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AbstractThe 2030 Sustainable Development Goals' call to 'leave no one behind' has helped to highlight the importance of investing in inclusive services for persons with disabilities in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Evidence on the experiences of young Ethiopians with disabilities remains weak. Drawing on quantitative and qualitative data from 2017 to 2018, this article explores the educational, bodily integrity and psychosocial outcomes of adolescents with different impairment types (visual, hearing and physical) in rural and urban communities. Our findings indicate that young people with disabilities face intersecting barriers to inclusive education, heightened vulnerability to gender- and age-based violence, and increased psychosocial distress compared to peers without disabilities. Implications of these findings for policy and programming, include: the pressing need for specialised training and mentoring of education and other service providers; investments in support networks for parents of adolescents with disabilities; and strengthening of disability-inclusive social protection and referral mechanisms.

A Correction to this paper has been published: 10.1007/s41255-021–00019-y

AbstractMany adolescents in Ethiopia face difficulties in successfully transitioning to healthy adulthood. This can stem from challenges experienced by two unique phenomenon: 'early adulthood' where adolescents are forced into adult responsibilities too early; and 'waithood' where adolescents are unable to obtain the foundations they need to successfully move into adulthood. This paper uses the lens of these two opposing challenges to explore adolescents' ability to successfully transition into adulthood and examine how far social policies support these transitions. It uses qualitative and quantitative data from the Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence (GAGE) study on adolescents and young adults, their caregivers and key informants, from diverse rural, urban and pastoralist settings in Ethiopia. Our findings show that adolescent transitions are impacted by a range of diverse barriers with high levels of unsupported adolescents facing early adulthood or waithood. As such, we find that adolescents are being failed by social policies at each end of the spectrum. Social policies could provide a foundation to support these adolescents, yet we find that many are insufficiently age-disaggregated to take into account their diverse needs. In order to appropriately support these individuals in transitioning to healthy adulthood, social policies need to be targeted at adolescents throughout each stage of their transition. Furthermore, such comprehensive age- and gender-responsive social protection should be complemented with wider programming, such as awareness building, skills training, and adolescent-friendly health and mental health services.

AbstractSpurred by international commitments to address age- and gender-based violence, this article uses a capabilities framework to address an important data gap on violence against adolescents in Ethiopia. It draws on mixed-methods data collected in 2019/2020 in three diverse rural regions. This includes surveys completed by 5539 girls and boys as well as 819 qualitative interviews with adolescents, caregivers, community members, and service providers. We find that threats to adolescents' bodily integrity are shaped by a complex interplay of age, gender, and socio-cultural environment. Girls are less able than boys to enjoy freedom of movement and control over their bodies, and age-related violence is often deeply gendered in ways that are context specific. Differences in service provisioning augment already large gaps between adolescents in different regions. To tackle threats to adolescents' bodily integrity, awareness-raising efforts need to be twinned with improved access to education, health, social protection, and justice services.

EPDF and EPUB available Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence. It is critical that the wellbeing of society is systematically tracked by indicators that not only give an accurate picture of human life today but also provide a window into the future for all of us. This book presents impactful findings from international longitudinal studies that respond to the United Nations' Agenda 2030 commitment to "leave no-one behind". Contributors explore a wide range and complexity of pressing global issues, with emphasis given to excluded and vulnerable populations and gender inequality. Importantly, it sets out actionable strategies for policymakers and practitioners to help strengthen the global Sustainable Development Goals framework, accelerate their implementation and improve the construction of effective public policy