This document summarizes a presentation on a GAGE research study exploring adolescent voice and agency among Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. Key findings include that adolescent mobility is prescribed by gender and age, with girls having far less freedom of movement. Adolescents also have limited decision-making power over their daily lives. While displacement has opened opportunities for some women, this is largely inaccessible to most adolescent girls. The presentation concludes with recommendations to scale up interventions to support adolescent voice and agency, including creating safe spaces for girls and boys.

1. Exploring adolescent voice and agency in crisis:
The Rohingya context in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh
Dhaka, January 2020
Silvia Guglielmi, GAGE Qualitative Researcher

2. Outline of Presentation
1
• Overview: GAGE research
2
• Why adolescence?
3
• Rohingya/Bangladesh study context and methodology
4
• Research findings
5
• Conclusions and recommendations

3. Overview:
GAGE research
Bangladesh - Rohingya women in refugee camps share stories of loss and hopes of recovery © UN Women Gallery, CC BY-

4. Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence (GAGE):
A longitudinal research programme (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 the largest cohort of adolescents in the Global South.

5. GAGE Conceptual framework

6. "Investing in adolescents, especially girls, is crucial to compete in
the 21st century." - World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim
The WHO DG, Dr. Tedros Adhanom underscored that, “This is a
never-before moment for adolescent health”, lamenting the 3,000
adolescents who die every day, most of them in low- and middle-
income countries, including from conflict and mental health
problems.
“For too long adolescents have been the forgotten community of
the health and development agenda. We cannot afford to neglect
them any longer.”
Melinda Gates, BMGF Co-founder
“Adolescence magnifies the difference between girls and boys… It
entrenches norms that disproportionately create negative
experiences for girls.”
Sarah Hendrix, BMGF Director of Equality
Why adolescence?
Girls from Chittagong© Nathalie Bertrams / GAGE 2019

7. Why adolescence?
An age of opportunity The demographic imperative
% total population 10-24 years in 2013
ADOLESCENCE
10-19 years
Rapid neuro-
development
changes Growing
adoption of
adult-like roles,
e.g. work,
intimate
relationships
Increased
salience of
gender norms
in daily life
Increased
interaction with
peers vs
parents
Psycho-
emotional and
self-identity
changes
Physical and
reproductive
changes
Source: Accelerating adolescent girls’ education and
empowerment: G7 Whistler Meeting 2018 | May 2018
Bangladesh: 32 million
adolescents aged 10-19 making
up 21% of the population(UNICEF
2019)

8. How voice and agency affect SDG delivery
• Adolescent girls can better access information about a diversified diet and negotiate
within the household for a food basket that meets their developmental dietary needs
(2.1, 2.2).
• Adolescent girls can negotiate greater access to sexual and reproductive health services,
including information and education (3.7); as well as strengthen their voice and
decision-making power in the family and community in order to support better mental
health and well-being (3.4).
• Adolescent girls and boys can voice their rights to complete free, equitable and quality
primary and secondary education (4.1), as well as for opportunities to participate
actively in class and student fora.
• Girls and boys are able to move freely in their communities, access safe spaces, and be
protected from all forms of violence in public and private spheres, including SGBV (5.2).
Enhanced voice and agency for adolescent girls and their male peers can also fuel the
change to eliminate harmful traditional practices such as child marriage (5.3).
• Opportunities for adolescents to participate in civic engagement opportunities
can contribute over time to more responsive, inclusive, participatory and
representative decision-making at all levels (16.7).

9. Rohingya/ Bangladesh
baseline study
Project Einstein Bangladesh © digital.democracy, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

10. Context
915,000 Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar Bangladesh - approximately 23% of
which are adolescent girls and boys aged 10 – 19
Due to a history of exclusion, little is known about adolescent Rohingya
refugees.
Though concerted efforts to focus on gender dynamics are being made,
adolescent-specific responses are limited.
Ukhia and Teknaf have populations that are 76% and 29% Rohingya,
respectively – it is critical to understand how adolescents in host communities
have been impacted.

11. Baseline study:
May – July 2019
Sample:
 2059 adolescent girls, boys and their caregivers completed the GAGE survey
 149 adolescents, caregivers and community members interviewed through in-depth qualitative
methods
 Across locations, our sample includes:
Methodology
Young (10-12) and old (15-17)
adolescents
Adolescents with disabilities and
early married adolescents

12. Locations:
 Quantitative data collection took place across 32 camps in the Ukhia and Teknaf Upazilas and in 57
host communities in the folllowing Upazilas:
• Chakaria, Cox's Bazar Sadar, Naikhongchhari, Pekua, Ramu, Teknaf, Ukhia
 Qualitative data collection took place in 3 camps and 2 host communities in Ukhia and Teknaf
Methodology
Quantitative fieldwork Qualitative fieldwork
Fieldwork
sites
Adolescent
respondents
Fieldwork
sites
Number of
respondents
Refugee camps 32 933 3 112
Host communities 57 1126 2 37
Total 89 2059 5 149
GAGE survey research nested within the broader Cox’s Bazar Panel Survey sample

13. Research findings:
Voice and agency
Bangladesh - Rohingya women in refugee camps share stories of loss and hopes of recovery © UN Women Gallery, CC BY-

14. Across locations:
 In daylight hours, young adolescents are
able to visit relatives, attend learning
centres and/or madrassas, and spend time
with friends.
 However, only 28% of Rohingya girls leave
their camp blocks compared to 80% of boys.
 31% of Bangladeshi girls leave their host
community compared to 76% of boys.
At night-time, only 26% of our sample felt safe in the
camps and 33% in host community, compared to
95% feeling safe in the daytime, across locations.
 In camps, many fear kidnapping.
Cropped-Kutupalong-camp © physiciansforhumanrights, CC BY-NC-
SA 2.0
Key Finding 1: Adolescent mobility is prescribed by gender and age

15.  Older Bangladeshi girls face restrictive gender norms emphasizing motherhood and maternity.
 For Rohingya girls, everything changes once they “grow up”. "Grown" girls can barely go out, and
when they do they have to cover their entire bodies.
‘Girls stay home and do household work. We can’t
communicate with friends as we wish, we stay at
home and cook while crying’.
(Community mapping FGD, Older Girls, camp B)
‘My body will change in future. I don’t like
it. Girls can’t study at that time. We can’t
visit anywhere as before. We feel shy. We
take veil when we got puberty. From first
period we can’t go out, parents forbid us’.
(Body Mapping FGD, young girls, camp B)
‘We aren’t allowed to go anywhere. People would
see us! People defame. People say, “The girl has
been grown and she goes out!’.
(11 year old girl, camp C)
Key Finding 1: Adolescent mobility is prescribed by gender and age

16.  Older adolescent boys can move more freely in the camps, but face limited livelihood
opportunities and educational prospects which have repercussions on their psychosocial
wellbeing and economic empowerment.
I only studied to Class 3. If I am educated, I do not
need to wear lungi. I can wear pant like
gentleman. That’s why I like English and Study. I
want to learn English.
(17 year old boy, camp A)
I don’t have any eagerness to spend time
with anyone. Because I am struggle for
surviving. How will I eat, If I spend time with
someone?
(18 year old married boy, camp A)
I could have gone in communities outside the camp
before when ID card wasn’t in need. But now
restriction has been imposed everywhere for us. So
we can’t go far.
(Community mapping FGD, Older Boys, camp B)
Key Finding 1: Adolescent mobility is prescribed by gender and age

17.  Qualitative data from our camp sample suggests that adolescent girls must obey their
husbands' decisions if married, or their parents' if unmarried.
 Only in female headed households, the eldest girl and boy have the ability to influence
decisions.
‘Yes, I wished to study. Parents didn’t allow me to
go out…I was forced to insert into home
permanently’.
(16 year old married girl, camp A)
‘My husband takes all decisions. Why won’t
I listen to him? I must listen to him if I have
to stay with him. Women in our country
don’t give their opinion for anything’.
(18 year old girl, camp A)
‘My mother listens to me. Because I am the eldest
girl of the family. And my father is not with us too’.
(15 year old girl, camp 2A)
Key Finding 2:
Adolescents have limited decision-making power over their day-to-day lives

18. Our survey findings reveal that:
 Across age groups only 29% of Rohingya girls
have a high amount of say in how they spend
free time. This compares with only 19% of
adolescent girls in host communities.
 While only 11% of Rohingya girls can influence
their HH on when they can leave the house,
this is significantly higher than Bangladeshi
girls, only 4% of which say they have a high
amount of say over leaving the house.
Key Finding 2:
Adolescents have limited decision-making power over their day-to-day lives
A mother with a child, Bangladesh © Nathalie Bertrams / GAGE 2019

19. Key Finding 3: Displacement has opened a space of opportunity for women in
the camps but this is not accessible to most adolescent girls
The Rohingya crisis: 2 years on © EU Civil Protection and
Humanitarian Aid, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Burma is the country of man but Bangladesh is a
country of women.
(18 year old girl, camp B)
After coming here women started going outside to do
jobs. In our Burma women can’t go to jobs if you even
give fifty thousand taka as salary yet they won’t go to
jobs as they aren’t allowed to show their face to
anyone. Women couldn’t even go out of the door of
their house in Burma. But now those women are going
outside to do jobs….After coming here they broke all
the rules.
(16 year old girl, camp C)

20. Conclusions and
recommendations
Bangladesh - Rohingya women in refugee camps share stories of loss and hopes of recovery © UN Women, BY-NC-ND 2.0

21. Conclusions and recommendations
1
2
4
GAGE research has and will continue to look at voice and agency outcomes that
support adolescents' development trajectories:
 whether adolescents are able to negotiate with family members for outcomes that
impact their lives—such as a more equitable distribution of household labour,
access to public spaces for recreation and community participation.
 whether they have access to age-appropriate information.
 whether they are able to make decisions within the household and are moving
towards becoming the ultimate arbiters of their own futures.
 whether they are developing a sense of themselves as members of a community,
rather than merely their own families, and have access to school- and community-
based venues for developing voice and agency.

22. Conclusions and recommendations
1
2
3
The time is ripe to scale up gender transformative interventions with parents and
community leaders to highlight risks of social isolation currently faced by adolescent girls.
1
To ensure safety and security in the camps and host communities to ease adolescent
movement, the presence of law enforcement and improved lighting should be multiplied.
2
Create dedicated safe girl-spaces and boy-spaces where adolescents can take an active
role in their communities, spend time with their peers, and receive marketable vocational
training should be promoted.
As the Rohingya crisis protracts, a medium to long-term vision is needed to support
Rohingya and Bangladeshi adolescents and GAGE data is a valuable source of information
to design evidence-based interventions and policy.
4

23. Contact Us
WEBSITE
www.gage.odi.org
TWITTER
@GAGE_programme
FACEBOOK
GenderandAdolescence
About GAGE:
 Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence
(GAGE) is a nine-year (2015-2024) mixed-
methods longitudinal research programme
focused on what works to support
adolescent girls’ and boys’ capabilities in the
second decade of life and beyond.
 We are following the lives of 18,000
adolescents in six focal countries in Africa,
Asia and the Middle East.