The Drum Beat – 635 – Adolescent Development
| THIS ISSUE INCLUDES: | |
| ADOLESCENT HEALTH & WELL-BEING | |
| ADOLESCENCE & GENDER | |
| ADOLESCENT EMPOWERMENT | |
| ADOLESCENTS & MIGRATION |
There are 1.2 billion adolescents worldwide, of which about 90% live in developing countries. Adolescence involves intense physical, psychological, emotional, and economic changes. However, the vulnerabilities and needs of adolescents often remain unaddressed. UNICEF believes that investing in the second decade of life is crucial for a safe, healthy, and productive transition from childhood to adulthood, and these investments must focus on those adolescents who are most at risk of passing the legacy of poverty and discrimination to the next generation. Finding ways to help adolescents participate in their own development by advocating for their rights is imperative to fully realise the rights of all children. [To understand UNICEF’s rationale for focusing on adolescence, please see Progress for Children: A Report Card on Adolescents».]
Taking this into account, this issue of The Drum Beat features a few examples from our Adolescent Development theme site with a focus on new solutions being developed around the world to improve programming for adolescents; there is a notable element of adolescents themselves being the innovators in this process. Below, you will find programming examples, research and strategy documents that offer frameworks, and resources to facilitate communication and action in the area of adolescent development.
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| ADOLESCENT HEALTH & WELL-BEING For more, please see these dedicated areas of the Adolescents theme site: |
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| 1. Adolescent Health | |
| «It is now time to put the young person, not the specific issue, centre stage.» In 2007, The Lancet published its first adolescent health series; this second series in April 2012 includes 4 papers that analyse: the role of adolescence as a foundation for future health, the social determinants of adolescent health, the potential of the worldwide application of prevention science, and the current availability of data on 25 suggested core indicators in all countries. One paper notes that, in the past 30 years, new discoveries have led to prevention science being established as a discipline designed to address mental health problems, unsafe sex, and violence. | |
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| 2. Young People and HIV/AIDS by Susan Kasedde |
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| This presentation for the Programming for Adolescents and Youth in the Arab States/MENA Region conference in Istanbul, Turkey, December 3-7 2012, opens with 2012 statistical trends in new HIV infection in adults and children. Kasedde poses the question: «The vast majority of adolescents living with HIV (60%) are adolescent girls. Why?» The presentation offers: (i) more information on adolescent key affected populations, including injecting drug users, men who have sex with men (MSM), and sex workers; (ii) an investment framework on basic programme activities of prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT), treatment, care, and support of people living with HIV (PLHIV), male circumcision, behaviour change programmes, and work with key populations; and (iii) a graph showing predictors of future investments, followed by recommended resources. | |
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| 3. Preventing Early Pregnancy and Poor Reproductive Outcomes among Adolescents in Developing Countries – WHO Guidelines | |
| As stated in this guidance document that comes from one of the World Health Organization (WHO)’s systematic reviews, adolescent pregnancy contributes to maternal, perinatal, and infant mortality and to a negative cycle of poverty and ill-health. One suggestion involves reducing coerced sex among adolescents through: advocating for laws that prohibit coerced sex and punish perpetrators; empowering girls to resist coerced sex using programmes that build self-esteem, develop life skills, and improve links to social networks and supports; challenging and changing norms that condone coerced sex, especially gender norms; and engaging men and boys to challenge gender norms. [Jan 2011] | |
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| 4. Experiences from the Field: HIV Prevention among Most at Risk Adolescents in Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States | |
| This UNICEF document shares 7 country experiences, as well as a regional perspective, in an effort to support further programming among most-at-risk-adolescents (MARA) and other vulnerable adolescents in the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region. In addition to these experiences and related tools, the resource shares results. For example, ongoing advocacy resulted in intensified dialogue around MARA issues among all partners, increased media attention to MARA, and a shift within some services originally designed for adult most-at-risk populations toward greater attention to the needs of the younger cohorts of their beneficiaries. Furthermore, in 7 countries, MARA were included in national AIDS strategies. [Jan 2013] | |
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| 5. Sports and Physical Education among Children and Adolescents in Jordan: Situation and Way Forward | |
| This study on the adolescent sports programme «International Inspiration» in Jordan discusses its focus on using physical education (PE), sport, and play to: provide better education for children and young people of all abilities; encourage them to adopt healthy lifestyles; and empower them through the development of leadership skills. Cross-cutting recommendations include: (i) encourage schools, students, and/or community workers to organise advocacy campaigns that enhance the involvement of parents with their siblings in sports activities; (ii) embed child protection in all sport and sport for development activities; (iii) use sport as a mobilisation tool to promote healthy lifestyle, inclusion, school enrolment, and retention; (iv) use sports competitions, festivals, and events as communication tools to influence behavioural change; and (v) promote a volunteering ethos among adolescents. [UNIC! EF, May 2011] | |
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| ADOLESCENCE & GENDER For more, please see these dedicated areas of the Adolescents theme site: |
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| 6. Engaging Boys and Young Men in the Prevention of Sexual Violence by Christine Ricardo, Marci Eads, and Gary Barker |
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| This review explores 65 studies that investigated the potential for intervening directly with boys and young men in community and school settings in 11 countries to address risk factors for sexual violence within diverse socio-cultural locales around the world. Among the interventions reviewed, the most common methodologies are workshops – some interactive, based on active learning, and others didactic and more passive. Overall, the studies «provide substantial evidence of effectiveness of interventions to improve boys’ and young men’s attitudes towards rape and other forms of violence against women, as well as attitudes towards rigid gender stereotypes that condone or allow this violence to occur. Evidence of effectiveness related to behaviors is less straightforward.» [Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI), Dec 2011] | |
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| 7. Parivartan | |
| Unfolding over 3 years (2009-2012) among Indian boys ages 10 to 16, Parivartan capitalised on cricket coaches’ role in the young athletes’ lives to impart the programme’s key messages. The Parivartan team trained 26 school coaches and 16 community mentors to use a kit consisting of a card series, a reference handbook, and a diary. The cards were translated in Hindi and Marathi and included discussion topics such as: respect, responsibility, insulting language, disrespectful and harmful behaviour towards women and girls, aggression and violence, and relationship abuse. A series of group sessions facilitated by the coaches/mentors formed the basis of the intervention for the athletes. [International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), Apnalaya, Breakthrough, and Mumbai School Sports Association] | |
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| 8. An Early Window of Opportunity for Promoting Girls’ Health: Policy Implications of the Girl’s Puberty Book Project in Tanzania by Marni Sommer |
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| Developed through participatory research, this project aimed to publish, evaluate, and distribute a girls’ puberty book designed for 10-14 year olds in Tanzania. The book, which has since been replicated in Ghana, Cambodia, and Ethiopia, provides basic guidance to girls on menstruation and body change. Sustained efforts with local stakeholders led to the book being integrated into government-level policy in education and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) in schools. One finding from a 2009 evaluation: «[G]irls’ strong enthusiasm for teaching other girls (such as younger girls, fellow students, and girls out of school) about the changes of puberty so they will not be afraid upon finding blood the first time, and will feel empowered through knowing how to manage their menstrual flow suggests the great potential for building or strengthening social networks between girls.» [Nike Foundation, Uni! ted Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and UNICEF, Mar 2011] | |
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| 9. Series: United Nations Joint Statement «Accelerating Efforts to Advance the Rights of Adolescent Girls» These papers, published by the Population Council, address 5 strategic priorities in an effort to advance key policies and programmes for the hardest-to-reach adolescent girls. |
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| Violence against Adolescent Girls: A Fundamental Challenge to Meaningful Equality by Judith Bruce |
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| This document explains forms of violence that affect girls, how they are inhibited from accessing resources that can support them, and how this denial of their rights conditions them to the acceptance of forms of violence. One suggestion is to use girls’ knowledge to design prevention, mitigation, reporting procedures, and treatment programmes – especially of 10-14 year-olds who are out of school, 10-14 year-olds living with one or no parent, and underage girls in exploitative work. For example, «[t]he Population Council has developed a safety scan tool for use by girls and boys to define times of the day, week, season, or situation that are sources of threat. Girls themselves should be asked to identify when they feel at risk…» [Dec 2011] | |
| Girls’ Leadership and Mentoring by Karen Austrian |
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| One suggestion: the presence of a network of young female leaders (and a safe space that they regularly occupy) implicitly and explicitly challenges the power structure within a community and lends a strong female voice to decision-making structures in the community. Leadership opportunities and social spaces for girls and young women to meet must be created. For example, a law was adopted in Guatemala in 1996 stating that all communities would have places where females can meet. When a cadre of female leaders is developed, they can begin to claim these spaces. [Aug 2012]
See also these additional papers in the series:
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| ADOLESCENT EMPOWERMENT For more, please see these dedicated areas of the Adolescents theme site: |
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| 10. Evaluating the Impact of Empowerment and Livelihood for Adolescent (ELA) by Oriana Bandiera, Niklas Buehren, Robin Burgess, Markus Goldstein, Selim Gulesci, Imran Rasul, and Munshi Sulaiman |
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| This slide presentation provides a project description of the Empowerment and Livelihood for Adolescent (ELA) programme of BRAC, a non-governmental organisation serving Bangladesh and 10 other countries around the world. It evaluates the impact of the microfinance/livelihoods aspect of the projects in Uganda. Programme goals include: strong social networks, confident and empowered citizens, self-reliance and access to further financing, and an adolescent-friendly community. In the intervention villages, the percentage of girls who have savings increased 18.5% compared to 5.6% in the control village. Researchers concluded that the ELA approach positively changes health knowledge and practices and increases engagement in learning, with the microfinance component adding to girls’ empowerment. [Makerere University, Jan 2012] | |
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| 11. Children and Change 2012: Children and Participation | |
This report focuses on the role that child/youth participation has in the work of a child rights non-governmental organisation (NGO) implementing programmes globally called Aflatoun. For example, in the Philipines, Abot-Kamay, Inc. (AKI) Philippines was part of the Aflateen pilot project and pioneered the use of peer-to-peer learning and the involvement of youth in the operational functioning of the programme. Organisers had noted that developing and implementing a financial and social education programme for youth comes with a distinct set of challenges. So, youth participants helped design, manage, and evaluate the 10 learning sessions on financial and social concepts. Abot-Kamay chose to let youth participate in developing, revising, and adapting the methodology and curriculum to ensure that it was appropriate for the learning needs of teenagers. [Dec 2012]
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| 12. Here I Am: An Interview with Disabilities Activist Maria Emilia Riotorto | |
| This video focusing on the rights of adolescents with disabilities features Maria Emilia Riotorto, a member of the Association of Deaf People of Uruguay and a teacher of Uruguayan Sign Language. UNICEF notes that people with disabilities have equal or greater exposure to all known risk factors for HIV due to a mix of factors, such as poverty and discrimination, as well as lack of accessible information on protection and services, which in turn results in risk-taking behaviour, such as unprotected sex. Maria Emilia Riotorto stresses that the fight against AIDS should include all people – young people with disabilities have sex, too – because we all have rights. Policies should include people who are deaf based on the principle of equity, she concludes. [Dec 2012] | |
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| 13. Young Voices: A Global Campaign for Equality | |
| This project seeks to increase capacity for active citizenship by working with disabled young people (16-25) to develop their understanding of human rights and advocacy, as well as develop potential leaders in the disability field with campaigning, advocacy, and media skills. Through the global network, young people with disabilities meet to share their experiences, plan, and execute campaigns and push for ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) with senior politicians. This includes organising street demonstrations and using radio, television, theatre, and music to get their message out to the general public and share their experiences of discrimination, barriers to access, and negative attitudes. [Leonard Cheshire Disability] | |
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| 14. A Generation on the Move: Insights into the Conditions, Aspirations and Activism of Arab Youth | |
| This report aims to provide insights into the lives of young Arabs aged 15-24 years – in areas including civic participation, gender equality, employment, and education – that «are not sufficiently acknowledged by the decision-makers and key actors in society who directly influence the well-being of Arab youth.» It also intends to inform and sensitise readers about the challenges and rights violations that adolescents (10-19) and youth (15-24) confront on a daily basis throughout the MENA region, as well as the opportunities to address these in the current evolving context. Several case studies are included throughout the report, such as one focused on youth employment, skills, and investments in the region. [Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut (AUB-IFI) with support from UNICEF MENARO, Nov 2011] | |
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| ADOLESCENTS & MIGRATION For more, please see this dedicated area of the Adolescents theme site: |
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| 15. Adolescents and Youth Migration: Harnessing the Development Potential while Mitigating Risk by Michael Boampong |
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| This piece on the Voices of Youth website extends a call for attention to youth migrants, who make up about a quarter of migrants worldwide. In advance of a May 2011 Informal Thematic Debate on International Migration and Development on «Migration, Adolescents and Youth: Harnessing Opportunities for Development», author Michael Boampong offers some recommendations. For example, he suggests ensuring the formal participation of children and youth in the migration discourse at local, national, and international levels. Amongst his other ideas: «Civil society organizations and the media should stimulate and play [an] active role in ensuring government accountability in enhancing protection and integration of young migrants and alternative ways of participation for individual development.» [May 2011] | |
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| 16. Children on the Move | |
| According to the Global Working Group on Children on the Move (GWG COM), «children on the move is an umbrella definition for persons under the age of 18 who have left their place of habitual residence and are either on the way towards a new destination, or have already reached such destination.» The group works to: facilitate coordination and collaboration among key international actors; mainstream children on the move in research and data gathering; increase the visibility of children on the move in key policy-development spaces and events; promote the development of child protection mechanisms in the corridors where most children move (within and between countries); and ensure that children who have experienced mobility influence policies and strategies on children on the move. | |
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| 17. Tounga, It Can Happen to You | |
| Produced by children and for children, this video/cartoon tells the story of Tounga, a young boy who leaves his village for the big city in search of a better future. Challenges he encounters along the way lead him to seek the assistance of his friends, the working children and youth (WCY), who help him out. [African Movement of Working Children and Youth, Jul 2012] | |
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| 18. Child Migration Research Network | |
| This resource is the website of the Child Migration Research Network (CMRN), which brings together researchers who look at how migration affects children. The CMRN’s work currently focuses on further investigation of girls’ migration in developing countries, with research findings intended to inform migration and social protection policy recommendations. | |
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| This issue of The Drum Beat was written by Kier Olsen DeVries. | |
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The Drum Beat seeks to cover the full range of communication for development activities. Inclusion of an item does not imply endorsement or support by The Partners.
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The Drum Beat seeks to cover the full range of communication for development activities. Inclusion of an item does not imply endorsement or support by The Partners.
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