Presentation Ethiopia Lebanon NYRIS 13th June FINAL.pptx

Ethiopia Lebanon NYRIS 13th June 2024

1. Migration, ‘youth transitions’ and gendered agency in Ethiopia and Lebanon Dr Kate Pincock Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence (GAGE), ODI & Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford

2. Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence (GAGE): A longitudinal research programme in the Global South (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 20,000 adolescent girls and boys - the largest cohort of adolescents in the Global South

3. Introduction In this paper, we draw on research undertaken as part of the Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence (GAGE) programme in Lebanon and Ethiopia to reflect on young men and women’s experiences of migration and the implications for our understanding of ‘youth transitions’. Migration and adolescence both represent non-linear, relationally constituted and context specific transitions. For young people in contexts of economic precarity and limited opportunities for entry into paid work, migration can provide an important pathway for transitions through adolescence. Yet to date there has been limited attention to the ways gender and age intersect to shape opportunities for and experiences of pursuing migration in the global South.

4. Rethinking ‘transitions’ In this paper we draw on several areas of work on the intersections of age, gender, transitions and migration: Negotiated and constrained interdependencies : Samantha Punch’s (2015) work on the intersections of youth transitions, migration and relationships in Bolivia draws attention to how young people’s interdependent relationships with family affect decisions about mobility. Ambiguities in transitions: Katharine Grabska , Marina de Regt and Nicoletta Del Franco (2019) explore how adolescent girls’ migration intersects with, affects and is affected by other important transitions such as education and work in both positive and negative ways, drawing on research in Ethiopia, Sudan and Bangladesh. Crisis and social change: In Lebanon and Ethiopia, GAGE research finds that young people’s experiences of crises interact with integral age- and gender-based hierarchies that are constituted through social and familial relationships. Bringing these ideas together to look specifically at our findings in Lebanon and Ethiopia, we reflect on what a focus on gendered, relational agency lends to our understanding of mobility and our conceptualisation of ‘youth transitions’ in these contexts.

5. Context: Ethiopia Over the past eight years, political events in Ethiopia have also accelerated an existing landscape of widespread youth mobility and migration for education and work, and distress migration of young people to escape poverty and insecurity. From 2016 onwards, there has been significant political upheaval, leading to the Oromo-Somali conflict in 2017-2018 and a two-year war in Tigray in northern Ethiopia 2020-2022, resulting in mass displacement and widespread hunger. By the end of 2022, more than 4.2 million people were internally displaced – the highest number ever recorded in the country, with 84% of these displacements being conflict-induced (Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre 2022). Whilst cities have been attracted rural migrants for decades, widespread food insecurity as a result of the conflict has driven hundreds of thousands more people out of rural areas and into urban centres in search of work, where they face insecure work conditions and economic marginalisation ( Jafer et al., 2022). Findings presented from research in Ethiopia draw on data collection undertaken in 2017, 2020, 2021 and 2023 with young people in Afar, Amhara, Sidama and Somali regions.

6. Context: Lebanon Since 2019, an already troubling political and economic situation in Lebanon has continued to worsen. Ongoing political and economic turmoil has had severe consequences for adolescents and young people, who face high rates of unemployment alongside underinvestment by the state in quality education. 1 in 5 people in Lebanon is a refugee, with the majority coming from Syria since 2011. Poverty levels have increased dramatically among both refugee and host communities since the 2019 economic crisis. Between 2019 and 2021, Lebanon’s gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by more than 58%, and its currency has depreciated by 219% year-on-year, losing 90% of its value (World Bank, 2022). Soaring inflation had reached 200%, with food inflation peaking at 441% (ibid.). In August 2020, a massive explosion at the Port of Beirut resulted from the government’s negligence in following safety protocols. The explosion killed more than 200 people, injured more than 6,500, displaced more than 300,000, and permanently disabled more than 150 people. This catastrophe subsequently led to the resumption of anti-government protests across the country. Findings presented from research in Lebanon draw multiple rounds of data collection undertaken between 2020 and 2022 and in 2024 with young people in Baalbek in the north of the country.

7. Distress migration is growing, and affecting regions where migration was previously uncommon. In Ethiopia, young people have historically migrated both domestically and internationally for work. In the most recent GAGE research in conflict-affected areas, young people and adults alike describe a dearth of opportunities for young people alongside heightened food insecurity that is leading to growing distress migration. This is notably also happening in communities of origin where migration was previously uncommon. One group of mothers in Sidama region explained: ‘When the resources of their family were destroyed by the war some of them [young people] migrated to town to look for income sources… Young men look for daily labour, girls become house worker. They become house workers after they graduated from university; there is no other job opportunity in the village. Most young people left the village; some joined the military others migrate. Small numbers of young people are in the village now. ’ (Focus group discussion with mothers in Aleta Wondo woreda, Sidama , Ethiopia)

8. Girls and young women are increasingly migrating internationally as well as domestically. In Ethiopia girls and young women are increasingly migrating internationally, and again from communities where migration used to be uncommon. A group of adolescent boys in Afar explained that this is often condoned by families who perceive the opportunities for income that this can generate in the form of remittances: Girls who migrate both internationally and internally are at risk of exploitation and trafficking, with the recent conflict also marking an uptick in the numbers of girls entering the sex industry, as a project officer working with young women involved in sex work explained: ‘Many parents prefer their daughters migrating to Arab country rather than continuing secondary education or getting married. Mostly adolescent girls migrate after they completed learning 7th or 8th grade which means when they become 16 and 17. Boys mostly migrate after they became 20 and older. Married girls even migrate to Arab countries in agreement with husbands or after divorce.’ (Focus group discussion of young men aged 15-19, Afar, Ethiopia) The most common reason for increased numbers of young girls in sex work is related with the war, and displacement as a result of the war. Displaced young women meet brokers that work at bus stations and some of those girls are virgins when they meet brokers. Brokers rape them and tell them to go for sex work. (Key informant interview with NGO programme officer in Bahir Dar)

9. Gender norms and intra-familial obligations shape girls’ migration. Because of the perception that girls will undertake household duties, and will not use income from domestic work for their own individual needs but remit to their parents, migrating for domestic work to support families in times of crisis was being encouraged for daughters, as explained by a group of young men in South Gondar: As we know girls are responsible in the household especially helping parents by doing different chores like cooking food and caring for siblings. So they observe the food shortage and other problems they have at home so that they worry for such problems happening in their household. Many girls migrated to other areas looking for jobs to help their parents. Even girls who were in school migrated to towns like Bahir Dar and Addis Ababa since their parents couldn’t afford them school materials and also food. (Focus group discussion of young men aged 17-20, South Gondar, Ethiopia)

10. Gendered differences in work opportunities however heighten the risk of abuse for young women. There are clear gender divides in the types of work available to young people. Within Ethiopia, there are opportunities in agricultural plantations and construction for men, such opportunities are much harder to secure internationally (with the partial exceptions of migration to Sudan and South Africa for men). Girls meanwhile are largely limited to domestic work - which is not only often not regulated but also any abuse  or exploitation is hidden behind closed doors. This is in contrast to the work of boys and men, who work in more public spaces such as construction. Girls are also at risk of sexual abuse by employers, and as observed, some end up in the sex industry. Gendered norms about appropriate work also mean that girls are often more easily able to make the transition from schooling into work in urban centres than their male peers. Most girls that move to town get work fast, they become house workers. Most young men could not get work fast like girls. Young men become daily labourer after they moved to town. (Focus group discussion with 21-24 year old young women, Somali, Ethiopia)

11. In the context of economic and political crisis, illegal and risky migration is increasingly attractive. In Lebanon, migration to Turkey and Europe is increasingly prevalent - often through risky and expensive routes and people smugglers. A group of young men in Baalbek explained that the absence of opportunities in Lebanon is leading to more to desperation to seek out these routes, even when they knew the risks involved: Young man 1: You can't connect the future with Lebanon. You have to find another country which respects the work you'll do for example; you shouldn’t tire yourself and hang your hopes on the walls. Int: Ok, is migration an available choice for all the youth? Young man 2: Not all the guys have the chance to travel, you have to be educated and go to a university there. Young man 3: And to have acquaintances and relatives there. Young man 2: Or you'll go by an illegal way. And there's a possibility of 50% that you'll die. Young man 3: To die in the sea. Focus group discussion with a group of adolescent boys living in Baalbek, Lebanon)

12. Gendered expectations of sons and daughters shape their opportunities for migration. Much larger numbers of young men compared to young women pursue migration. In part, this is due to norms around mobility and family honour which preclude the kind of risk-taking young men describe. One girl explained that when an opportunity for education overseas arose, her father had concerns about their safety and made the final decision about whether she was allowed to leave: ‘Before the terminal I got a scholarship to Belarus, & I want to blame my father as he didn't allow me to go. As I will go alone ad being a girl, he didn't let me, saying that you will go to Belarus & so, no one will be near me. My father is the kind who doesn’t like his children to go away from him.. He is that kind of a person. And he was worried about me, so he didn't allow me. If he would have allowed me to, I would have been back by the coming year. But you will feel that he did it for my benefit. Meaning he did it for my sake. Understood? That he is worried and scared for me, if I go alone….’ (Focus group discussion with Lebanese adolescent girls living in Baalbak , Lebanon)

13. Gendered expectations of sons and daughters shape their opportunities for migration. Boy 1: There is no work available for young people here in Lebanon, young people want to work so that they can secure their future. Boy 2: I am a young man and I want to work in order to get money, I want to help my family. Boy 3: Also, young people want to work so that they can get married and have a family. (Group of young men studying at university level in Baalbek, Lebanon) Young men explained that the economic situation in Lebanon made it impossible to actualise their aspirations for the future. One group of male university students explained they sought to migrate overseas both to help their natal families and to be in a position to provide for their future families:

14. Opportunities for illegal migration are shaped by gender norms and family networks. Families, especially male relatives, also play an important role in both decision-making about migration and in organising transit, reflecting social norms about men’s role in providing for and supporting their families. One Syrian young man in Lebanon described how his uncle sent his son (the boy’s cousin) to Austria with people smugglers, and had prepared him for the difficulties of what he might encounter: ‘When he sent him, he went from here to Syria by smuggling, he got caught up on the road and problems happened, but my uncle is strong and patient, he is not weak, he talked to his son and he said to him don’t worry dear, hold on, don’t fear, just face it, any difficulties just face them. Before leaving from here, he taught him a lot, I mean it was like he didn’t want his son to be weak and fear and cry, his son was a kid when he sent him, he was around 15 or 16 years old! My uncle has a strong heart. He taught him everything, he said to him, whatever you are going to see, just don’t fear it, face the death alone, and don’t be afraid.’ (Syrian young man living in Lebanon)

15. Concluding remarks

16. Contact Us Kate Pincock [email protected] [email protected] www.gage.odi.org @GAGE_programme @MeganDevonald GenderandAdolescence @gageprogramme Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence (GAGE) / ODI Sign up to our newsletter