Philippines in the kNOwVAWdata course on measuring violence against women (VAW) in Asia and the Pacific organized by the United Nations Population Fund Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (UNFPA APRO), the University of Melbourne and the Australian National Research Organisation for Women's Safety (ANROWS). Other participants hailed from Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, USA, Australia, Pakistan, Nepal, Lao PDR, and Fiji. Most of them are from their country's Statistics Office and UNFPA Country Office, while a handful are from other government agencies and research institutions.
The four-week training course is designed for professionals seeking to build their skills in measuring the prevalence of violence against women. The first half of the course was held in Bangkok, Thailand from June 18-29, 2018. The second block will be conducted in Melbourne, Australia from September 17-27, 2018. The time between the two blocks will be spent on mentoring sessions with the resource persons and interaction among the participants in preparation for the activities in Melbourne.