Growing Up Global The Changing Transitions to Adulthood in Developing Countries (2005) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 573-596
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PART IV Conclusions
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575 9 The Way Forward INTRODUCTION The juxtaposition of rapid global change, emergent opportunities, glaring inequities, and resource constraints has focused the attention of policy makers on a shared concern for the elimination of global poverty, with all its attendant negative consequences. The UN Millennium Development Goals, adopted by the United Nations in 2000, recognize the urgent need to accelerate the pace of development in the poorest countries and among the most disadvantaged populations in order to bring greater convergence of experience and opportunity across nations and among individuals.
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576 GROWING UP GLOBAL people growing up in disadvantaged circumstances cannot achieve their full potential if they have only their families to support them. Facilitating young peoples' success in this stage of life cannot be the responsibility of parents alone but must also be a responsibility shared with the international community, national and local governments, schools, health service providers, communities, employers, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)
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THE WAY FORWARD 577 ing countries, so we have not been able to incorporate these myriad differences as much as those for gender and socioeconomic status, which are more common across societies. Young people born recently have, for the most part, seen dramatic improvements in their health, education, and employment opportunities compared with those born earlier.
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578 GROWING UP GLOBAL Adolescent health and mortality rates would be better for young women, however, if it were not for the high rates of pregnancy and childbearing that still occur during this phase of the life cycle. Deaths from maternal causes remain a major factor in the health profile of young women in many developing countries.
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THE WAY FORWARD 579 for later success in adulthood. It is not known whether this shift in rates of return is largely due to globalization or whether other factors, such as declines in school quality, could also have played a role.
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580 GROWING UP GLOBAL international communication and transportation (Behrman and Sengupta, 2005)
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THE WAY FORWARD 581 data show that a majority of young men in many Latin American and Asian countries express an interest in politics and a willingness to engage in political activism, whereas young women appear somewhat less inclined to express these views. Concepts of citizenship go beyond political participation to embrace various forms of participation in the life of the community.
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582 GROWING UP GLOBAL sexual experimentation among young people. Among those programs that were able to demonstrate behavioral impact, the magnitude of the effect has generally been modest.
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THE WAY FORWARD 583 should be targeted to the poor, particularly poor young women, who are often doubly disadvantaged. Evaluation research shows that important actors in the system -- parents, students, teachers, employers, and administrators -- can be very responsive to well-designed incentive programs.
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584 GROWING UP GLOBAL cause of death and morbidity for young people in sub-Saharan Africa. In the view of the panel, programs designed to reduce risky and unprotected sex among young people are critical to successful transitions and are likely to require multipronged and multisectoral approaches that are culturally appropriate and community based, including active collaboration between the health and education sectors.
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THE WAY FORWARD 585 tries could potentially be a far more effective means of helping the poorest people in the world, particularly young people, seeking decent and productive employment opportunities appropriate to their skills. Evaluation should be adopted as an integral part of policy and program innovation for all interventions designed to enhance successful transitions to adulthood.
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586 GROWING UP GLOBAL years, it is important to learn more about what it is about schools, and the potential opportunities that schools can open up, that can make a difference for health and reproductive health. What are the links between poverty, economic opportunity, and risk behaviors?
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THE WAY FORWARD 587 societies, it appears that these differences are important. The options appear different for Sunni and Sufi young people in many countries in the Middle East; for young people of indigenous, African, and European descent in Latin American and the Caribbean; for young people from various tribal groups in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and isolated areas of Asia; for young people of different castes in South Asia; for overseas Chinese and other young people in various countries in Asia; and for religious and language minorities and those belonging to majority groups throughout the developing world.
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588 GROWING UP GLOBAL that are prosocial and gender equitable, the teaching of languages of global commerce, the teaching of job-related skills including computer literacy, and the transmission of knowledge supporting healthful behaviors. What are the near-term and long-term consequences of very early or very late marriage and childbearing for reproductive health, education, work, and citizenship roles in the context of rapid global change?
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THE WAY FORWARD 589 • The cost-effectiveness of policy interventions designed to enhance schooling and health outcomes, including both direct and indirect effects. • The role of culture and context in adolescent development, emotionally, physically, and cognitively.
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590 GROWING UP GLOBAL change, adolescent development, and cultural diversity in the panel's conceptual framework presents a simultaneous challenge to research along three very different dimensions. Without good behavioral theory and contextual specification, it is hard to generalize and draw lessons for the future from even the very best designed research studies.
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THE WAY FORWARD 591 and provide research protocols that make their approach transparent to users. In the sections that follow we (1)
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592 GROWING UP GLOBAL benefited in its data analysis from the limited international census data currently available from the University of Minnesota's Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) , which is housed in the Minnesota Population Center.
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THE WAY FORWARD 593 Promising Research Strategies The greater use of multidisciplinary, multimethod panel research designs: During the transition years, most young people graduate or leave school, have sex, enter the military or national service, get their first job, leave home, become a parent, get married, and have many other experiences as well, all for the first time. This is a very busy phase of life when change happens rapidly and can have long-lasting effects.
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594 GROWING UP GLOBAL determining it. The desired understanding we advocate is likely to be obtained through qualitative or mixed-method approaches.
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THE WAY FORWARD 595 successful transitions to adulthood. If rigorous evaluation becomes a routine part of a phased implementation, lessons can be learned and adjustments made before implementation goes to scale, increasing the chances of success.
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596 GROWING UP GLOBAL ment is most strongly reflective of the experience of Asian young people. Second, because of continuing population growth, poor young people are almost as numerous today as they were in the past.
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