A presentation by Professor Sarah Baird to the UNICEF Jordan ITS Working Group, Amman, Jordan, February 2020

1. Young people in Jordan’s Informal Tented Settlements:
Insights from GAGE Jordan
Siblings in ITS near Amman © Natalie Bertrams / GAGE 2019
Prof Sarah Baird
Amman, February 2020

2. Presentation Outline
1
• GAGE overview
2
• GAGE findings
3
• Implications for policy and practice

3. Please note that the photographs of
adolescents DO NOT capture GAGE research
participants and consent was gained from
their guardians for the photographs to be
used for GAGE communications purposes.
GAGE overview
12 year old Syrian girl in Mafraq @ Natalie Bertrams / GAGE 2019

4. 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 the largest cohort of adolescents in the Global South

5. GAGE 3Cs Conceptual Framework

6. GAGE longitudinal research sample
6
Jordan 220Jordan 4000 Jordan 50

7. 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

8. GAGE Jordan – ITS sample breakdown
Total: 308
Makani: 121
Non-Makani: 187
Other characteristics:
• Average HH size is 7.5
• Poorer on average than the overall
sample
• 12% have a disability
• Less than 5% have any savings
• 43.5% in school
Gender and Age:
10-12 Girls: 86 Boys: 78
15-17 Girls: 65 Boys: 79
Governorate:
Amman: 99
Irbid: 50
Mafraq: 159

9. GAGE findings
Three sisters showing their henna, ITS in Jordan @ Natalie Bertrams / GAGE 2019

10. Most adolescents want education
 60% of adolescents in ITS would like to attend secondary school
(compared to 80% in formal camps)
Girls who are out of school would like
to return
‘All of us want to go back to school. We
want to convince our parents to send us
to school. This is our ambition.’
(Adolescent girl)
Some students want university
‘I want to become a pharmacist like
my cousin.’ (11-year-old girl)
Reality limits aspirations
‘We won’t be able to achieve anything. If
we were in Syria, the person can study,
and they would find a job there.’
(12-year-old boy)
Child labour can encourage aspirations
‘Education is important for me. Because I
do not want to work on farms. I want a
better job, a relaxing one… a good and
comforting job.’ (17-year-old boy)

11. Access to education is limited
Only 44% of adolescents in
ITS are enrolled in school
(compared to 78% in
formal camps).
Only 12% are enrolled in
non-formal education.
Adolescents have missed
an average of 16% of
school days over the last
two weeks.
Poverty and gender
norms are key.

12. Gender norms, child labour and transportation are key
challenges to educational access
Lack of transportation is
a major challenge
‘My son goes to school, but my
daughter does not because no
bus is provided to take the girl to
school and bring her home. She
and her young brothers stopped
going to school since last
summer. They used to wait for
the school bus to go to school,
but then the bus stopped
coming.’ (Mother in ITS)
Restrictive gender
norms and child
marriage limit girls
‘They told me that I
can write and read, so
no need for school.’
(Older girl)
Child labour limits esp
boys—70% work for pay
(vs 45% of girls)
‘I hope they can continue
their studies but my
husband plans to let him
quit school and
work. Because he is very
poor.’
(Mother)

13. Educational outcomes are poor
 Reading test  Math test
Only 21% of adolescents in
ITS can read a short story
written at a second-grade
level.
Only 20% of adolescents in
ITS can do subtraction with
borrowing.

14. Violent discipline at school is common
Adolescents are punished for reasons beyond their control.
‘Sometimes I was absent because my grandmother was sick and
the teachers were cursing me, and I used to be beaten and
punished.’ (12-year-old girl)
Adolescents are punished for misbehaving.
‘They also beat the ones who make noise in the class if one talks
with the other.’ (Younger boy)
27% of enrolled students reported violence at the hands of a
teacher in the last year (compared to 40% in formal camps).

15. Violence at home is common—and support is rare
38% of adolescents living in ITS admitted to experiencing violence at home
in the last year—boys are more at risk
36% of female caregivers of young adolescents living in ITS admitted to
using violent discipline in the last month
9% admitted to badly beating their adolescent child in the last month
Only 12% of adolescents reported ever discussing home violence with
anyone
‘My mother hit me by hand on my face in my room. My mother in law called her. My
mother in law bought a pregnancy test. I didn’t accept to do it.’ (Married girl)

16. Many adolescents experience peer violence
 30% of adolescents have been
bullied in the last year
 Only 26% reported discussing
that violence with anyone
Sexual harassment is nearly
constant for girls when they leave
the community.
‘They whistle or say dirty words.’
(16-year-old girl)
Boys fight to demonstrate their
masculinity.
‘If anyone swears at me, I would
swear at him. If he beats me, I
beat him in return.’ (Younger boy)
Girls’ verbal bullying ruins lives.
‘They spread rumors about me. hey
said some lies to my husband. They told
my husband that I still like the man I
had a crush on [when I was young].‘
(Married girl)

17. Child marriage and GBV are common
Girls in ITS were the most likely to be
married as children—were married at
younger ages—and had less say.
‘I said that I didn’t want to marry him…. they
forced me to marry him.’ (17-year-old girl)
Many married girls experience
violence from husbands and in-
laws—with even informal help
unavailable because marriages
are often to cousins.
‘He beats me by his hand, foot,
or using a stick. One time he
beat me during my first months
of pregnancy with my youngest
son. I had a bleeding and went
to hospital.’
(18-year-old mother of 4)
Because girls do not know about sex,
marriage sometimes begins with rape.
‘I did not know anything before this
night…he put the bed sheet over my face to
prevent me from crying and he had sexual
relationship with me.’
(20-year-old married at 12)

18. Adolescents in ITS face nutrition and health risks
‘I mean if there is a coupon there will
be food, if the coupon is finished
there is no food at all.’ (Mother)
 22% of adolescents in ITS report being
hungry in the last month (vs 12% in
formal camps).
’Now we have to pay for the
transportation, then pay to have an
appointment to see the doctor, then
pay to buy the medication.’ (Father)A girl from ITS community ©Herwig/UNICEF/2016
 Only 78% report good health (vs 84% in
formal camps).

19. Girls face added risks
They often lack timely information about
menarche
‘I did not tell her about periods, this
generation is taught by themselves. Aren’t
they working together? They know more
than me’. (Mother)
Most are prevented from using
contraception by their husbands
‘The problem is in our husbands!’
(17-year-old mother, pregnant
with her 4th child)
High risk deliveries are common
‘I struggled a lot with my first child. I delivered
him over three days as he was not fully ready to
be born.’ (16-year-old married at 13)
Some are denied health care by
marital families
‘They said that I was a liar and I
wasn’t sick. My mother-in-law
said that I was a liar’.
(Married girl, diagnosed with
mastitis)

20. High rates of emotional distress—less parental support
40% of adolescents in
ITS have scores on the
GHQ-12 that suggest
emotional distress (vs
29% in formal camps).
43% of female
caregivers have
trauma scores
that suggest
PTSD (vs 32% in
formal camps).
Those in ITS are
far less likely to
be able to talk to
their parents
about concerns
then have (based
on an index).

21. High rates of emotional distress—less parental support
 Adolescents in ITS are more likely to
have a trusted friend than those in
camps: 77% vs 71%
 The most confident adolescents
have parental support:
‘I always resolve my problems. I don’t
leave them without being solved. All my
problems are not big….My father trusts
me, unlike other families. He advises me,
but he has ever beaten me or prevented
me from doing anything.’
(16-year-old girl)
A family living in ITS ©Nathalie Bertrams/ GAGE
2019

22. Limits on mobility, information, and participation
Adolescents in ITS are less likely to leave home every day
(70% vs 84% in formal camps)—girls are disadvantaged.
Adolescents in ITS are less likely to have access to a mobile
(24% vs 37% in formal camps)—girls are disadvantaged.
Adolescents in ITS are less likely to have ever used the internet
(23% vs 42% in formal camps)—girls are disadvantaged.
Adolescents in ITS feel far less able to contribute to household decision-
making (based on an index).
‘It is not possible that the decision of the parents is wrong. We have
more experience of life.’ (Father)

23. Mobile Makani in ITS in Jordan Valley ©Herwig/ UNICEF 2016
Programming and
policy implications

24. Policy and programming ideas for discussion
Improve access to quality education by providing transport to
government schools.
Build parental buy-in to education via the provision of Hajati to
households living in ITS.
Provide parent education sessions in the ITS and at work sites to
improve parenting skills--especially regarding parent-child
communication and discipline strategies.

25. Policy and programming ideas for discussion
Providing messaging about the importance of adult marriage—
focusing on improved outcomes for marriages and children.
Expand Makani programming, ideally using teachers from outside
the community—but at a minimum providing closer supervision to
improve quality. Use door-to-door outreach for girls.
Engage shaweesh to identify entry points for growing support for
contraception to better time children (e.g. through improved health
or more productive work due to lessened childcare).

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

27. Questions &
Answers
A Pakistani girls in ITS near Amman @ Natalie Bertrams / GAGE 2019

28. 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.