Young Lives Newsletter October 2023

We're delighted to bring you our latest newsletter!

In this edition, we're proud to share Young Lives’ activities at the UKFIET conference. We also bring you the latest on the team's intensive work delivering Round 7 of our long running study as well as updates on activities from our global team. We hope you enjoy it!

Young Lives at UKFIET: Global Crises, Inequality and Skills

The team enjoyed participating in September’s UKFIET conference, which returned this year as an in-person event at the University of Oxford’s Examination Schools to consider ‘Education for Social Justice: Diversity, Sustainability, Responsibility’

At our well-attended Symposium, the team presented Young Lives' latest policy relevant research on children’s skills development and life long learning. The panel considered how skills development is impacted by global crises and gender inequality and how social protection programmes support foundational skills. Access their presentations here.

In a follow up 'fire side' chat, Senior Policy Officer, Kath Ford and FCDO’s Sarah Lane Smith suggested policies that could support equitable skills development across the life course. Some of these are captured in Young Lives latest policy brief which describes how social protection programmes – PSNP in Ethiopia and JUNTOS in Peru - can positively impact children’s foundational cognitive skills development.

For a snapshot of all of Young Lives' latest research on skills development across the life course - and calls to action - check out our recent illustration below.

UKIET gave us a fantastic opportunity to launch our stunning new photo exhibition, prominently displayed in the entrance to the conference. You can view the photo exhibition on our website here.

And finally, Ethiopia Country Director, Alula Pankhurst, joined the RISE and GAGE Programmes to present Young Lives' research on the impacts of COVID-19 and conflict on education, particularly on girls

Round 7 update

“We are excited to be back in the field for Round 7 visiting the Young Lives participants in person. We have completed more than half of the interviews planned in Peru, about a third of the interviews in India, and we are about to complete the training of enumerators in Ethiopia where fieldwork will be starting soon.”
Alan Sanchez, Senior Quantitative Researcher

Ahead of Round 7 we forged a new partnership with the Wellcome Trust to fund a mental health survey component. This will enrich the Round with crucial information on participants' wellbeing. We are using an innovative method to test levels of cortisol via study participants' hair samples, and collecting additional information on depression, anxiety, stress and post-traumatic stress disorder. To prepare for forthcoming data collection in Ethiopia the team trained the supervisors on conducting the main survey - and collecting hair samples!

For Round 7 in Ethiopia we will also collect data on the impact of the recent conflict on young people. To prepare for this potentially sensitive area of the survey we conducted a pre-pilot earlier this year and published results as a blog on ReliefWeb. This blog, with additional background on the pre pilot method, is now available on the Young Lives website. Results indicated multiple traumatic experiences during the conflict, so a psychiatrist joined the recent training in Addis Ababa to provide support to the supervisors in conducting this section of the survey.

Ethiopian Country Director on 'Beating the Odds'

Some of the positive reviews of the recent BBC Ideas film which has already been viewed almost 70,000 times!

'A lovely intersection of the arts & social sciences'

'Combines the personal with excellent research'

'Insightful, Inspiring'

The film draws on Young Lives research to explore how children from tough backgrounds fare well despite the odds being against them. British poet and writer Lemn Sissay offers his take on three common factors that can help children beat the odds. You can watch the film here - and do share the link with friends and contacts.

You can find out more about research, led by Gina Crivello, that was behind the film here. And read Alula Pankhurst's expert comment on The University of Oxford’s website, where he further unpacks common factors that contribute to overcoming adversity

Young Lives to advise on SDG Technical Panel

Following the recent SDG Summit - held in New York - marking the halfway point to the commitment to achieve the SDGs by 2030, we are delighted to share that Dr. Renu Singh, had been invited to join the Technical Advisory Panel for the ‘People Pillar’ as part of the Global SDG Synthesis Coalition.

The People Pillar is made up of the first five SDGs, and the coalition brings together UN states and relevant external organisations to generate and share evidence around the five SDG pillars - People, Prosperity, Planet, Peace and Partnership - to identify actions needed to achieve the SDGs. Each pillar will report its findings to the SDG Summit in September 2024.

Dr Singh’s invitation to join this Technical Advisory Committee provides a fantastic opportunity to ensure that Young Lives evidence continues to inform these important global debates.

What are the 17 SDGs?

In the Media

Young Lives evidence on early marriage and co-habitation features in an article "Girls Forced to be Wives and Mothers" published in Peru's newspaper El Comercio. Ninos del Milienio's Alan Sanchez and Vanessa Rojas also met with Congresswoman Flor Pablo to participate in a round table discussion: “Law to end marriage with minors: a look from the evidence”

'The Cursed Spears'

Alula Pankhurst, was invited by the Ethiopian Civil Society Resource Centre to present his documentary film The Cursed Spears. The film is informed by Young Lives research on the impact of conflict on livelihoods and young people's mental health.

Events & Engagements

RISE Conference 2023

Jennifer Lopez from Young Lives in Peru attended the recent RISE Conference held in Oxford to present latest findings on the relationship between foundational cognitive skills and later education outcomes in Ethiopia and Peru Read more here.

Coming Up

Fieldwork begins this week in Ethiopia
Young Lives podcast on supporting skills development across the life course
COP 28 - November 30th to December 12th

If you have any questions or comments about this newsletter please contact Young Lives Communications Manager - julia.tilford@qeh.ox.ac.uk.