PODCAST | Adolescents in crisis: unheard voices is a five-part podcast series that shines a light on the millions of adolescents around the world who are forced to flee their homes. They form part of a global community of some 70 million refugees, displaced because of persecution, climate crises and conflict. Nearly half of those are under 18.
The podcast series gives voice to adolescents – their lives, their stories, their aspirations and their hopes for the future. It draws on the nine-year research programme Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence (GAGE) and their recent publication ‘Adolescents in Humanitarian Crisis: Displacement, Gender and Social Inequalities’
“Life is not good in this camp”: adolescent refugees tell their story | PODCAST | Episode #1
The first episode sets the global scene for adolescents in crisis. We talk to Khalid, a 13 year old Syrian refugee living in a tent in Jordan with his family, and Fatuma, a mother of two small children who was brutally forced from her home at the age of 18. She lives in a government-supported centre for internally displaced people south of Addis Abiba in Ethiopia.
Like the many thousands of young refugees they both face many vulnerabilities because of their legal status. Forced to grow up fast, any employment is confined to sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing that require low skills and are rewarded with low pay, no benefits and no health insurance.
For all the agencies tasked with supporting refugees and internally displaced persons, understanding the different needs of adolescents is vital to designing age and gender appropriate support and services. Listening to the voices of the young people affected by crisis is the first important starting point.
This episode’s guests:
- Dr Prerna Banati, UNICEF
- Dr Nicola Jones, Director, ODI Principal Research Fellow and GAGE Director
- Workneh Yadete, GAGE Ethiopia Qualitative Research Lead and Research Uptake and Impact Coordinator
- Jude Sajdi, GAGE Jordan researcher
- Fatuma*, adolescent IDP in Ethiopia facing dearth of economic opportunities
- Khalid*, adolescent Syrian refugee working in gruelling conditions in ITS in Jordan
*The names are pseudonyms to protect individual adolescent identities
