Adolescents & Young People in Emergency & Transition Situations

1. Adolescents & Young People in Emergency & Transition Situations Cecile Mazzacurati UNFPA, Humanitarian Response Branch 21 February 2012

2. Who are adolescents & young people? UN definitions Children: under 18 Adolescents: 10 to 19 Youth: 15 to 24 Young people: 10 to 24 Atransition phase between childhoold and adulthood – but perceptions and definitions vary depending on local realities, culture and beliefs.

3. Who are adolescents & young people? Not a homogenous group! • Younger (10-14) / older (15-19) adolescents • Girls/boys, youngwomen/young men • "Youthprogramming" not always attentive to thesedifferences – tendency to address « youth » as a homogeneous group • Targetedstrategiesrequired to reach out to sub-groups • Younger adolescent girls, for instance, have been systematicallyneglected in programming; international efforts to prioritizethem in recentyears

4. Why prioritize adolescents and young people during emergencies? • “Demographic imperative”: • Todaywe have the largestgeneration of young people the world has everknown • Children and adolescents (‹18) representappr. 47% of UNHCR’s “persons of concern” (11% of these < 5 yrs)* • Sierra Leone: 63% of the population < 25 yrs old (2002) • Northern Uganda: 65% of Sudanese refugees < 25 yrs old (2005) * UNHCR statistical yearbook 2010

5. Why prioritize adolescents and young people during emergencies? Increasedvulnerabilities due to: Breakdown of social and cultural systems Exposure to violence and chaos Personal traumas such as the loss of family members, loss of protection mechanisms Disruption of school and friendships Absence of role models

6. Adolescents are more vulnerable to SRH threats during emergencies Lack of basic information on sexual and reproductive health Disruption of health services, or impossibility of access Early sexual initiation Early and unwanted pregnancies, leading to unsafe abortion or teen parenthood Higher risk of contracting STIs and HIV Gender-based violence, including family violence Accrued risks of sexual violence (rape, sex slaves, bush wives, survival sex) Recrudescence or apparition of harmful practices (trafficking, earlymarriage, FGM…) Substance abuse and boredom

7. Why prioritize adolescents and young people during emergencies? Tremendouscapacities & resilience: Energy, dynamism Idealism Willingness to support the recovery of their communities = a valuableresource for theirowncommunity, and for the humanitariancommunity

8. Challenges Data • Lack of sex- and age-disaggregated data (SADD) collection and analysis • Lack of global agreement on agecategoriesthatshouldbeused to gather SADD Prioritization • « Age » isrecognized by the IASC as a cross-cutting issue, but lowpriorityisgiven to it: • ageis not systematicallyaddressed by Flash/CAP • no age-focus in CERF live-savingcriteria Lack of funding

9. Challenges Coordination • No formal coordination platform to support the adoption of an "age lense" through cluster approach Technical • Lack of knowledge and operational guidance on "how to" integrate adolescents/youth/age in cluster work • Lack of methodology to support "youth participation" 

10. Challenges Existingexperience in youthprogramming in the field: • Health: generalhealth, reproductive health, mental health • Education: formal, non-formal, informal • Employment & livelihoods But oftensiloed -- what has been demonstrated to workis: • Multi-sectoralapproaches, lookingatyoungpeople’sneeds more holistically • Life-cycle lens, lookingatevolvingcapabilities and needsthrough the life-cycle • Inter-generationalapproaches – workingwith parents, caregivers, communitymembers

11. Opportunities: foundations in place for acting for adolescents & young people Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) Machel Study (1996) ICPD (1994) Security Council Resolution 1325 Security Council Resolution 1612

12. Opportunities: some guidance exists Advocacytools: Will You Listen? Young VoicesfromConflict Zones (Report) YOUTH ZONES – Voicesfrom emergencies (Advocacyvideo, www.youthzones.org) Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Toolkit for Humanitarian Settings (for RH managers and humanitarianprog managers) Y-PEER manual on peereducation on SRH in emergencies

13. Opportunities: there is momentum • Youth are one of the Secretary General’s key priorities for his second term • Growing recognition that adolescents and young people need much stronger attention in emergency, transition, recovery and peacebuilding

14. What can be done immediately? • Advocate for needs of specific groups (adolescent girls, older women, etc.) • Support clusters in looking at varying needs through life-cycle and targeting their activities as a consequence • Ensure appeal narratives and projects take various age groups into consideration

15. What is needed longer term? • Expand the Gender Marker so it includes a stronger focus on age • Develop technical guidance for clusters on age and gender • Form a coordination platform to carry this work forward Integrating age into gender work will make gender mainstreaming more effective!

16. Thank you!