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Pages 1-14

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From page 1...
... 1Executive Summary The transition to adulthood is a critical stage of human development during which young people leave childhood behind and take on new roles and responsibilities. It is a period of social, psychological, economic, and biological transitions, and for many young people it involves demanding emotional challenges and important choices.
From page 2...
... 2 GROWING UP GLOBAL hood are all the more urgent because of the changing demographic profile of many developing countries. The acceleration of these global changes has coincided with unprecedented growth in the size of the population of young people in developing countries.
From page 3...
... EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3 These very different circumstances across regions mean that the experiences of today's young people, as well as the implications of globalization for them, vary enormously. And even in countries in which the rate of economic growth has been very high, for some young people, particularly those in rural areas, the outward patterns and rhythms of life may appear to be largely unaffected.
From page 4...
... 4 GROWING UP GLOBAL • An appropriate stock of human and social capital to be a productive adult member of society. • The acquisition of prosocial values and the ability to contribute to the collective well-being as citizen and community participant.
From page 5...
... EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5 Global trends in population, health, urbanization, and education have all contributed positively to the growth in the demand for schooling. In most parts of the developing world today, young people live within reasonable proximity of a primary school -- a notable achievement given the rapid growth in the school-age population.
From page 6...
... 6 GROWING UP GLOBAL and economic vulnerability enhance the likelihood that young people will engage in risky sexual behaviors. Furthermore, there is growing evidence that coercive sex is not an uncommon experience for many girls and young women.
From page 7...
... EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 7 are consistently high (and differentially high for young women)
From page 8...
... 8 GROWING UP GLOBAL The Transition to Marriage While the transition into marriage is a key component of the transition to adulthood in most contexts, marriage, in and of itself, is not necessarily a marker of adulthood, particularly for the numerous young women who wed during the teenage years. Substantial delays in the timing of marriage among most young people, however, are contributing to an overall lengthening of the interval between childhood and the assumption of adult roles.
From page 9...
... EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 9 survey data representing 60 percent of the population of the developing world, 23 percent of young people ages 20-24 gave birth before age 18 (down from 30 percent 20 years ago)
From page 10...
... 10 GROWING UP GLOBAL poverty, were not originally developed with a particular focus on young people. Nevertheless, the successful achievement by 2015 or beyond of many of these goals will require that policy makers center their attention on young people.
From page 11...
... EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 11 Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women Throughout its report, the panel documents systematic gender differences in pathways to adulthood as well as the universal persistence of dual social norms relating to the sexual behavior of young people. The panel's recommendations on gender equality emphasize the promotion of equitable treatment in the classroom through gender training for teachers and school administrators, the development of compensatory educational and training programs for disadvantaged and out of school youth, particularly girls, and the adoption of policies and programs that support delays in marriage in places where girls still marry before age 18.
From page 12...
... 12 GROWING UP GLOBAL positive associations with young people's health; both male and female students who remain enrolled during their teens are substantially less likely to have had sex than their unmarried nonenrolled peers. Thus resources spent on expanding opportunities for secondary schooling may have a direct impact on the reproductive health of both young men and women.
From page 13...
... EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 13 collection and compilation operations can be enhanced, identify promising quantitative and qualitative research approaches (not always new but underutilized) that would significantly deepen understanding of transitions to adulthood and suggest how findings from research and program and policy evaluation can be more effectively integrated into innovative and large-scale interventions.

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