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To explore the patterning, practices, and drivers of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Ethiopia's Afar region. This article draws on mixed-methods research conducted in 2022 in 18 rural communities in three districts of Ethiopia's Afar region. Survey data were collected from 1,022 adolescents and their caregivers. Qualitative interviews were conducted with approximately 270 adults and adolescents. The survey found that FGM remains practically universal (97% of sampled adolescent girls), and infibulation remains the norm (87% of girls). Most adolescent girls and caregivers reported that FGM is required by religion and should continue. When queried about the main reason for FGM, however, most cited culture rather than religion. Female caregivers and adolescent girls were more likely to report that FGM has benefits than risks; the reverse was true for male caregivers. Qualitative evidence suggests that even girls who are not reported as infibulated generally, and that the social benefits of FGM––especially regarding controlling girls' sexuality and facilitating their marriageability––are perceived to outweigh health risks. Where there are shifts in type of FGM, it is largely due to efforts of religious leaders who preach against infibulation and for "milder" types––and the growing scope of fathers to input into mothers' FGM decision-making and advocate for less invasive types. Eliminating FGM requires focusing on contexts where the practice is most invasive and progress is not yet visible. Given complex intrahousehold and intragenerational dynamics, this will necessitate engaging whole communities with sustained multipronged approaches to shift social norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the piloting of vignette research tools within focus group discussions involving 34 adolescent girls aged 15–19 in Rwanda. The purpose of the research was to elucidate norms around sexual violence. Through a 'collective capabilities' lens, which focuses on ways to move beyond change at the individual level towards empowerment processes that benefit all girls, we reflect on the opportunities this methodological tool offers for expanding girls' understanding of the norms that enable sexual violence, and the context-specific ways they can respond. After providing an overview of the vignettes exercise and the way in which the vignette on sexual violence was used with participants, we present girls' accounts of sexual violence drawn from discussions based around the vignettes and our analysis of these findings. We find that gendered social norms around gender, sexuality, age, and responsibility for safety that apportion blame to girls who experience sexual violence play a role in preventing girls from using reporting mechanisms. Although girls have a strong sense of this being unfair, they realise they must also find ways to navigate these norms to avoid being blamed for their own victimisation. Based on this data, we suggest that the use of vignettes in the context of qualitative longitudinal research offers insights into norms about the drivers and causes of sexual violence that are otherwise challenging to elicit because of the sensitivity of the topic. We find that vignettes can be an empowering tool, both in raising 'unspoken' issues girls face and in creating the opportunity for girls to collectively work out pathways to accountability in a context where sexual violence is widespread but underreported. However, strategies to address sexual violence must account for barriers to reporting that include the social implications for girls of identifying perpetrators and exposing themselves to stigma and blame. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the piloting of vignette research tools within focus group discussions involving 34 adolescent girls aged 15–19 in Rwanda. The purpose of the research was to elucidate norms around sexual violence. Through a 'collective capabilities' lens, which focuses on ways to move beyond change at the individual level towards empowerment processes that benefit all girls, we reflect on the opportunities this methodological tool offers for expanding girls' understanding of the norms that enable sexual violence, and the context-specific ways they can respond. After providing an overview of the vignettes exercise and the way in which the vignette on sexual violence was used with participants, we present girls' accounts of sexual violence drawn from discussions based around the vignettes and our analysis of these findings. We find that gendered social norms around gender, sexuality, age, and responsibility for safety that apportion blame to girls who experience sexual violence play a role in preventing girls from using reporting mechanisms. Although girls have a strong sense of this being unfair, they realise they must also find ways to navigate these norms to avoid being blamed for their own victimisation. Based on this data, we suggest that the use of vignettes in the context of qualitative longitudinal research offers insights into norms about the drivers and causes of sexual violence that are otherwise challenging to elicit because of the sensitivity of the topic. We find that vignettes can be an empowering tool, both in raising 'unspoken' issues girls face and in creating the opportunity for girls to collectively work out pathways to accountability in a context where sexual violence is widespread but underreported. However, strategies to address sexual violence must account for barriers to reporting that include the social implications for girls of identifying perpetrators and exposing themselves to stigma and blame. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insights into the role of changing historical-political-cultural contexts and social norms in shaping adolescent girls' and boys' futures contributes to an understanding of human development at the intersection of gender and youth in low- and middle-income countries. This study investigates the capabilities and aspirations of adolescent girls and boys and their evolution in Amhara against the background of three successive political regimes that governed Ethiopia over the last 90 years, the Haile-Selassie imperial regime (1930–1974), the socialist military Derg regime (1974–1991), and the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (1991–2019), each with their own institutions, structures and infrastructure, and gender- and age-related relations and norms. The study adopts a capability approach with a gender and generationing development lens as a framework and relies on qualitative data collected through community- and mixed-generation group discussions. The study illustrates that, even if institutional and structural barriers became less stringent over time, cumulative gender- and age-related obstacles – some rooted in beliefs, norms, traditions and relations – hindered the expansion of adolescents' capability success, consistently more so for girls than boys. (The threat of) gender-based violence pervasively constrains girls' capabilities success and aspirations in spite of more formal protective institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation: Although many countries have made progress towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) on inclusive and equitable education for all, vulnerable children and adolescents in low‐income countries often face significant barriers to realizing educational opportunities, especially at secondary and post‐secondary or tertiary levels. Purpose: In line with the aim of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to "leave no one behind", the article explores the factors that shape the educational trajectories of vulnerable population groups and contributes to evidence‐informed policy and programming to tackle school dropout in rural Ethiopia. Approach and Methods: The article draws on qualitative research on 150 girls and boys aged 10–19 years, along with their caregivers and key informants, in communities from three diverse regions in Ethiopia: pastoralist Afar, highland Amhara, and lowland Oromia. Findings: Although Ethiopia has made remarkable progress in increasing secondary enrolment since 2000, intersecting barriers put vulnerable adolescents' educational opportunities at risk. Children and adolescents from poor households, those with disabilities, and who are internally displaced, out‐of‐school or working face a range of challenges at the household, community and system levels. These barriers are also shaped by gender norms that restrict adolescent girls' and boys' education, often in contrasting ways. Policy Implications: A multi‐pronged approach is critical to promoting educational opportunities that leave no adolescent behind, including investments in school quality, positive disciplinary approaches, competency‐based grade progression, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities and school‐feeding programmes; the wider enabling environment, including social protection and safe, subsidized transport; initiatives to tackle age‐ and gender‐based violence that discourages school attendance; and tailored strategies to support the most vulnerable young people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the far-ranging direct effects of armed conflict on daily life, physical health, and economic outcomes, there is limited evidence on its impacts on social and political outcomes, and even less evidence on its impacts on adolescents, despite this being a pivotal life-stage. This paper seeks to address this critical gap in the literature by exploring the effects of armed conflict in northern Ethiopia that lasted from 2020 to 2022 on adolescents' social capital, including their peer networks, relationships with trusted adults, and sense of belonging to their community and polity. The paper draws on quantitative research that book-ended the 2020–2022 armed conflict in the north of the country, as well as qualitative interviews that were conducted before, during, and after that period. The quantitative research involved approximately 2200 adolescents; the qualitative research focused on a subset of these adolescents, but also sought to understand the perspectives of caregivers and other key community informants. We find that adolescents' bonding social capital (especially relationships with peers and community members) is generally enhanced post-conflict due to a sense of common purpose. There is, however, a heightened risk of violence within the household, likely due to tensions around adolescents' future trajectories and economic pressures. Findings around bridging social capital (i.e., relationships with authorities and engagement in formal politics) suggest that while young people often play key roles in terms of defending their communities and supporting armed forces during the conflict, after the cessation of violence there is limited scope for their continued engagement, especially for opposition party supporters. • There is limited evidence on the impacts of armed conflict on social and political outcomes of adolescents. • This paper addresses this gap by exploring the effects of armed conflict in northern Ethiopia on adolescent social capital. • We find that adolescents' bonding social capital rises when conflict ceases as does the risk of violence within household. • Findings around bridging social capital suggest that young people play an important role during conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eliciting adolescents' voices through qualitative research necessitates research methods which challenge the power dynamics that marginalize young people and thus inhibit them from sharing their perspectives. In lower- and middle-income countries where younger adolescents in particular are often discouraged from expressing their voices, this is especially important. Methodological tools which are adaptable, interesting and create space within the research process for participation and freedom of expression are critical when eliciting the "voices" of young people aged 10–14 years, who are often less visible or accessible and thus marginalized both socially and within research processes. For example, adolescents with disabilities or those out of school may require methodological adaptations to ensure meaningful participation. This article focuses on the ethical, practical and data quality issues that emerge when engaging with young adolescents that are marginalized both in research and within their own communities, and the need to ensure complementarity between the process of the research and its broader objective of expanding adolescent capabilities. Bearing in mind these challenges, this paper reflects on the methodological toolkit developed by the Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence (GAGE) research project as a means for eliciting a diversity of adolescent voices and ensuring that socially excluded adolescents are not "left behind," nor included on a merely tokenistic basis. We suggest that the strengths of the GAGE methodological toolkit lie in its grounding within broader research objectives vis-à-vis expanding adolescent capabilities and challenging structures and norms which marginalize young people. The flexibility, reflexivity and importantly the enjoyability of these methods led to adolescents both feeling at ease, able and willing to contribute their voices to the research—as well as empowered to use their voices in other areas of their lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown has shattered the everyday lives of young people, limiting peer interactions and disrupting privacy, with potential for long-term detrimental impacts. This study uses rapid virtual quantitative and qualitative surveys undertaken from April to July 2020 with over 4,800 adolescents affected by displacement in Bangladesh and Jordan to explore adolescent girls' experiences of social isolation and lack of privacy. Our mixed-methods findings suggest that the pandemic and policy response has caused sharp restrictions on privacy and substantially limited interactions with peers, with larger impacts on girls, particularly those with disabilities. For girls, digital exclusion exacerbates these gender differences. Given that privacy and peer interactions are paramount during adolescence, age-, gender-, and disabilityresponsive programming is essential to ensure future wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on linkages between adolescent girls’ psychosocial wellbeing and socio-cultural norms in conflict-affected contexts, with a focus on the Gaza Strip. Methods: Drawing on qualitative research undertaken with adolescent girls, their caregivers and service providers following the 2014 Gaza-Israeli War, it explores adolescent experiences and psycho-emotional responses, and the extent to which their vulnerabilities were addressed by programing interventions. Results: Our findings highlight that the conflict worsened adolescent girls’ multi-dimensional psychosocial vulnerabilities, among a population already suffering from a prolonged humanitarian crisis and limited available coping responses. We argue that programs interventions tended to focus primarily on younger children, while largely overlooking adolescents and their specific age- and gender-related vulnerabilities. Conclusion: These shortcomings must be addressed to better support adolescent girls’ psychosocial wellbeing and resilience, and that a stronger focus on adolescents’ evolving developmental needs - including the interplay of gendered social norms - urgently need to inform programing responses in conflict-affected contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gender inequality continues to constrain women's opportunities in the agricultural sector, both in terms of achieving food security and increasing agricultural productivity. However, investment in gender-responsive programming which promotes women's empowerment can help to overcome these constraints. This article discusses experiences in social protection programming design and implementation with respect to gender equality, food security and agricultural productivity: we find that while a large part of social protection programming remains focused on supporting women's domestic and care roles and responsibilities, there have also been important advances in thoughtful programming which supports more transformative changes in women's roles as producers. These types of programmes typically recognise the multiple risks and vulnerabilities that women face, both in their reproductive and productive roles, and aim to overcome these through integrated programming combining support for basic needs as well as broader empowerment goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY Recently, there has been growing attention to the need to include girls (and boys) more prominently in poverty reduction and development agendas. How to do this effectively, however, remains an under-researched subject, especially in debates around chronic poverty, that is, the experience of severe, multidimensional poverty for an extended period of time. Although the Chronic Poverty Research Centre has spotlighted the often overlooked social and nonincome dimensions of poverty traps, including social discrimination and limited citizenship, in general scholarship has paid relatively limited attention to the interplay between gender, poverty reduction and governance institutions. To address this lacuna, this article draws on recent research by the Chronic Poverty Research Centre and the Overseas Development Institute that highlights the key role context-specific social institutions play in informing and determining the life opportunities and agency of girls and young women. To more effectively address the governance challenges involved in tackling such deprivations, the article discusses three key measures that can support the eradication of gendered experiences of poverty: the importance of involving local community leaders, working with men and boys to raise awareness about girls' and women's rights, and promoting collective action and voice among girls and young women. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines three social protection interventions from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Peru, and discusses the extent to which they effectively integrate a gender perspective to address poverty and vulnerability. All three case studies have important design features aiming to tackle gender inequalities in both the economic and social spheres, which is critical for programme effectiveness. Despite these examples of good practice, however, there are gaps in programme design, particularly in explicitly challenging existing inequalities between men and women, for instance, such as promoting women's quality participation in the labour market, and their active engagement, voice and agency in household and community decision-making. Moreover, greater investment in the implementation of such features is often needed to effectively translate programme goals into gender equitable outcomes and impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Caring for children and other dependents is crucial to human well-being, and to social and economic development. Yet, most national and international policymakers appear persistently blind to this fact, as has been highlighted by the recent global economic crisis. They need to recognise and value care work if they are to support vulnerable families from the effects of economic downturn. The 2008-2009 global economic crisis has served to underscore the potential effects of inadequate attention to care economy dynamics, with serious risks to children's education, development, health and protection already evident. Nevertheless, economic recovery measures continue to provide little space or funding for protective or remedial measures. We argue that gender and care-sensitive social protection measures are a good means by which to support the position of carers and to create better visibility within policy circles, while also demonstrating considerable returns for human well-being and broader long-term economic development. These returns are evident in pre-existing social protection programmes, from which it will be vital to learn lessons. Including care-sensitive social protection in economic recovery packages also has the potential to improve the visibility and importance of care in a transformative and sustainable way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our article explores how intersecting crises, sociocultural norms around gender, age, household and community and broader political and economic shifts are affecting youth transitions. We draw on qualitative virtual research with 138 young people in Ethiopia and Jordan undertaken between April and August 2020. COVID-19 is exacerbating ongoing crises and gender inequalities in Ethiopia and Jordan and foreclosing opportunities for youth transitions. In Ethiopia, the pandemic has compounded the precarity of young people who have migrated from rural to urban areas, often to locations where they are socially marginalised. In Jordan, the confinement of young people affected by forced displacement to their households with extended family during pandemic-related service closures augments existing perceptions of an extended 'waithood'—both psychosocially and economically. In both contexts, conservative gender norms further entrench the restrictions on adolescent girls' mobility with consequences for their opportunities and wellbeing. This article makes an important contribution to the literature on gender, migrant youth and the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic by showing how multiple crises have sharpened the social and political (im)mobilities that already shaped young men and women's lives in Ethiopia and Jordan and the consequences for their trajectories to adulthood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many Ethiopian adolescents experience different forms of violence and abuse at home, at school, and in their communities. There are very limited referral, case management, and justice services, especially outside of urban areas, so young people draw largely on protective and promotive interpersonal resources. This article explores the extent to which available support systems promote processes of resilience among young people at risk of age- and gender-based violence and abuse. The article draws on data from Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence (GAGE), a longitudinal research study. Qualitative data were collected in 2017–2018 and 2019–2020 through individual interviews and focus group discussions with 595 adolescents and their families, and 77 service provider, community and governmental key informants. In the absence of effective and at-scale formal protection services, young people who experience age- and gender-based violence draw on support from family members and diverse peer networks. These range from informal friendship groups to organized groups, school-based girls' clubs, and recently formed youth movements linked to the current political transformation in the country. However, given the complex economic, political and social drivers of age- and gender-based violence and abuse, we find that social systems drawn upon by adolescents are often misaligned with formal services and have limited capacity to enable their resilience. The findings underline the need to invest in multi-systemic effective, low-cost and accessible social protection, justice, and referral services to address the multiple factors that drive intersecting forms of violence and support young people in preventing and overcoming the effects of abuse. • In the absence of effective protection services, adolescents experiencing abuse seek support from informal social systems • Young people's social support systems have limited and uneven capacity to help foster resilience • Multi-systemic interventions to enhance social protection, justice and referral services and address social norms are crucial [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This article explores the extent to which COVID-19 is deepening education vulnerabilities in LMICs. • Gender differentials in access to distance education are surprisingly uneven across contexts. • Our findings reveal disadvantages for girls in Bangladesh and Ethiopia, but the reverse in Jordan. • Adolescents with disabilities face greater barriers to all forms of distance education. • Measures to tackle social inequalities are critical to prevent entrenching prior disadvantages. This article explores the social determinants of adolescents' access to education during the COVID-19 pandemic in three diverse urban contexts in Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Jordan. It provides novel empirical data from the Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence longitudinal study, drawing on phone surveys (4441), qualitative interviews with adolescents aged 12–19 years (500), and key informant interviews conducted between April and October 2020. Findings highlight that the pandemic is compounding pre-existing vulnerabilities to educational disadvantage, and that gender, poverty and disability are intersecting to deepen social inequalities. The paper concludes by reflecting on policy implications for inclusive distance education in emergencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]