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Building the Evidence Base for
Effective Policy Decisions
One-and-a-half billion
young people in developing countries are preparing for adulthood. How
well they—the largest generation in history—navigate the transition will
have a tremendous impact on their own countries and, by extension, the
world. Knowledge about the challenges they face will be crucial to any
efforts to help them realize their potential. Historically, however,
research has tended to treat adolescents as a more-or-less homogeneous
group comprising children as young as 10 to youths as old as 24. Typical
notions of adolescents—that they live at home, go to school, do not
work, and are not married—do not apply to a significant proportion of
adolescents in developing countries.
The good news is that,
when high-quality schooling is accessible and educational experiences
are positive, even the most disadvantaged children can become successful
adults. The Council’s multidisciplinary research on adolescents,
initiated more than 15 years ago, is providing policymakers in countries
as diverse as Bangladesh, Egypt, Ethiopia, Guatemala, India, Kenya,
Mali, Mexico, and Nigeria with the accurate and specific knowledge they
need to foster healthy, safe, and productive transitions to adulthood,
especially for girls. Generally destined for a life of poverty,
illiteracy, early marriage, high fertility, and poor health, girls from
the very earliest stages of adolescence are most in need of targeted
assistance.
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