services then program planners must devise strategies to reach them in other ways, such as visiting them in their communities and talking with their parents/guardians to better understand the obstacles they may face in accessing services. Young people are often categorized by the developmental stage in which they fall according to their age, a classification that has important policy and programmatic implications. For the purposes of this report, the following development stage classifications are used: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Pre-adolescent: Less than 10 Young adolescent: 10-14 Adolescent: 15-19 Older youth: 20-24 Young adult: Greater than 24
Table 7 shows the distribution of the respondents from the Belize CE according to development stages. Among females, the largest group represented among the respondents is the older youth (20-24). Among males, the largest group is the adolescents (15-19). However males are almost evenly distributed between the development stages representing 10-24 year olds while females show greater variation between the three groups. Table 7: Percent distribution of respondents of the 2011 Belize Coverage Exercise, by sex and development stage
Sex Male Female Not Reported TOTAL
PreAdolescents (less than 10) 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.1
Young Adolescents Adolescents (10-14) (15-19) 32.2 33.9 18.5 30.8 21.4 26.2 22.1 31.5
Older Youth (20-24) 32.2 49.5 50.0 45.0
Young Adults (25+) 1.6 1.2 2.4 1.3
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
N 929 2,579 42 3,550
According to Figure 9, in all districts older youth (20-24) were the largest group of females served. Young adolescents (10-14), a population of great importance for targeting in order to reduce rates of teen pregnancy and early school dropout, make up between 12.8% and 50% of females served in the districts. In Toledo, Belize and Stann Creek districts, program planners may want to target resources at reaching 10-14-year-old girls given how important prevention programs are to this age group. Figure 10 shows that among males, programs and services appear to reach a larger proportion of young adolescents (10-14) than among females – between 21.3% and 37.2% of males served in the districts.
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