ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Youth who have migrated from rural to urban areas in Ethiopia are often precariously employed, lack access to sexual and reproductive health services, and are at heightened risk of sexual violence. However, little is known about the sexual and reproductive health consequences of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, and associated lockdowns and service disruptions for urban-dwelling socially disadvantaged youth. METHODS: This paper draws on qualitative virtual research with 154 urban youths aged 15-24years who were past and present beneficiaries of United Nations Population Fund-funded programs, and 19 key informants from the city bureaus and non-governmental organisations in June 2020. Semistructured interviews by phone explored the impact of COVID-19 on young people's sexual and reproductive health and rights. RESULTS: The pandemic has affected the availability of sexual and reproductive health information and services, and exacerbated fears about attending clinics, particularly disadvantaging youth living with HIV and those involved in commercial sex work. Many young people have also lost their livelihoods, with some moving into transactional and survival sex. Sexual violence further undermines the rights and well-being of youth who are already marginalised, with street-connected youth, young people involved in commercial sex work and youth with disabilities particularly at risk. CONCLUSION: There is an urgent need to quickly resume front-line services, and social assistance measures must include young people, if Ethiopia is to continue meeting its own objectives around adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health.
ABSTRACT
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic and associated policy responses have interrupted services, increased financial stress, and driven social isolation, with acute impacts for adolescents. This study explores relationships between gender, COVID-19 vulnerability, social protection, and adolescent wellbeing in three diverse contexts: Ethiopia, Jordan, and Palestine. Methods: This study presents findings from a quantitative phone survey with adolescents in Ethiopia, Jordan, and Palestine (n = 5752) on household-level vulnerability to COVID-19-related shocks, household-level social protection (cash transfers or food aid), and locally adapted outcome measures designed to capture the gendered impacts of COVID-19 (collected between November 22, 2020 and February 25, 2021). We examine the relationship between each outcome and household-level COVID-19 vulnerability and social protection (and their interaction) using multivariate regressions, adjusting for adolescent and household characteristics. Findings: For all adolescents, increased vulnerability to COVID-19-related shocks is associated with worse outcomes for resilient coping and time spent on domestic tasks and care work. Across samples, girls spent over two additional hours on domestic and care work compared to boys. Girls in more vulnerable households experienced greater gendered constraints on behaviour. We find no association between receipt of social protection and adolescent wellbeing, and find that it only moderates the effect of COVID-19 vulnerability for less vulnerable households. Disability status, being out of school, and experiencing child marriage are also associated with adverse outcomes. Interpretation: Our study highlights that the pandemic has exacerbated underlying gender inequalities across adolescents in three very different settings, and that existing social safety nets are not adequate to fully address these impacts, particularly for the most vulnerable. Funding: This work was supported by UK aid through a grant from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office to the Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence (GAGE) longitudinal research study; the EMERGE project (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grants: OPP1163682 and INV018007; PI Anita Raj) and the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean.
ABSTRACT
MOTIVATION: The Covid-19 pandemic delivered an unprecedented shock to education systems globally, with school closures affecting 1.6 billion children. Education systems in LMICs are facing significant budget cuts further constraining capacities to adapt to Covid-19 impacts. The need for evidence to inform policy dialogues about how best to mitigate impacts and support education systems to "build back better" is pressing. PURPOSE: In Ethiopia, schools reopened in October 2020 after a 7-month pandemic-related closure. Employing an adapted resilience systems analysis framework, this article focuses on the extent to which Ethiopia's education system-which has in recent decades seen rapid progress in enrolment rates-has adapted to the impacts of the pandemic on adolescents' education and learning, and has achieved this equitably. METHODS AND APPROACH: The article draws on mixed-methods data from Ethiopia collected virtually with a pre-existing cohort of 3,066 adolescents (1,683 girls & 1,383 boys) during the immediate onset of the pandemic (April-June 2020) and following the reopening of schools (November 2020-February 2021). Adolescent perspectives are complemented by 27 key informant interviews at community and district levels. FINDINGS: Findings highlight that rural adolescents, girls and adolescents with disabilities were less likely to access distance education during school closures due to connectivity challenges and discriminatory norms, and to subsequently re-enrol. Implementation of adaptive measures, including hygiene guidance, smaller class sizes and catch-up classes, has been highly uneven, and outreach to support re-enrolment of socially marginalized adolescents very limited. POLICY IMPLICATIONS: For LMICs like Ethiopia to build back better post-pandemic and stay on track to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 4's commitment to inclusive and equitable quality education for all, scaled-up investments in blended learning approaches, addressing the digital divide, and ensuring targeted outreach and social protection to support re-enrolment of socially marginalized adolescents is critical.
ABSTRACT
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.