A presentation by Bassam Abu Hamad, Nicola Jones and Megan Devonald, IV ISA Forum of Sociology, February 2021

1. Issues of Power in Youth Research
Enablers and Barriers to Youth Participation in
Protracted Crises: A Case Study of the Gaza Strip
Hands of married girls, ITS in Jordan © Nathalie Bertrams / GAGE 2019
Bassam Abu Hamad, Nicola Jones and Megan Devonald
25th February 2021

2. Outline of presentation
1
• Introduction
2
• Methodology
3
• Key Findings
4
•Policy and programming recommendations

3. Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence (GAGE):
A longitudinal research programme (2015-2024)
By finding out ‘what works,’ for whom, where
and why, we can better support adolescent girls
and boys to maximise their capabilities now and
in the future.
We are following 20,000 adolescent girls and boys - the largest cohort of
adolescents in the Global South

4. Why adolescence?
An age of opportunity The demographic imperative
In Gaza, 23% of the
population was
between 10 and 19.
1-in-2 of Gaza’s HHs, are
multidimensionally poor
ADOLESCENCE
10-19 years
Rapid neuro-
development
changes Growing
adoption of
adult-like
roles, e.g.
work, intimate
relationships
Increased
salience of
gender
norms in
daily life
Increased
interaction
with peers vs
parents
Psycho-
emotional
and self-
identity
changes
Physical and
reproductive
changes

5. GAGE 3Cs Conceptual Framework: Focusing on Voice and Agency

6. Methodology
We used a participatory mixed-methods approach; the research team engaged with 247 adolescents.
We carried out a service-mapping exercise with 70 service providers (based on key informant
interviews and 107 adolescents aged 11-19 years (using an interactive, tablet-based
QuickTapSurvey™ module.)
This exercise was complemented by a range of qualitative research tools used with adolescents,
their peers and families.
This included 17 focus group discussions (FGDs) using vignettes, object-based interviews, and
social network mapping, as well as 35 in-depth interviews (IDIs).
We also drew on findings from our 2016 participatory action research project in Khanyounis, using a
wide range of research activities, including peer-to-peer interviews, participatory photography and
videography (see next slide).

7. The participatory action research project in Khanyounis, involved 35 adolescent researchers aged 15–19, 10
boys and 25 girls, diverse in socioeconomic background and refugee status, including adolescents some with
disabilities.
GAGE Adolescent Research Team
GAGE young researchers

8. A
constraining
context
for
adolescent
boys
&
girls
Adolescents
face
Intersecting
vulnerabilities
Political
Turbulence-de-
development
Ongoing military
conflict
Economic
constraints
Poverty and
unemployment
Deeply rooted
conservative
norms
Truncated
opportunities
Age and Gender
Hierarchies Lack
of understanding

9. Youth voice and agency, what the available evidence says
45% of girls reported feeling unsafe walking alone in their neighbourhood after dark (PCBS, 2020).
Mobility is structurally restricted and unsafe
In the past 12 months, 32% of adolescents in Gaza experienced violence in streets (52% among males versus 10% among
females), 34% experienced violence at schools (17% among females and 51% males), 26% of girls exposed to harassment,
20% reported quarrelling and feuding with Others (PCBS, 2019).
Violence
Only 2.4% of young females reported involvement in civil or cultural organisations and only 0.6% were affiliated with a
political party or coalition. Only, 67% of male youth and 46% of female youth in Gaza reported their intention to participate in
the upcoming election (PCBS, 2016)
Civic participation
Only 66% of males and 57% of female youth in Gaza use computer or internet (PCBS, 2016)
ICT
22% of adolescents reported that they speak to a health care provider about puberty-related issues (GAGE, 2017); 40% were
afraid when they first experienced a period (PCBS, 2013)
SRH
Only 20% of young women vs 62% of young men aged 15-29 identified as being responsible for household decision making
(PCBS, 2016)
HH decision-making

10. Safe and free movement
Blockage and ongoing conflict
restricted the free movement of
all, including young people
Cultural norms impose severe
restrictions on girls free
movement which shut doors for
their participation
Most girls in Gaza are not able
to move around freely and
access public spaces like Cafes,
sport clubs, boys are allowed
much more freedom.
Generally girls are allowed to
access school, mosques and
empowerment programming at
NGOs, but male adult family
member can block girls access to
these places
Lack of safety, political violence
and exposure to sexual
harassment (often blamed for
that), impose more restriction on
girls participation
‘We should go with our families or after taking a
permission from my family to go with my
friends. However, males do not need the
permission we need. Our families ask about the
details of our friends; their address, phone
number and families…etc.
(FGD, young girls, Jabalia)
Since the last conflict in Gaza, I scream when I
hear bombing. I even feel frightened to go to the
toilet by myself”.
(Adolescent with disability, Jabalia , 15 Y IDI)

11. Aya
Aya, 17 years old, is not allowed to go
outside alone, whilst her young sister
(12 years) is allowed to go out. As girls
get older in Gaza, restrictions get worse.
Photo taken by Hassna’a Zourab (Aya’s cousin)
‘I feel angry and depressed, like it is my
fault that I am an adolescent. Everything is
forbidden, everything is restricted and
always what you do is being supervised
because you are an adolescent’.

12. Amer
Amer, 16 years old, is not able to go
out at night to see his friends. His
father, 54 years, doesn't allow him to
go out alone, especially at night. This
makes Amer feel that he isn’t able to
make his own decisions.
Photo taken by Omar Abu Ali for Amer Abu Ali
‘There should be more work on bridging
gaps and solving conflicts across the
different generations’, he states.

13. Access to information
•‘My parents rarely agree [for me to use this media without supervision]’ (adolescent girl, 17 years old,
Khanyounis, interviewing her sister).
Access to age-appropriate information is a challenge, especially for girls who, due to their cultural
norms
Young people use of social media is under severe scrutiny as parents considered this as potentially
‘haram’ (proscribed
•‘I was 11 years old when I had my first period, I was so scared. It happened that I was doing exams. I
rushed to my mother and sisters. I was scared and young. I cried for a week. I didn’t know that there is
something called a period, and that it happens every month’ (FGD, older girls, Jabalia).
Teachers in school promote adolescent access to as academic information) but restrict access to
other types of information – for example, emotions, relationships, SRH, career counselling
•Our teacher told us to go home and ask our mothers to explain this lesson for us… The teacher said “let
your family explain this disgusting topic”!!!’ (FGD, older girls, Shajaia).
Teachers skip classes around menstruation and health, and prefer to focus on the academic
curriculum
Other service providers including ‘health’ either don’t play any role in informing young people or
they are culturally mainstreamed

14. Participation in decision making
 Limited voice and agency in issues pertaining them,
limited engagement at HH and community levels.
 Girls don’t always have a say in decisions around
marriage, or even when they get pregnant.
 Adolescents reported having limited decision-making
power at school.
 Young people especially girls don’t have much say in
their future education.
 Girls report that they have limited power over
participation in home chores.
For married girls, it is their husband: ‘My husband has
never given me my freedom to say my opinions’
(IDI, 16-year-old girl, Jabalia camp)
If you speak your mind, you would be judged and be
treated like you made a grave mistake’
(FGD, older girls, Shajaia)
‘Girls cannot say “I love this person”; they will kill her’
(adolescent girls, 16-19 years old, Khanyounis)
‘I dream to join a university, but my brother told me “you
won’t join it”’)
‘I must participate in home chores, I have no other choice’
(adolescent girl, 16 years, interview with her sister,
Khanyounis)

15. Ghada
Ghada states that the clothes that she is
allowed to wear are not necessarily the ones
that she likes. Ghada believes that the
community and the family should stop
interfering with what girls wear.
Photo taken for Ghada Qassas by Addel Al Qassas, Ghada’s brother
‘I am a girl from Khanyounis who is
wondering about what to wear…I select my
clothes taking into consideration those that
are allowed by my family and the
community’.

16. Community and civic participation
It is possible to be doctors, lawyers, teachers, and any
other job, but not the president! She cannot take that
responsibility; it is a fact!’ (FGD, younger girls, Jabalia)
‘Many people believe that girls and women
‘should be in the house’ and not in the ‘streets’
(FGD, adolescent girls, Shajaia).
•Driven by mobility restriction and age and gender norms, adolescents (especially adolescent girls) have
scare opportunities for meaningful civic participation.
Girls are actively restricted from exercising an independent civic identity, participating in community
organizations or affiliating to political parties
In vignette exercise called ‘Madam President’, when asked to imagine being president for a day, girls
and boys mentioned that having a female president is ‘not possible in Gaza’ …
Families fear for their girls when it comes to engaging with boys in a mixed workplace. And this fear
bears consequences …
Boys are also not always able to acquire skills to develop and exercise an independent civic identity as
they indicated that they are limited by various contextual factors but particularly unemployment

17. Role models
 In general it was hard for boys and girls to mention role models!!
 Girls and boys both expressed that trust in politicians, ministers and public leaders is low.
 Some adolescents reported having role models and supportive family members. They valued how
mothers and less frequently fathers do their best to secure their needs.
‘I saw my father working hard and
studying. I like the way he thinks about life
and people. He acts like he doesn’t suffer
from any disability’ (IDI, 19-year-old, male
and son of a man with a disability, Jabalia)
‘I feel distressed from seeing all my brothers sitting in the house doing
nothing while mom is struggling to secure our needs. I am proud of her
and how she copes, but I don’t want to be like her in the future.’
(Maha, 15 years old drop out to take care of the son of her divorced
sisters who works as a hair dresser to sustain her family)
 For boys, it seemed harder to name or describe a role model. They mentioned being successful
and linked this with work and responsibility.
 Religious people were ironically perceived, some boys and girls spoke highly about them, others
think that they are not trustworthy. A boy in a FGD stated: ‘Some people stopped going because
mosques are engaged in politics’.

18. Enablers for girls
Girls are aiming high:
intrinsically motivated
High girls investment
in education, and
much educational
attainment than boys
Family
support/protection
Girls are more
protected/over
protected, having better
relationships with their
parents
and therefore less
exposure to violence
than boys, still home is
not a sanctuary.
Girls adopt
positive coping
approaches:
use of ITC,
social media,
watching TVs,
participation in
HH chores
Better
participation in
the limited
available
empowerment
activities at
NGOs
Despite the many
challenges, stress
resilience is high,
girls use smart
navigation skills

19. Enablers for boys
More freedom
of movement
Greater
interactions
with peers
Engagement in
economic
activities
Parents support
for boys’ high
professional
education
Rebelling
against parents’
restrictions

20. Abdallah
Abdallah, 19 years old, feels depressed.
Later on, Abdallah discovered that his father
intentionally hid his shoes somewhere to
prevent him from going outside.
He believes that social protection mechanisms
should be extended to adolescents.
Photo taken by Mohammad Ghassab - September 2016
‘I could not go out because I lost one of my
shoes, I don’t have another one nor the money
to buy new shoes.’
He states that: ‘here many children, most
especially from poor families, feel distressed
because of the lack of resources’.

21. Nader
Nader wants to convey to the world
that young people should be protected
from child labor and have the
opportunity to learn.
Photo taken by Nader Jarghoun
‘This is my friend Majed. Majed dropped
out from school when he was 14 years old
because his family is poor. Since many
people in Gaza don’t get a job anyway
after graduating from school – he decided
to become a hairdresser. His brother
helped him to open a small salon’.

22. Mohamad
Health and fitness for young people is
very important says Mohamad.
Photo taken by Mohamad Qassas
‘This is a photo of my friends practicing
body building and self defense. This
helps them to develop their physique and
their health’

23. Policy and Programming and recommendations
1
• Scale up the available services and information to youth and increase their uptake of these participation
opportunities
2
• It is important to work simultaneously with parents and community leaders including men to shift social norms
that hinder girls’ and young women’s greater participation at the HH and community levels.
3
• Develop initiatives to promote dialogue between young people and adults to increase mutual understanding,
reduce intergenerational conflict and promoting youth participation in decision making at HH and community levels
4
• Expand investments in community-based youth friendly safe spaces where young people can develop confidence,
practice decision-making under the mentorship of caring adults and better engage in community activities .
5
• Launching inter-sectoral initiatives for increasing young participation using different strategies including using
technologies, positive parenting practices, activating school parliaments initiatives
6
• Support organizations, forums and places dedicated to enhance girls’ participation including safe spaces

24. Contact Us
WEBSITE
www.gage.odi.org
TWITTER
@GAGE_programme
FACEBOOK
GenderandAdolescence
About GAGE:
 Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence
(GAGE) is a nine-year (2015-2024) mixed-
methods longitudinal research programme
focused on what works to support
adolescent girls’ and boys’ capabilities in
the second decade of life and beyond.
 We are following the lives of 20,000
adolescents in six focal countries in Africa,
Asia and the Middle East.