Moving Jordan's vulnerable Palestine refugees centre stage: evidence from GAGE

Moving Jordan’s vulnerable Palestine refugees
centre stage: Evidence from GAGE
January 2020, Amman
10 year old Palestinian girl in Gaza Camp @ Natalie Bertrams / GAGE 2019

Presentation outline
1
• Overview of GAGE and GAGE research methodology and sample
2
• Education and learning
3
• Economic empowerment
4
• Protection from age- and gender-based violence
5
• Health and psychosocial wellbeing

Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence (GAGE):
The largest longitudinal research programme on adolescents in the Global South (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 the largest cohort of adolescents in the Global South

Why adolescence?
 An age of opportunity
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

Why adolescence?
% total population 10-24 years in 2013
Source: Accelerating adolescent girls’ education and empowerment:
G7 Whistler Meeting 2018 | May 2018
 The demographic imperative
1-in-5 of Jordan’s
children, 3.2
million individuals
are
multidimensionally
poor
In Jordan, in
2015, 20% of
the population
was between
10 and 19.

Other SDG targets
(130)
Gender-related
targets (39)
Gender and
adolescent-related
targets (15)
SDGs targets by gender and age

SDGs targeting refugees and IDPs by gender and age
Other SDG targets (157)
Refugee / IDP
SDG targets (12)
Not Disaggregated
(6)
Gender / Age Disaggregated
(4)
Gender
Disaggregated
(2)

Stemming from our conceptual framework, GAGE addresses three core sets of questions:
GAGE Core Research Questions
1
• How do adolescent girls and boys in diverse low- and middle-income
countries (LMICs) experience transitions from childhood to adulthood? How do
these differ by age, gender, disability, geographic location?
2
• What effects do adolescent-focused programme interventions have on
adolescent capabilities in the short and longer-term?
3
• What programme design and implementation characteristics matter for
effective delivery and scalability?

GAGE longitudinal research sample
10
Jordan 220Jordan 4000 Jordan 200

GAGE Jordan research sites and sample breakdown
Nationality:
Syrian: 3,090
Jordanian: 642
Palestinian (Gaza Camp): 304
Other: 65
Vulnerable Groups:
Adolescents w/ disabilities: 417 (10%)
Married adolescents: 190 (5%)
Gender:
10-12 Girls: 1,108 Boys: 1,065
15-17 Girls: 1,006 Boys: 922
Location type:
Camps: 1,348
ITS: 308
Host communities: 2,445

A 14 years old student in Gaza camp © ©Natalie Bertrams / GAGE 2019
GAGE findings on
education and
learning
SDG 4.1 Ensure that all girls and
boys complete free, equitable and
quality primary and secondary
education leading to relevant and
effective learning outcomes
SDG 4.5 Eliminate gender
disparities in education…and
ensure equal access for vulnerable
and people with disabilities

Palestinian adolescents' educational aspirations lag
Percentage of adolescents who aspire to a level of
education, by nationality
76
93
81
63
80
69
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Palestinian Jordanian Syrian
Secondary University
‘There is discrimination between
those who hold the national number
and those who don’t.’ (Older boy)
‘There is not enough money for
college. In our neighborhood, I do
not hear of anyone who goes to
college or cares about school.’
(Older girl)
 Those without citizenship are
disadvantaged:
 Poor households cannot bear the
real costs of higher education:

The gender gap is significant among adolescents but not caregivers
83
74
97
80
67
48
96
84
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Teen aspires to
secondary
Teen aspires to
university
Caregiver
aspires to
secondary
Caregiver
aspires to
university
Girls Boys
‘Sometime I draw about what I want to be
when I grow up. I draw it with the doctor
tools, holding a doctor bag and the like.’
(Younger girl)
‘I hope to become an electrician after I
finish school, and bring money to my mom.’
(Younger boy)
Percentage of Palestinian participants who
aspire to a level of education, by sex and age
‘I had many dreams in mind, but I wasn’t
able to obtain.’ (Older boy)

One-third of older adolescents are out of school
Enrolment in formal education, by age
86
98
66
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Total Younger Older
 Adolescent girls noted that girls leave school because
their parents and brothers insist—due to concerns
about ‘honour’ and child marriage.‘
‘Our time is different from the past… I will keep
them [my daughters] in school until the 10th
grade.’ (Palestinian father)
‘I have a friend... her brothers stopped her from
school when she was in 4th grade. They think it's
a shame that a girl go out to study.’ (Older girl)
 Boys highlighted the need for work to offset household
poverty.
‘The situation here at the house … is very crowded.
We all sleep in the same room. The roof leaks in
rainy days. We as guys grew up and it is not right
that we stay unemployed. I dropped school in the
6th grade.’ (Older boy)

Adolescents’ perspectives about school quality and teachers are mixed
‘I love all classes!’ (Younger girl)
‘I wish to become a mathematics
teacher when I grow up. He
teaches us well. He knows how to
make us understand our lessons.
He does not hit us.’ (Younger boy)
‘The quality of education was so bad, zero, and my teachers were bad. If I
have a point that I don’t understand and if I go back to the teacher to ask her
a question, then she refuses to answer.’ (16-year drop-out girl)
‘I just dropped school. I do not know how to read
or write.’ (Older boy who left after 10th grade)
‘There is bias from teachers in
favor of excellent students. If
you understand, it is good. If
not, then they have nothing to
do with it. ’ (Older girl)

Learning outcomes are very low—especially for boys
52
48
22
28
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Short story Subtraction
Girls Boys  Reading test  Math test

Married girls' access to education is especially limited
 Engagement usually marks the end of schooling, due to pressure from fiancés and
also formal school restrictions:
‘There are also many girls in our school who got engaged and their
fiancés forbade them from studying. Their fiancés have said: "since I
got engaged to you, you have to stop going to school.” (Older girl)
Of the older girls in our sample, those who are married
are almost always excluded from all learning pathways:
 Formal education: 9% vs 65%
 Non-formal education: 3% vs. 8%
 Informal education: 4% vs 12%

Access and quality are limited for those with disabilities
 Our survey found similar enrolment—but identified other risks:
 Our qualitative work found accessibility limited and some teachers poorly
committed.
Educational outcomes are lower:
 33% can read a story (versus 48%)
 33% can subtract (versus 41%)
Those with disabilities are less likely
to hold a leadership position at
school (30% vs 39%).
‘Recently, a girl with
disability left the school…
they can’t bring her to
school on the wheelchair.’
(Younger girl with a
disability)
‘(My son’s) academic achievement is bad, he does
not get high marks he knows only some words.
There is no interest in the disabled in UNRWA
schools. He is now in the tenth grade and does
not know how to read from the book.’ (Mother of
an older boy with a hearing impairment)

Implications for education programming
1
• Work with families to address gender-specific enrolment and attendance barriers—
including transportation (especially for secondary school), social norms, violence, and the real
and opportunity costs of schooling.
2
• Expand in- and non-formal education programming to help out-of-school adolescents keep
learning--and use programming as bridges back into formal education.
3
• Address quality deficits by providing teachers with training on child friendly pedagogies and
non-violent classroom management
4
• Capitalise on schools as a venue for reaching adolescents and parents with diverse extra-
curricular programming aimed at developing soft-skills, providing health education (including
sexuality education), reducing violence, strengthening parent-child relationships, etc.

SDG 4.3 Ensure equal access for all women and men to
affordable quality technical, vocational and tertiary
education, including university
SDG 4.4 By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth
and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and
vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and
entrepreneurship
SDG 4.5 Eliminate gender disparities in educational and
vocational training
SDG 8.b Operationalise a global strategy for youth
employment and implement the Global Jobs Pact of the
International Labour Organization
GAGE findings on economic
empowerment
12-year-old boy in Gaza Camp © Nathalie Bertrams / GAGE 2019

Boys are at higher risk than girls for child labour
 44% of older Palestinian boys—vs 9% of older girls—have worked for pay in the last year.
 Their work is intermittent: 9 days in the last month and 23 hours in the last week
 Their work is poorly paid: 8.6 JOD/day and 1.3 JOD/hour
‘Boys as young as 9 work harvesting olives….They give the young kids …3-5 JDs.’
(Older boy)
‘I work in the shops. I work for different employers…. I help them unload and pack stuff. I
earn 10 Jordan dinars per week…. I sometimes work and some other times don’t. If you want
me to count the whole time that I was employed during these seven years (since I left
school), it would be no more than one year only.’ (Older boy)
 Due to poverty, even very young boys sometimes work for pay.

Palestinian boys want access to training and jobs
‘We cannot work. We are just like the
(Syrian) refugees.’ (older boy)
‘I wanted to learn a certain profession but the
financial situation does not allow me to learn
it. I liked the profession of car colour mixing.’
(17-year-old out of school boy)
‘What adolescents need in the camp is
craft centres and vocational training. We
don’t have this here.’ (Father)
‘Job opportunities in this country are rare.
All the guys in the neighborhood are
searching for travel opportunities. Livelihood
here is not possible, the only solution is
leaving the country abroad.’ (Older boy)
 High unemployment rates limit livelihood
options:
 TVET course costs can be prohibitive:
 TVET accessibility is limited for
those in Gaza camp:
 Legal restrictions constrain ex-Gazans:

Girls face additional gendered barriers
‘In the future I would like to become a
chef… if I told anyone at home about my
dream they would laugh at me and
think I’m not serious.’ (15-year-old girl)
I don’t allow her to work. Work is
not allowed frankly.’
(Father of an older girl)
 Girls are afraid to even tell their families
what they would like to pursue:
 Parents prohibit participation:
UNICEF and NRC vocational training © Herwig UNICEF
2017

Social innovation labs foster connections and skills
‘We started to make videos about drugs,
and hygiene to raise the awareness of the
local community… I create those videos by
writing the scenario in a way that attracts
children.’ (Older girl)
‘They educated us new
things which I didn’t
receive at my school… they
educated me the meaning of
in novation and creativity.’
(Older boy)
‘The relationships
with my friends
became stronger
than before.’
(Older boy)
‘I learned how to deal with the
community and how to overcome
its wrong traditions, customs, and
the culture of shame.’ (Older girl)
‘She [Makani Facilitators]
became an idol person for us…
because they explained about
themselves and what they did
to complete their study.’
(Older boy)

Implications for social protection and economic empowerment
programming
1
• Step up access to social protection for adolescents with disabilities—making sure to
account for higher costs (e.g. health care and transport).
2
• Target the most vulnerable with increased support to break the link between poverty
and child marriage and child labour.
3
• Consider linking social protection to education (e.g. modelling UNICEF’s Hajati) in
order to foster commitment to learning.
4
• Work with the Jordanian government to expand the number of career pathways
permitted to ex-Gazan Palestinians.
5
• Scale up TVET programming, ensuring it is economically and geographically accessible
to the most vulnerable, including girls and adolescents with disabilities, and rooted in
labour market realities.

GAGE findings on bodily
integrity and freedom
from violence
10 year Palestinian boy©Natalie Bertrams / GAGE 2019
SDG 5.2 Eliminate all forms of violence
against all women and girls in the public and
private spheres
SDG 5.3.1 Eliminate all harmful practices,
such as child, early and forced marriage
SDG 16.2 End all forms of violence,
exploitation and abuse against children,
including physical punishment by caregivers
SDG 16.3 Promote the rule of law at
national level and ensure access to justice
for all

Girls and boys are often beaten for different reasons
‘Sometimes, he doesn’t tell me when boys
hit him. Recently, he tell me when boys hit
him. I hit him to tell me what happened with
him.’ (Mother)
‘There is girl in the area who had an affair
with one of the boys. If my daughter talked to
her I would beat my daughter. Because she
might ruin my daughter's future, the future
that I hope for her.’ (Mother)
 Boys are usually beaten for their (perceived)
behavior.
 Girls are beaten for violating gender norms.
11
40
51
4
45
57
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Talked to someone about
home violence
Female caregiver admits to
violence (last month)
Experienced violence at
home (last year)
Boys Girls

Boys experience more violent discipline at school
32%
64%
Girls Boys
Ever experienced violent
discipline at school
‘I dropped out of
school because
they hit us.’
(17-year-old boy)
‘The teacher slaps him or hits him with the hose. If he refuses to
open his hand for the teacher to hit him, he’ll be hit 3 times. Every
time he keeps refusing to open his hand, the teacher adds on the
number of times to hit him, 5, 6, 7 or 10 times.’ (Younger boy)
‘My English teacher, when I ask him to get an eraser to rewrite my
answers, he asks me not to move. Then when he comes to correct
our answers, he asks me why I didn’t rewrite the right answers and
I tell him that I asked for his permission to and he refused, he gets
the sticks and hits me as hard as he can.’ (Younger boy)
‘There was a punishment where students were asked to get
outside the class and stand raising one leg. Or they may ask the
student to stand close to the rubbish bin as a punishment. It was
worse than beating. It was an insult.’ (16-year-old divorced girl)

Peer violence varies by gender
Boys are more likely to be bullied
44% of boys have been bullied in the last year
(compared to 34% of girls)
 ‘I bought something to eat and he didn’t. He
wanted to eat with me against my will. He hits
me everyday .’ (Younger boy)
Girls are sexually harassed
Only 17% of girls feel safe walking
near their homes at night (compared
to 40% of boys)
 ‘We used to see this yard full of
guys. You would have found them
climbing the walls and setting on
the roofs of bathrooms. There are
two men guards at the gates.
However, boys still jump over the
walls and open the classrooms.
Cops would come as well. When
the boys hear the sirens of the
police cars, they would run away.’
(Older girl)
Gaza camp can be dangerous
 ‘It is known to everybody that this street is
troublesome. If you go there at night you will
become frightened. Nobody can enter those
areas.’ (Older boy)
 ‘This street has witnessed gun shooting several
times.’ (Older boy)

Adolescents with disabilities face more violence
‘They beat him and mock him in the school.
One day, they broke his hand.’
(Mother of a boy with a vision impairment
and an extra finger on each hand)
‘I saw a teacher hitting a student, and
the child can’t hear, he doesn’t
understand that the child can’t hear.’
(Father of an older girl with a disability)
‘The school provide us awareness sessions about not
talking with people with disabilities in a violent way.’
(Younger girl)
 Due to stigma, those with disabilities are 32% more likely to experience bullying.
 Due to elevated stress levels, mothers of adolescents with disabilities are 56%
more likely to admit to severely beating their child in the last month.
 UNRWA schools run anti-bullying campaigns aimed at reducing disability-related
stigma.

Girls are highly vulnerable to child marriage
29
68
50
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Mothers
married before
18
"Most girls in
my community
marry before
18"
"Most adults
expect girls to
marry before
18"
For Palestinians, cousin marriage is the norm.
‘To us, the cousin is something important. If the cousin
wants me, he has the priority over the stranger.’ (older girl)
In our sample, two-thirds of adolescents agreed
that most girls marry before age 18.
 15 is considered a good age for marriage—but
girls as young as 12 marry.
‘I wish to get my daughter married when she
becomes 15 years old.’ (Mother)
 For Palestinians, cousin marriage is the norm.
‘Families want to marry their daughters
quickly because they are worried …about
their exposure to drugs and violence. They
want to marry their daughters to be free of
their burden.’ (Mother)
‘To us, the cousin is something important. If
the cousin wants me, he has the priority over
the stranger.’ (Older girl)
 Concerns about honour drive child marriage

Early marriage is rarely wanted by girls
‘I keep praying that no one comes to marry me. When women come to
our house, I start being random. I mess things up. I take a lot of time to
serve them coffee.’
(Older girl)
‘Everyone just thought it was time for me to get married. I strongly said no, but they
forced me to accept. I said yes (to the judge) because my father was with me.’
(Divorced 16-year-old girl)
 Most girls’ opinions are not considered
 Some girls use creative protective strategies

Married girls face gender-based violence
 Girls are abused by their husbands
 Girls are abused by their in-laws
‘Marriage is awful. He is persuaded by his
parents’ attitude, and he hits me. And
whatever I say, he doesn’t believe me. He
hit me on the head. Even when I was
pregnant, he hit me.’
(Separated 18-year-old girl)
‘On our third day of marriage I had a fight
with my uncle, he hit me and badmouthed
and cursed my mother.’
(Divorced 16-year-old girl, married to a
cousin)
© A Malachowska / GAGE 2019

Implications for protection programming
1
• Provide inclusive safe-spaces where young people can develop friendships and interact
with caring adults-- and learn to recognize and eschew violence and where to seek
support when they are at risk.
2
• Invest in parenting classes and parent support groups, including for fathers, to
develop their capacities for emotionally supporting their adolescents.
3
• Address gender-based violence by empowering adolescent girls, including those
who are married—and working with families and communities (including boys and
men) to shift the social norms that limit girls’ lives and leave them at risk.
4
• Invest in more tailored approaches to eliminating child marriage, incentivising
adolescents (girls and their partners), parents, and communities to wait till
adulthood.

GAGE findings on health,
nutrition, and sexual and
reproductive health
A girl sitting on the staircase ©Herwig/UNICEF/2019
SDG 2. Zero hunger
SDG 2.2 End all forms of malnutrition...and
address the nutritional needs of adolescent girls
SDG 3.8 Achieve universal health coverage
SDG 3.7 Universal access to SRH services
SDG 3.A Strengthen implementation of WHO
framework on tobacco control

Most adolescents are healthy, but…
90%
71%
 Nearly all report good
health
 Most have sought treatment in
the last year
‘We get treatment and medicine
prescriptions only.‘ (Younger girl)
‘We are Gazans. The two-year duration
passport we hold is useless. It doesn't
even authorize us to sleep in a hospital.
For instance, I am supposed to undergo a
surgical operation, but I can’t do it.’
(Older boy)
 Adolescents lack health information:
 Ex-Gazans have difficulty accessing
needed care:

Opportunities for healthy recreation are limited
‘In 10th grade there are no sport classes.’
(Older girl)
‘I try to reduce food intake. My mother sets a
plan for me what to eat every day.’ (Older girl)
‘The Gaza camp environment is not suitable
as other environments. For example, if I want
to go outside for leisure with my kids and
family… then we should go to the public park.
And the park is not for free. It is paid. The level
of cleaning in the camp is extremely awful.’
(Father of a divorced girl)
 Opportunities for healthy movement are
rare—especially for girls, who are
concerned about their weight.
A girl playing wih her famiy in the Gaza camp
©Natalie Bertrams / GAGE 2019

Hunger is not uncommon
‘It was not possible for my family to afford
my personal expenses and food and drink.
They are too poor to afford this.’
(Older boy)
‘We can eat fruits one time per week.’
(Younger girl)
 17% of Palestinian adolescents reported
being hungry in the last month.
Boys in the streets of Gaza camp
©Natalie Bertrams / GAGE 2019

Girls face gender-specific health risks
‘When I had the first period, I didn't know
anything.’
‘It is a norm here that we don't tell
anything to the girl before the night of the
wedding party.’
(Older married girls)
‘I used to suffer from malnutrition. they
didn’t give me enough. They said it
wasn’t good for me because it
negatively affects the baby.’
(18-year-old divorced girl)
 Many lack timely information about
puberty and sex.
 Some are fed less by marital families
 They are subject to virginity tests.
 Of all GAGE’s married girls, less than half
(44%) recognize a form of contraception.
 Girls are under pressure to conceive soon
after marriage—and even threatened with
divorce if they fail to fall pregnant.
 Husbands and in-laws control uptake of
contraception.
‘He (my husband) said that we are going to see
a doctor on Saturday to see whether you're a
virgin or not. I didn't want to object or defend
myself so he doesn't think I am hiding anything.
So I said ok.‘ (16-year-old divorced girl)

Boys face gender-specific health risks
They are more prone to accidental
injury.
They are more likely to use
substances.
4
11
15
18
0
5
10
15
20
Injury in the last month Serious illness or
accident in the last year
Girls Boys
5
12
44
33
0
10
20
30
40
50
Smoke cigarettes Smoke shisha
Girls Boys
‘This area is loaded with marijuana.’ (Older boy)

Specialist services are difficult to access
‘UNRWA doesn’t help in hearing.’
(Father of a girl with a hearing impairment)
‘She used earphones for a period of time and
then they broke and now I ask for headphones
but they said that they do not exist.’
(Mother of a girl with a hearing impairment)
 Of all GAGE
adolescents, those
with disabilities are
less likely to report
good health (64% vs
84%).
 Adolescents with
disabilities are more
likely to have been
seriously ill in the last
year (23% vs 13%).
 Adolescents with disabilities have limited
access to specialist care.
 Assistive devices are not available.

Girls making crafts at an ECHO-funded youth center in Jordan's Zaatari camp © Peter Biro
GAGE findings on
psychosocial wellbeing
and voice and agency
SDG 3 Promote mental health and
wellbeing
SDG 3.8 Achieve universal health
coverage

Most adolescents are emotionally resilient but 1/3 report
emotional distress
Our survey included the General
Health Questionnaire-12 and the Child
and Youth Resilience Measure-28 and
found that most Palestinian
adolescents are not psychologically
distressed and are emotionally
resilient:
However, one-third of
adolescents—girls and
boys-- had scores that
demonstrated distress.
A Palestinian boy in the Gaza camp ©Natalie Bertrams /
GAGE 2019

Depression and suicidal ideation are concerns
‘I relax myself either by crying or drawing.
they calm me down a lot especially with
drawing ‘ (Older girl)
‘I had many dreams in mind, but I wasn’t able
to obtain them.’ (Older boy)
‘Depression… comes from very severe poverty…
they spend their time in the street or the girls at
home home in their room… and we know of
suicide attempts… families may try to hide it but
it’s happening’. (Social worker in Gaza Camp)
A Palestinian girl in the Gaza camp ©Natalie Bertrams /
GAGE 2019

Adolescents reported better communication with mothers
‘Whenever I do something wrong, my
father hits me.’ (Younger girl)
‘My mom solves the problem for us,
she helps us and she knows what
should be done.’ (Younger girl)
‘My father tells me that everything is
forbidden, but my mother does not.’
(Older girl)
 On an index of topics they can discuss
with their parents, both girls and boys
reported better communication with
their mothers.
A Palestinian refugee family in the Gaza camp ©Natalie
Bertrams / GAGE 2019

Peer support is limited, but deeply valued
Only 62% of Palestinian adolescents have a trusted friend—markedly lower than their
Jordanian and Syrian peers (~ 71%).
‘My cell phone is my
favourite thing… it connects
me with my friends and
connects me with others and
with my relatives abroad.’
(Older boy)
‘Girls can sometimes go see
their friends if their friends
have no brothers—If my
friend has brothers I don't
visit her.’ (Older girl)
‘After we talk about our
concerns, we feel better
because everybody can
suggest and provide advice on
others’ concerns.’ (Older girl)
For girls, poor access to friends is driven by restrictions on their physical and digital mobility.
Girls are:
 26% less likely to leave home daily and 65% less likely to leave the community weekly
 half as likely to participate in sports (25% vs 48%)
 66% less likely to have a phone and 24% less likely to have used the internet

Girls have little access to decision-making
‘I don’t allow my daughters to
leave the house. They may look
from the door for 5 minutes and
then I ask them to close it.’
(Mother)
‘Everything is forbidden,
she is forbidden to wear
whatever she wants in the
house.’ (Oder girl)
‘My sister was studying at a distant
school. She was in the seventh class. She
was excellent at school. She left the school
that year. My father decided. He didn’t
take her opinion. She was very angry.‘
(Older girl)
‘I’m disagreeing about the proposal and don’t want
to get married. My parents don’t acknowledge that
I have an opinion and that I disagree with their
opinion. They don’t listen to me.’ (Older girl)
‘If a girl has a phone, it is
taken away from her. If the
girl has a phone it is
shameful.’ (Older girl)
 Girls are denied control over their day-to-day lives.
 Girls are denied input into the decisions that will shape their futures.

Meaningful participation opportunities are rare
Only 7% of older
Palestinian adolescents
have ever spoken to
someone about a
community problem.
Less than 2% have ever
taken action with others
to solve a community
problem—this is half
the rate at which Syrian
teens have taken action.
While Syrian girls are
equally likely as boys to
have taken action,
Palestinian girls are
100% less likely to have
done so. Not a single girl
reported taking action
to solve a community
problem.

Meaningful participation opportunities are rare
‘There are few girls joined the scouts. We buy
the uniform; the school doesn’t give it to us.’
(Younger girl)
‘I was in it [the school parliament] last year
but not anymore. I feel it is silly. It drives me
crazy. If you are part of the parliament you
have to make sure the girls are behaving at
school. You put them in line, make sure they
are quiet. Like that.’ (Younger girl)
 School venues are top down:
 Extra-curricular activitiess are often
too expensive:
A student form Gaza camp
© Nathalie Bertrams / GAGE 2019

Married girls are especially isolated
‘Then the girl when she gets married, she
only should care about her husband's life
and she does not have any more
relationships with her friends.’
(Married 18-year-old)
‘He (husband) banned me from going
out, even to my parents’ house.’
(18-year-old divorced girl)
 Compared to their unmarried peers, married
girls are:
 17% less likely to have a trusted friend
 54% less likely to leave home each day
 44% less likely to have talked to
someone about a community problem
A Palestinian girl in Gaza camp © Nathalie Bertrams /
GAGE 2019

Disability compounds disadvantage, but schools help
Compared to their peers
without disabilities, those
with are:
 71% more likely to suffer
from psychological
distress
 10% less likely to have a
trusted friend
 17% less likely to have a
phone
 53% more likely to have a
mother who exhibits high
levels of psychological
distress
‘Sports is my favorite thing. it has strengthened
my personality and my spirit. I gained the respect
of others. it gives me motivation, always. I won
over 7000 players and become the top one. I
learned it at school by my teacher who’s my
trainer.’ (Older boy who is blind)
‘The teachers are kind with him because his
situation…They ask us not to make him feel that he
has problems, we should make him feel natural.
They told us that we could complicate the boy more
by this way.’ (Mother of a younger boy with a
vision impairment and an extra finger)

Girls with disabilities are doubly disadvantaged
 Parents recognise that girls with disabilities
are the most excluded:
 But they are often oblivious to their own
role in that exclusion:
‘Girls are in a prison, when they are getting
older and they are with disabilities.’
(Father of an older girl with a disability)
‘I will ask for a healthy girl for my son, if her
parents agree… I am thinking whether my
daughter will marry or not. She may be a
second wife or marry a disabled person like
her.’ (Mother of two adolescents with
hearing disabilities)Palestinian girl with a hearing impairment shows her
study book © Nathalie Bertrams / GAGE 2019

Implications for health and psychosocial support programming
1
• Expand access to disability heath care and ensure that the assistive devices
needed for inclusion are available—and affordable—to those who need them.
2
• Provide adolescents (and their parents) with health education classes that cover
nutrition and exercise, substance use, and sexuality education. Engaged and married
girls should be specifically targeted and offered tailored content.
3
• Invest in the community infrastructure that encourages adolescents to engage in
healthy physical exercise—making sure that facilities are accessible to girls and
those with disabilities.
4
• Promote mental health by providing adolescents and parents with targeted
programming aimed at improving resilience and strengthening interpersonal
relationships and scaling up psychosocial support services, focusing first on survivors
of violence.

Thanks are due to the following:
 DFID
 IRCKHF
 Mindset
 UNICEF Jordan
 NCFA
 Independent researchers
 UNHCR

Contact Us
Dr Nicola Jones, GAGE Director
n.jones@odi.org.uk
Agnieszka Malachowska,
MENA Programme Manager
a.malachowska@odi.org.uk
www.gage.odi.org
@GAGE_programme
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 18,000
adolescents in six focal countries in Africa,
Asia and the Middle East.

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