ADOLESCENTS IN INDIA: A PROFILE
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ADOLESCENTS IN INDIA:
A PROFILE
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September 2000
Authors
Supriti Bezbaruah
Support Officer
Inter - Agency Support Unit (IASU)
Mandeep K. Janeja
Coordinator
Inter - Agency Working Group - Population & Development (IA WG - P&D)
Website : http://www.un.org.in/iawg.htm
Contents
Page/s
Foreword
Acknowledgements
ii
Acronyms
iii-v
General Introduction
1-2
Section One : Situational Analysis of Adolescents in India
3-25
Section Two : Adolescents and the UN System :An Overview
26-41
Section Three : Review of Government Policies and Programmes
42-63
Section Four : NGO Activities and Programmes
on Adolescents at a Glance
64-70
General Conclusion
71-72
References
73-75
77
NATIONS UNIES
UNITED NATIONS
NEW DELHI. INDIA
Resident Coordinator's Office
Eo reword
With India’s population having crossed the one billion maik. out of which nearly 21 percent are
adolescents, the significant role of this population group in enabling India to achieve ns developmental
goal of population stabilization must be recognized. The Unilvd Nations Inter Agency Working (houp on
Population and Development has chosen ‘adolescwis' u> its priority tlicmc for the year 1999-2000. Il is
therefore pleased lo present this overview of the status of adolescents in India. T he document is aimed to
serve as ready reckoner on the policy interventions and the programmatic efforts of the Government, the
UN System and various Non-Governmental Organ!/ations.
The UN System in India has been working with the Government, civil society and other
development partners towards achieving population and social development gods agreed 10 by the world
community at the International Conference on Population and Development (K PD). Cairo. 1994. Flic
ICPD highlighted the urgency of ritegrating population concern^ with development strategics and
planning, with a distinct focus on sustainable human development. Recognizing adolescents and youth as
‘the most important resource for future development', the IUPD drew special attention to the health and
well-being of adolescents. .As a follow up to the nnplenientation of the IC’Pl), The United Nations
Population Fund (UNFPA) launched the five year post-Cairo review process known as K l‘D
?
Initiatives. As part of the review process, the South Asia Conference on Adolescents was organized m
New Delhi in 1998. The Conference identified the major demographic, socio-economic and reproductive
health characteristics defining the .situation of adolescents in South Asian countries. Building on tins
framework. ’ Adolescents in India : A Profile’ furthers the importance of explicitly defining the category
’adolescents', recognizing their issues, needs and concems and emphasizing adequate policy attention and
programmatic interventions that this population group merits. It aims at identifying possible areas fur
joint interventions in relation to adolescents, by the Govcmmcm, the UN system and Non-Ciovernmemal
Organizations.
We hone this work will serve as a useful tool for policy makers and programme milKilor> :u
planning lor and with adolescents. 1 congratulate the United Nations Inter Agency Working Group on
Population and Development, under UNFPA's lead, m the making of this puhliculion.
New Delhi
7 August 2000
Brenda Gael McSwcene)
I N Resident Coordinator
55. Lodi Estate New Delhi • 110 003. India
Telephone 4628H7Z Fax: 4627612 E-mail: fo.ind@undp.org Cable: UNDEVPRO. New Delhi hUp.Awww unrlj' >rf-i n
Ack n o wi cd^c rne i11s
We acknowledge the contribution of all the UN member agencies of the Inter Agency
Working Group on Population and Development, focal persons of the various departments
of rhe Government of India and of various non-governmental organizations in the making of
‘Adolescents in India : A Profile’.
€
We would like to thank all chose who have shared their views with us regarding thrs
document particularly Frroza Mehrotra (Planning Commission). Meenakshi Sharma (Ministry
of Youth Affairs and Sports), Gautum Basu (Ministry of Health and Family Welfare),
S
Sadhvani
(Department
of
Health), J LPandey
(NCERT). Anoop
Swarup
(NYKS'h
V Mohankumar (Directorate of Adult Education). Reena Ray (Department of Women and
Child Development). N.Ghosh (MAMTA), Arundhati Mishra (CEDPA). Vineeta Nathani
(PRERANA) besides many otners who have been interviewed and who have provided
various materials for compiling this document. We thank members of the UN System for all
their inputs to the UN mapping exercise on adolescents (conducted by Supriti Bezbaruah) -Suniri Acharya (WHO/SEAROi; G. Petros, Renuka Taimni and Gopi Ghosh (FAO); Anjana
Chellani and Heike lunger (ILO), Gordon Alexander and K.Pradeep (UNAIDS); Shipra
Narang (UNCUS); Veena jha (UNCTAD); Sunil Nanda and Mikael Rosengren (UNDCPk
a
Hums Masood (UNESCO): Rajiv Chandran (UNIC); Satyajit Singh. Rekha Dayal. Param Iyer
(WSP); Minnie Mathew and K. Parvathy (WFP);Jyoti Man Sherchan and Jolly Rohacogi (UNV);
G. Ramana (World Bank); Elea Stigcer and Suniti Dhai (UNIFEM); Sanjiv Kumar and D. Grote
lUNICEF). We would also like to thank Michael Vlassoff, UNFPA Representative and Chair of
IAWG
P&D for all his support to the publication as also UNFPA staff members : Mridula
Seth. Dmesh Agarwal. B. Bhamachi. Deepak Gupta. Anupain Srivastava and Nandica Mathur for
ah their cooperation. Above all, we extend our special thanks to M. Cristina Arismendy.
UNFPA Deputy Representative and Convenor of IAWG - P&D for all her time, effort and
support in compiling the document and giving it its final shape.
Acronyrns
AGG
Adolescent Girls Group
AGS
Adolescent Giris Scheme
ARH
Adolescent Reproductive I iealch
AIDS
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.
BGMS
Bharatiya Grameen M ahi la Sangh
CEDAW
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women
CEDPA
Centre for Development and Population Activities
CINl
Child in Neco Institute
CRC
Convention on the Rights of rhe Child
CSO
Central Statistical Organization
CSEC
World Congress Against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children
DAPC
Drug Abuse Prevention Centre
DFID
Department for International Development
DWCD
Depar tment of Women and Child Development
EDP
Entrepreneurial Development Programme
FAQ
Food and Agricuhuial Organization
FPAI
Family Planning Association of India
FWCW
Fourth World Conference on Women
GER
Gross Enrolment Ratio
GSCPT
Gujarat State Crime Prevention Trust
H5V
Human Immunodeficiency Virus
ICDS
Integrated Child Development Services Scheme
ICMR
Indian Council of Medical Research
ICPD
International Conference on Population and Development
I FC
Infor manors Education and Communication
UPS
Indian Institute of Population Sciences
ILO
International Labour Organization
IPEC
Inrernational Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour
KAP
Knowledge Attitudes and Practices
KVS
Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangachan
LFPK
Labour Force Participation Races
MOHFW
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
MOHRD
Ministry of Human Resource Development
MTP
Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act
NCERV
National Council of Educational Research and Training
NCTE
National Council of Teacher Education
NFHS
National Family Health Survey
NGO
Non-Gover nmental Organization
NLM
National Literacy Mission
NOS
National Open School
NPEP
National Population Education Project
NSS
National Service Scheme
NSSO
National Sample Survey Organization
NVS
Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti
NYKS
Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan
POPED
Population Education
PR I
Panchayati Raj Institutes
RCH
Reproductive and Child Health Programme
ROA
Recommended Daily Allowance
RH
Reproductive Health
SAARC
South Asia Association of Regional Cooperation
SC
Scheduled Caste
ST
Scheduled Tr ibe
SCERT
State Council of Educational Research and Training
SEARCH
Society for Educational Action and Research in Community Health
SI DA
Swedish International Development Authority
SRED
Society for Rural Education and Development
SSA
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
STEP
Support to Training-cum-Employment Programme for Women
STD
Sexually Transmitted Disease
SUTRA
Society for Social Uplift Through Rural Action
I AR SHI
Talking About Reproductive and Sexual Health Issues
CRYSEM
Training of Rural Youth for Self Employment
UN
United Nations
UNCED
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
UNCHS
United Nations Centre for Human Settlement
UNCTAD
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
UN DCF
United Nations Drug Control Programme-
J
UNDP
United Nations Development Pr ogramme
UNESCO
United Nations Educational Scientific and Culuirai Organization
UNFPA
United Nations Population Fund
UNHCR
United Nations High Commissioner (or Refugees
UNIC
United Nations Information Centre
UNICEF
United Nations Children's Fund
UNIFEM
United Nations Development Fund for Women
UNV
United Nations Volunteers
USAID
United States Agency for International Development
UVCT
Urivi Vikram Charitable Trust
WB
World Bank
WCHR
World Conference on Human Rights
WFP
World Food Programme
WHO
World Health Organization
WSP
Water and Sanitation Programme
WSSD
World Summit for Social Development
YFS
Youth Friendly Services
General Introduction
status, nutrition and health needs, education and
literacy levels, vulnerability to HIV/AIDS and drug
Population stabilization is one of the major
development challenges for India today. What happens
in the future depends, to a large extent, on the
decisions taken by adolescents as they enter their
reproductive years. Adolescents in the age group IQ-
19 years constitute 21.4 percent of India's population.
Within this paradigm of population and development
related issues, the role of adolescents cannot be
overlooked.
'Adolescents in India :A Profile' is a publication of the
UN Inter Agency Working Group on Population and
Development (IAWG-P&D). With UNFPA as the lead
agency of the group, the other member organizations
are FAO, ILO, UNICEF, UNIFEM, UNAIDS, WB,
UNDCRWHO, UNDP, UNESCO and UNHCR.
In keeping with its commitment to the International
Conference on Population and Development, 1994,
Cairo, the group aims at linking population concerns
with development issues. It stresses a people-centred
approach to development and a holistic vision of
people's lives. In attempting to understand population
and development related issues, it emphasizes multi
sectoral linkages and coordinated interventions. Its
focus is on sustainable human development. These
guiding principles provide the background canvas for
the analytical framework of the Profile.
The working group's selected theme for the year
1999-2000 is 'Adolescents'. In view of the group's
current priority, the Profile® aims at securing a niche
for adolescents and adequate visibility for them in
policy and programmatic efforts of the Government,
the UN System and non-governmental organizations.
abuse, economic and employment requirements. This
section of the Profile raises some pertinent issues
with regard to adolescents. It provides certain
pointers to possible interventions and programming
activities. Section Two proceeds to map out the
various activities being carried out in relation to
adolescents in the UN System. Section Three provides
a brief description of government policies and
programmes on adolescents. Section Four presents
snapshots of selected NGO activities and programmes
on adolescents.
As far as the definition of the category 'adolescents'
is concerned, the importance of achieving a
conceptual clarity is emphasized throughout the
Profile.
The Profile does not claim to produce either a
comprehensive or an exhaustive account of the status
of adolescents or of the policies and programmes,
directly or indirectly, oriented towards them. It is,
instead, an overview which aims at providing a
background to adolescents in India, highlighting their
major concerns, identifying gaps in current policies and
programmes and suggesting indicators for future
initiatives and interventions. The guiding framework
in compiling the Profile has been the South Asia
Conference on the Adolescent, New Delhi, 1998. The
idea behind conducting a UN mapping exercise and
presenting an overview of the status, policies and
programmes on adolescents, has been to elucidate
possible areas for joint interventions on adolescents.
The Profile presents an all-lndia perspective and does
not aim at detailing state-level data regarding the
status of adolescents, policies and programmes on
The Profile is divided into four sections. The first
them. The Profile draws largely on available secondary
section outlines the status of adolescents in India
literature, besides drawing on some interviews
focussing on certain indicators such as demographic
conducted with focal persons of various UN
Excerpts of the Profile will be a part of the IAWG-P&D website whereby the information provided in the Profile can be
constantly updated. It is thus expected to be an evolving document.
organizations, some Government officials and some
concerns. It is indicative of the urgency to make
NGO experts.
adolescents and issues related to them the focus of
government policies and programmes, the UN
’Adolescents in India : A Profile' aims at sensitising
readers to the importance of recognizing adolescents
System's interventions and the initiatives of non
governmental organizations.
as a distinct group with their own unique needs and
2
Section One : SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS OF ADOLESCENTS IN INDIA
1.1 Introduction
The term adolescence meaning "to emerge”, or
grow, to mature" indicate the defining features of
"achieve identity" is a relatively new concept,
adolescence.
especially in development thinking. The origins of the
definition of the concept has not been established.
However, a universally accepted
term from the Latin word, 'adolescere' meaning "to
Adolescents aged between 10-19 years account for
more than one-fifth of the world's population.
In
WHO defines adolescence both in terms of
India, this age group forms 21.4 percent of the total
age (spanning the ages between 10 and 19
population (National Youth Policy 2000) as shown in
years) and in terms of a phase of life marked
Chart 1. Characterised by distinct physical and social
by special attributes.These attributes include:
changes, the separate health, education, economic and
Rapid physical growth and development
employment needs of adolescents cannot be ignored.
Physical, social and psychological maturity,
Adolescents are also entitled to enjoy all basic human
but not all at the same time
rights - economic, social, political and cultural - but
Sexual maturity and the onset of sexual
their inability to exercise these rights places the onus
activity
on policy makers and adults to implement separate
❖
Experimentation
measures to ensure their rights.
❖
Development of adult mental processes
and adult identity
•>
Transition from total socio-economic
Moreover, it is
necessary to invest in adolescents as the future
leaders and guardians of the nation's development.
Chart 1 :
Adolescents :A Snapshot
dependence to relative independence
To distinguish adolescents from other similar
“the largest ever generation in
human history”
(and sometimes overlapping) age groupings,
which however differ in these special
characteristics, WHO has also defined youth
and young people.
•>
Youth - persons between 15 and 24 years
•>
Young people - persons between 10
and 24 years
21%
• Globally - adolescents account
for one-fifth of the population
79%
• India - adolescents constitute
approximately 21 per cent of
the population
w
3
A prerequisite for policy planning and focus is a
1.2 Defining the group 'adolescents'
comprehensive situational analysis of adolescents. Yet,
there is a marked absence of reliable data and
information on adolescents. There has been an
encouraging trend to reverse this in recent years, with
a growing awareness of adolescent needs, particularly
in the voluntary sector, and an increase in the number
of innovative programmes on adolescents.
Adolescents as an age group usually tend to be
subsumed under the categories of either youth or
children.
The formulation of definitions clearly
demarcating the age and characteristics of adolescents
is only a recent phenomenon, and yet to be widely
recognised across the world
The actual interpretation of adolescence as a phase of
An overview, based on the secondary data available,
confirms the need for a separate focus on the health,
education, employment and protection of human
rights of adolescents.
Reproductive health, in
particular, represents the most critical area where an
emphasis on the special needs and concerns of
adolescents
is required.
In India, given its
predominantly patriarchal set up, ideology of son
preference, incidence of early marriage and high rates
of maternal mortality, a strong focus on the needs of
adolescent girls is warranted. However, both sexes
are vulnerable to problems such as those of drug
abuse, HIV/AIDS and other infections and sexual
abuse. A focus on 'adolescents' must be inclusive of
adolescent boys as well as girls.
__________________
life remains a social construct that differs between
cultures. In India there is a resistance to the concept
of 'adolescence' , if it is understood, as in the West, as
an extended period of education and training for adult
roles. The experience of such a phase is limited in the
Indian context. This may be explained by factors such
as a delay in the onset of puberty (due to poor
nutritional status) and prevalence of early marriage
(signifying adulthood). It may further be argued that
in India the generation gap cited in the West does not
exist.
However with the changing economic and
social profile, generational differences in India are
becoming increasingly important. The association of
adolescence with sexuality is another factor which
increases resistance to the concept, particularly in
regard to female adolescence (Greene 1997).
However, if adolescence is viewed in terms of shifts in
"dependency to autonomy, social responses to physical
maturity, the management of sexuality, the acquisition
4
I
of skills, and changes in peer groupings" (Greene
1997), then the notion that adolescence is a social
stage that occurs only in developed nations must be
discarded.
Aside from these objections to the relevance of the
concept of adolescence to the Indian scenario, it is
I
also arguable whether the term itself is valid.
Adolescents are generally perceived as a homogenous
group, yet they can be stratified on the basis of
gender, caste, class, geographical location (urban/rural)
support and understanding of parents during
and religion. Adolescents also include a whole gamut
this phase is critical in enabling them to meet
of categories: school and non-school going, drop-outs,
these challenges (WHO 1997 and 1998).
sexually exploited children, working adolescents -
Adolescence is further complicated by the non
both paid and unpaid, unmarried adolescents as also
married males and females with experience of
motherhood and fatherhood (MOHFW, Country
simultaneous nature of these changes.
Different
aspects of behaviour or physical appearance occur at
various ages.
Paper, 1998).
It may be pertinent to ask - are there any common
Three main stages of adolescence can be discerned :
characteristics defining adolescents?
❖
The only
Early adolescence (9-13 years) - characterised
universal definition of adolescence is to mark it as a
by a spurt of growth and the development of
period in which a person is no longer a child, and not
secondary sexual characteristics.
yet an adult. This is a period of rapid growth and is
❖
Mid adolescence (14-15 years) - this stage is
apparent from the prevalence of new factors - of new
distinguished by the development of a separate
capacities, of being faced with new situations, new
identity from parents, of new relationships with
types of behaviour - which signify opportunities for
peer groups and the opposite sex, and of
growth and development, but also risks to health and
experimentation.
well-being.
The period is characterised by a
•:*
Late adolescence (16-19 years) - At this stage,
combination of physical changes (puberty), behaviour
adolescents have fully developed physical
changes and shifts in social grouping. Broadly, these
characteristics (similar to adults), and have
changes are:
formed a distinct identity and have well-formed
Physical changes - The onset of puberty is
marked by rapid growth and the development
opinions and ideas.
(NCERT 1999)
of secondary sexual characteristics.
This suggests a need to move beyond an overall
Psychological changes - The development of a
sense of identity distinct from parents and self
emphasis
on
adolescents
towards
different
interventions at different stages of adolescence.
worth, the exploration of new relationships
with their peer groups, with the opposite sex,
1.3 Data availability on adolescence-
families and the community. It is also a time
The lack of reliable data and information on the
of exploration (of their own bodies, of one's
adolescent age group is a major impediment in
capabilities and potential) and experimentation
(in sexual relationships, alcohol and tobacco
use). At this stage, media and peers exert a
preparing a profile of adolescents. Disaggregation of
data on the basis of age is in the age groups of 0-15
years or 15-24 years, with adolescents (10-19 years)
rarely considered as a distinct age group in official
powerful influence. Manifested by change, it is
statistics. Moreover, the emphasis on youth (15-35
also a stage of extreme vulnerability where, for
years in India) results in greater and better quality
instance, alcohol use could easily slip into
alcohol abuse if there is inadequate access to
services and a supportive environment. The
information on older adolescents in comparison with
younger adolescents. The availability of reliable data is
a vital pre-condition for planning and identification of
appropriate programmes for adolescents. Research
Chart 2: Age distribution of India (2000)
and data compilation on adolescents, in fact, is itself an
area that calls for policy prioritisation.
75+1
70-74
1.4 Population and demographic profile
111
65-69
60-64
The increase in attention towards adolescents is
55-59
primarily due to a recognition of the increased
50-54
significance of this group as a proportion of the total
45-49
12
population. At the Executive Board Special Event : «3 40-44
• £
35-39
Panel Discussion on Adolescent Reproductive Health,
30-34
13 June 2000, Geneva, it was pointed out that young
people now numbered 1.4 billion and made up the
'largest youth cohort in history.' World-wide, the
majority of the increase in the proportion of
Females
Males
25-29
20-24
_ I
15-19
10-14
adolescent population is occurring in developing
5-9 J; ■\
countries (MOHFW Country Paper, 1998). In India,
0-4 BM
as mentioned already, adolescents account for 21.4
60 50
L
40
30
20 10 0
percent of the population. Chart 2 shows the age
distribution of the Indian population in 2000.
Source: Population Reference Bureau
Past fertility decline has reduced the proportion of
young people (NFHS 1998-99). However, with more
than 200 million projected to be in this age group, the
group is still significant enough to merit separate
attention (Table 1).
10 20 30 40 50 60
Millions
Moreover, India's future
population size will largely depend on its prospects
for continued fertility reduction, linked to the success
of its Reproductive and Child Health programme
(NFHS 1998-99). Since adolescents comprise a major
part of the reproductive age group, addressing their
needs will be critical in determining India's future
implications for policy, as the needs of the two sub
groups are different.
The gender-wise breakdown of the adolescent
population does not show any significant disparity
between the sexes, with female adolescents
accounting for the same proportion of the total
female population as male adolescents for the male
population.
However, the problem of adverse sex
ratio is also evident in the adolescent age group. The
sex ratio for adolescents in the 13-19 years age group
population levels.
declined from 897.7 in 1981 to 884.2 in 1991,
An analysis within the adolescent age group itself
indicates that the proportion of 10-14 year olds is
although it rose to 890.4 in 1996. (Office of the
Registrar General, 1996)
greater than the 15-19 year group. This has important
Table 1 - Percentage distribution of population by sex and age group
AgeGroup
1981
1991
1996
2001
2006
2011
2016
M
F
M
F
M
F
M
F
M
F
M
F
M
F
10-14
13.2
12.6
11.9
11.6
12.0
11.5
12.1
12.1
10.5
10.6
8.7
9.9
9.4
9.7
9.1
9.9
9.5
11.0
10.5
11.2
11.2
9.0
9.9
8.7
15-19
8.9
9.7
8.3
8.3
Source: Central Statistical Organisation,Youth in India : Profile and Programmes 1998, New Delhi: CSO, 1998, page : 23-24.
marriage and high fertility, and early child bearing
The exploitation and neglect of girls and women
in South Asia has led to excess female deaths over
male deaths, resulting in an adverse sex ratio.Jndia
(leading to maternal mortality) contribute to a wide
difference in mortality rates in adolescent females and
males. In the older adolescent age group, female
has some of the region's most severe forms of
mortality is significantly greater than male mortality as
female neglect and infanticide. ('The South Asia
female adolescents begin to experience problems of
Conference on Adolescents/ UNFPA CST for
early pregnancy, the effects of malnutrition and
CASA, 1999)
anaemia. (Table 2). About 13 percent
It is estimated that in the age group 0-19 years,
there are 13 million missing girls. The sex ratio is a
disturbing indicator of gender discrimination across
all ages. In fact, there is an increase in female deaths
between 15-19 years as a result of high maternal
mortality among teenage mothers. Any programmes
of deaths of
females below the age of 24 years is related to
pregnancy and child birth causes. Similar trends also
prevail in the rural and urban age groups.
Health
policies must seek to redress these high levels of
female adolescent mortality through comprehensive
interventions that aim to enhance women's status and
address factors such as early marriage and childbirth.
for adolescents must, therefore, recognise the
problems of gender discrimination.
1.6 Nutrition and health
1.5 Age-specific mortality
Nutrition is usually taken as another significant
Adolescents are overlooked in most health
indicator of the health and overall status of
programmes as they are basically considered a
adolescents. Adequate nutrition is particularly critical
healthy group. In general, adolescent mortality rates
for adolescents as it is a primary determinant of the
Table 2 - Age - specific mortality rates
Age group
1995
1990
1980
(in years)
F
M
F
M
F
M
0-4
43.5
40.1
27.9
24.8
25.3
23.2
5-9
4.0
3.3
2.8
2.3
2.7
2.2
1.4
1.4
1.3
10-14
1.7
1.7
1.4
15-19
2.9
2.0
.5
1.7
2.0
1.7
20-24
3.8
2.3
3.1
2.4
2.7
2.1
35-39
4.6
4.7
3.2
3.9
3.1
3.7
45-49
7.3
9.6
6.3
9.0
5.2
8.1
55-59
16.7
21.5
14.4
20.9
11.8
17.5
12.4
9.6
9.7
8.7
9.3
All ages
12.4
Source: Central Statistical Organization, 1999: Women & Men in India 1998, page : 10.
are lower than for other age groups, such as older age
spurt of growth that characterises adolescence. Poor
groups or children (0-4 years).
nutrition is often cited as the major reason for the
However, the pervasiveness of gender discrimination
in India, lower nutritional status of females, early
G'
delay in the onset of puberty in Indian adolescents.
Also, gender discrimination in India is mentioned as
one of the main causes of female under-nutrition.
The nutritional status of currently married late
A positive shift in most nutritional studies has been
(15-19 years) adolescent girls is unsatisfactory. A
the move away from the overwhelming concentration
sizeable proportion of late adolescent girls are
on the nutritional status of children, mothers, or
acutely malnourished (measured in terms of Mean
pregnant women to include adolescents. In addition to
Body Mass), fail to meet calorie requirements and
the traditional categories of children and adults, the
are short statured.This will increase the risk of
design of the National Nutrition Profile 1998 includes
’school age children’ and 'adolescents’. Average intake
difficulty in childbirth. In Bangladesh and India,
of nutrients was also classified according to age and
females receive 88 percent of the required
sex. However, there are anomalies even within the
nutritional intake as compared to boys. ('The South
The regional nutrition profiles
Asia Conference on Adolescents,’ UNFPA CST
same profile.
(Northern, Southern, Western and Eastern) primarily
for CASA, 1999)
detail two categories, children and adults, excluding
adolescents.
against the recommended daily allowance (RDA)
To an extent, the lack of regional level data on
adolescent nutrition is compensated by the clear
categorisation of 'school age children’ and 'adolescents’
for state wise and district wise nutrition profiles.
Even here, though, there are variations in the
definitions - school age children are categorised as
between 5-12 years for some states, and 7-12 years
for others and adolescents are categorised as
between 13-18 years in some states and 12-18 years
(Table 3). The protein intake of all groups is adequate
but the age groups below 15 years fall short in energy
intake. Average intake of iron is deficient in almost all
age groups. It is plausible that the short falls create
more vulnerabilities among adolescent girls due to
greater demands for better nutrition (for example in
relation to early pregnancies, a high vulnerability of
adolescent
mothers
to
anaemia
and
other
reproductive health problems).
€
in others. The variations may be marginal, but these
inconsistencies pose problems for inter-state
Of particular concern to policy makers is the
nutritional status of girls as it has inter-generational
comparisons.
effects. Low socio-economic status compounds the
Furthermore, the categorisation of adolescents
problem of undernutrition, with consequent effects on
between 12-18 years is yet another example of the
height and weight. In addition, undernutrition reduces
diversity in definitions of the exact period of
the reproductive, physical, and mental capacities of
adolescence, both within Government and among
other development partners.
girls, and continues to result in low birth weights and
foetal loss.
If India wishes to achieve the goals of
Health for All and adequate Nutrition for All, it must
A major measure of nutritional or health status is the
attend to the problem of undernutrition among
average in take of energy and protein and also iron
adolescent girls.
8
*
Table 3. - Average Intake of energy, proteins and iron against the recommended daily intake allowances (RDA)
Age
1- 3
Boys
Energy (Kcals/day)
Proteins (g/day)
Intake
Intake
RDA
RDA
1240
Intake
RDA
8.9
30.1
918.1
Iron (mg)
22
12
Girls
925.9
Boys
1299.5
Girls
1298.5
Boys
1570.3
Girls
1520
Boys
1847.0
2190
56.8
54
18.7
34
Girls
1482.2
1970
45.7
51
15.1
19
Boys
2184.9
2450
67.1
70
22.1
41
Girls
2097.1
2060
65.6
65
21.4
28
Boys
2514.3
2640
79.2
78
25.7
50
Girls
2327.1
2060
74.2
63
23.9
30
> 18
Boys
2592.3
2425
79.7
60
26.1
20
> 18
Girls
2292.9
1875
70.8
50
23.0
30
4-6
7-9
10-12
*
Sex
13-15
16-17
30.5
1690
40.6
30
41.2
1950
50.0
9.2
13.0
18
11.3
41
49.7
20.0
26
18.3
Source: India National Nutrition Profile 1998, page : 15.
For girls, adolescence is a period of growth with an
J
Situational Analysis' (India Country Paper, DWCD,
>
1.7 Adolescent reproductive health
increased nutrient intake.'Girl Child in India :The
1999) points out that a large number of adolescents
are undernourished and the problem is more among
The complexity of the period of adolescence, and the
accompanying changes in physical and social
characteristics is usually emphasized, but it is not very
well understood by adolescents or adults. A poor
girls (45 percent) than boys (20 percent), primarily
understanding of reproductive health and sexual issues
due to deep-rooted gender discrimination. Girls need
is the main cause for the absence of focus on services,
10 percent more iron as a result of menstrual blood
information and research on unique features of
loss, but their consumption is much less. The most
adolescent reproductive health
visible manifestation of nutritional deficiency is the
years, the trends of globalisation and liberalisation, the
high prevalence of anaemia and stunting among
adolescent girls. Studies suggest that as many as 55
percent of adolescent girls may suffer from anaemia.
Anaemia is exacerbated with pregnancy and often
results in obstetric risks and reproductive failures.
Anaemia is preventable with the consumption of iron
tablets and nutrition supplements, and many
(ARH).
In recent
rapid spread of communication and information
technology, and shifting social and moral norms maybe
said to have eroded the traditional bases and defining
points for adolescent reproductive and sexual
behaviour, leading to a host of changes in reproductive
health concerns. These require immediate attention
and appropriate interventions.
government and NGO programmes are now
>
addressing this problem.
9
W
>
1.7.1 Age at marriage
Chart 3 : Age of marriage
S
In most countries of South Asia, marriage marks the
turning point in reproductive behaviour and signals
the onset of sexual activity.
Age at marriage,
therefore, has far reaching consequences on fertility
rates, child bearing, and other health issues such as
infant and maternal mortality.
co
o
o
u
2
■
_D
21 for males. Nonetheless, early marriage continues
to be the norm. By
the age of 15, as many as 26
percent of females are married. By the age of 18, this
figure rises to 54 percent (Mehta 1998:5).
Legislation, advocacy, socio-economic changes
E
2
1
£ ~
LI
*
6
CM
S’
L_
(particularly education) are possibly leading to
reversals in this trend, with a steady increase in the
Year
Female
Male
1951
15.4
19.9
1971
ITi
22.7
23.3
17.9
19.5
1994*
19.4
«
n
—
-
£
o
i a J11 1 1
ss
1
n
3
■’JL
J
- -
n
E
*6
Table 4: Mean age at marriage
1981*
2
S
-
-
-
Hh-
o
mean age of marriage (Table 4).
1992*
a §
3
S
a
i
& 2
£
In India, the legal age at marriage is 18 for females and
.4
I
J
--
I
!
a
— -
4
f
S I
-o
I
£ 5
1 I t
5
Source: National Family Health Survey - 2 1998-99
1.7.2 Fertility rates
A progressively larger share of all births is
occurring to adolescent girls between the ages of
15-19 years. 25 to 35 percent of adolescent girls
Note:
1992 and 1994
figures based on Sample
registration system, previous figures on Census.
: Excludes Jammu and Kashmir
Not available.
Source: CSO, Women and Men in India, 1998.
of Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and Nepal begin
childbearing as early as 17 years. Adolescent girls
have shorter spacing intervals between births than
older women, adding to already high fertility rates
among adolescent girls.
However, national statistics obscure regional and rural/
urban differentials. In India 50 percent of women aged
20-24 are married before 18 years, with the rural
(’The South Asia Conference on Adolescents,'
UNFPA CST for CASA, 1999)
percentage of 58.6 being a sharp contrast to the
Most fertility in India occurs within marriage, so the
urban percentage of 27.9 (NFHS 1998-99). The
low age of marriage automatically links to early onset
percentage incidence of adolescent marriages below
of sexual activity, and thereby, fertility. Adolescent
18 years is as high as 68.3 in Rajasthan and 71.0 in
fertility is high, but the increase in the age of marriage
Bihar as against 17.0 in Kerala and 24.9 in Tamil Nadu
has resulted in a corresponding decline in age specific
(NFHS 1998-99) as shown in Chart 3. Concerted
fertility. Even so, the NFHS (1992-93) surveys report
efforts are thus necessary to raise the age of marriage
that as many as 36 percent of married adolescents
for adolescents, taking into account regional
differences.
already mothers or are pregnant with their first child.
aged 13-16 and 64 percent of those aged 17-19 are
<
10
S’
4
C
An analysis of the data has revealed that adolescent
What also needs to be mentioned here is that
fertility rate for India is 116 births per 1000 women
changes in the socio-economic and cultural conditions,
in the age group of 13-19 years, with the rate in rural
areas being twice as high at 131 than in urban parts
of the country. The adolescent fertility rate is as high
and consequently, sexual norms signal a rise in
premarital sexual activity. This cannot be conclusively
as 153 in Madhya Pradesh, 143 in Haryana, 141 in
determined as data is scarce for the 15-19 age group
Maharashtra and comparatively lower in the states of
and virtually non-existent for the 10-14 age group
Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu. It is as low as
38 in Kerala.
(where it is assumed that there are no births). With
increasing reports of premarital sexual activity (as the
Overall, urban fertility is lower than rural fertility. The
discussion below shows), the problems of unwed
correlated factor of literacy is also of importance
mothers cannot be neglected in any analysis of fertility
here, with urban dwellers having comparatively better
access to educational facilities which in turn can
facilitate a declining trend in fertility. Although fertility
in India.
1.7.3 Sexual activity and behaviour
has declined, the number of births to adolescents has
actually witnessed an increase from 11 percent in
With the widespread availability of information, the
1971 to 17 percent of all births in 1992-93 (UPS,
influence of the media and the breakdown of
1995). Chart 4 shows the fertility rates vis-a-vis such
traditional family structures, sexual behaviour among
background characteristics as rural-urban differentials.
Table 5 below reveals age-specific fertility rates though
the availability of such data in this age group is limited
adolescents may be described as being in a state of
flux.
While information on sexual activity and
behaviour is limited, and the methodologies of existing
compared to the 20 plus age group.
studies are questionable, a consistent finding is of a
Table 5: Age-specific fertility rates
high level of pre-marital sexual activity, mainly among
adolescent males. A disturbing trend is the lack of use
Age Group
1980
1990
1992
1993
1995
15-19
88.2
83.1
74.4
69.6
55.2
20-24
246.1
237.0
235.2
234.4
238.4
of contraceptives and knowledge of sexually
transmitted diseases
(and preventive behaviour).
Studies across South Asia (Mehta 1998, Jeejebhoy,
1996) on sexual activities and knowledge indicate that
Source: CSO, Women and Men in India 1998, page : 9.
The magnitude of adolescent sexual
activity is significant, and is higher in
Chart 4: Fertility rates by background characteristics, 1992-93
boys than girls. There is also under
Age Specific Fertility Rates-lndia
Age Group 15-19 Years
reporting of nonmarital relationships by
adolescent girls due to fears of social
120
97.1
100
disapproval.
88.2
92.6
91 6
57.2
60 -K
83.1
82
80 -I— H
20 ■ —
o 4-J
1969
76.1
In
50.3
40 - —
1988
84.5
—
1990
■ Rural EJ Urban
83.3
_74.4
<■
Men are more likely to be sexually
active and at an earlier age than girls,
42.4
Ml
1991@
I
1992@
Combined j
Source : Indian Institute of Population Sciences, 1995
and attitudes on premarital sexual
activity
remain
conservative.
Furthermore, the acceptance of pre
marital sexual activity is greater among
boys than girls.
11
11
Parents and teachers play a minor role
making by adolescents is constrained
in giving information, and are usually
by age and gender factors. Adolescent
reluctant to impart such information.
women have little choice on whom and
The majority of information on sexual
when to marry, and are usually not in
and reproductive issues is obtained
a position to negotiate contraceptive
from peers (which can sometimes be
use. This varies slightly with age, with
misleading and inaccurate).
an older wife more likely to make such
decisions.
Commercial sex workers usually serve
as partners for first-time sexual
There is a huge unmet demand for
encounters.
adolescent health facilities, information
and counselling services.
Contraceptive use is low and rarely
used in first-time sexual encounters,
including with commercial sex workers.
Contraceptive awareness is usually
about sterilisation, which is unsuitable
for most adolescents.
Knowledge of
HIV/AIDS, safe sex and preventive
behaviour (like use of condoms) is low,
across all ages and education levels.
Reproductive health issues and concerns
Shifts in sexual behaviour have generated fresh
reproductive health issues that need to be accounted
for. Unprotected sexual behaviour among adolescents
can have severe consequences, particularly for
adolescent girls through unwanted pregnancy, maternal
mortality (due to early childbearing), abortions and
HIV/AIDS.
Most of these can be prevented by the
Knowledge of sexual and reproductive
introduction of appropriate ARM services. At present,
issues is extremely poor.
In some
such services are not widespread, and are often of
of
female
poor quality in terms of ensuring confidentiality or
studies,
percent
50
adolescents did not know about
making provisions for counselling.
menstruation,
providers may tend to be judgmental when dealing
and
the
limited
knowledge was based on social factors
(such as not being permitted to cook)
Besides, service
with adolescents vis-a-vis adult women.
1.7.4 Unwanted pregnancies and abortions
than the actual physiological changes.
Given the limited information on sexual health, it may
There is considerable interest among
adolescent boys for information on
reproductive health.
not be surprising that unwanted pregnancies and
induced abortions can possibly be a common feature
in
India. Poor access to contraception
and
Education did not increase knowledge
contraceptive failure, lack of information or
of sex and reproduction.
misinformation regarding reproduction as also the
incidence of rape contribute to the high rate of
The educational system does not
abortion among adolescents ( MOHFW, Country
adequately
meet
the
needs
for
Paper, 1998). Reasons for abortions vary from family
imparting sex education.
Sexual and reproductive decision-
spacing and son preference for married adolescents to
social stigma for unmarried adolescents.
The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (MTP),
also, lack of availability of contraceptive services for
1972 has legalized abortion, yet the number of illegal
unmarried adolescents. With 20-30 percent of males
For
and 10 percent of all adolescent females estimated to
unmarried adolescents, abortions have been high,
be sexually active before marriage, there is clearly a
though actual estimates are not available. Abortions
need for such services (MOHFW, Country Paper,
by unlicensed, untrained private practitioners in
1998).
providers of abortion services is very high,
unhygienic conditions creates risks of serious
complications (heamorrhage, injuries) and even death.
This risk is increased when abortions occur in the
second trimester, which is the case for the majority
of adolescent pregnancies.
Even
among
married
women,
the level of
contraceptive use is determined by a combination of
social, economic and cultural factors. The status and
decision-making powers of women (which in
traditional societies increases with age) has a positive
Despite the difficulty of obtaining data on abortions,
impact on contraceptive use. The NFHS 1992-93 data
including illegal abortions, from studies such as those
indicates that no more than 5 percent of married
in Solapur hospital (where 30 percent of abortion
women aged 13-14 years and 7.1 percent of married
seekers were under 15), and KEM Hospital, one can
women
infer that the incidence of adolescent abortions is
contraception. This is low compared to 21 percent
quite high (MOHFW , Country Paper, 1998). A
among women aged 20-24 and 61 percent for women
certain proportion of these abortions are related to
aged 35-39 years. Chart 5 shows the extent of
aged
15-19
years
were
practising
rape and unnatural relationships, and repeated
knowledge of family planning methods of adolescents
abortions by commercial sex workers.
vis-a-vis the whole sample. The latest NFHS 1998-99
Induced abortions and the accompanying health risks
can
be
reduced
significantly
by the use of
data reveals an increase in female sterilization (by
married women in the age group : 15-49 years) from
27 percent of couples in 1992-93 to 34 percent.
contraceptives. Yet, contraceptive use is very low
among adolescents in India, mainly because of low
levels of knowledge of contraceptives methods, and
The
Programme of Action of the International
However, overall, the increase in the use of modern
temporary methods is much less, with slight increases
in pill and condom use while IUD use has actually
declined.
Conference On Population and Development
(1994) which explicitly recognized the reproductive
health needs of adolescents as a distinct group,
clearly advocates for the provision of such services:
"The aim of family planning programmes must be
to enable couples and individuals to decide freely
There are two main elements to contraceptive use.
First, there is a lack of knowledge of appropriate
methods for adolescents. The majority of adolescents
know about sterilisation, which is unsuitable for them.
Female sterilisation constitutes the most common
method of contraceptive use and accounts for most
and responsibly the number and spacing of their
of the increase in family planning practice. Second,
children and to have the information and means to
even when knowledge of contraceptive methods may
do so and ensure informed choices and make
be prevalent, the contraceptive needs for temporal/
available a full range of safe and effective
spacing methods (which are most appropriate for
methods.. .Informed individuals everywhere can and
adolescents) may not be met. Surveys show that only
will act responsibly in the light of their own needs
and those of their families and communities..."
one-third of the need for spacing methods is satisfied,
whereas a far larger proportion of the need for
permanent, or limiting methods, was met (NFHS
1998-99). For adolescents, this unmet need must be
antenatal or delivery care, poor nutrition (maternal
even greater. Availability of this basic service would be
mortality is five times higher in anaemic women),
instrumental in reducing a host of RH-related
reproductive risk factors and social factors such as
problems.
stigma of unwed motherhood. Abortions, however,
account for a smaller proportion of deaths due to
Chart 5 : Knowledge of family planning methods
causes related to childbirth and pregnancy, in
Knowledge of Family Planning Methods
comparison to medical problems like bleeding (Table
6). Access and utilisation of services is also important
100%
90%
in recognising and preventing pregnancy-related
80%
66% ’
70%
60%
59%
complications such as hypertension and anaemia.
55%
80%
49%
50%
39%
■
40%
Interventions to improve the status of adolescent girls
30%
should aim to impact upon the decision-making
20%
10%
powers of adolescent girls which will then affect the
0%
Sterilization
Condoma
1 O Adolescents
IUO
Oral
Contraceptives
B Whole Sample
other causes of maternal mortality.
]
Table 6 : Percentage distribution of deaths due to causes related
to child-birth and pregnancy recorded in the survey of causes of
deaths
Source : Indian Institute for Population Sciences, 1995
1.7.5 Maternal mortality
Causes
1989
1994
1995
Abortion
10.9
12.6
17.6
Toxaemia
7.9
13.1
7.9
Anaemia
Bleeding of Pregnancy
& Puerperium___________
20.3
“218
19.3
”237
17.0
“219
Malposition of child
leading to death of mother
10.9
6.4
4.0
adolescents' growing needs for education, health care
and social and economic opportunities.
Puerperial Sepsis
5.9
10.6
8.5
Not Classifiable
20.3
142
14.1
Fifty percent of adolescent girls aged 15-19 years
are already married, resulting in early conception and
high risks of maternal mortality. India faces a major
challenge in its attempt to overcome social biases
and prejudices against girls and women, and to meet
('The South Asia Conference on Adolescents,’
Source: CSO, Women and Men in India 1998, page :19.
UNFPA CST for CASA, 1999)
Maternal mortality is one of the most serious health
problems in India, and accounts for a major portion
of deaths among women. Maternal mortality rates are
particularly high for adolescent girls due to a possible
combination of factors such as poor nutrition, early
marriage, high fertility and early child bearing.
In
Maternal mortality aside, the health of adolescent girls
can have severe intergenerational effects. Early age of
marriage and low weight cause complications during
pregnancy. Low weights of adolescent girls during
pregnancy results in babies suffering from low birth
general, young adolescents are twice as likely to die as
weight. Further, infant mortality is higher for children
women older than 20 from pregnancy-related causes
of adolescent mothers. The inter-generational
(Mehta, 1998). Socio-cultural factors, such as the
consequences of adolescent health are a compelling
stigma attached to unwed motherhood and, therefore,
reason for the development and expansion of ARH
the prevalence of abortions only serves to increase
facilities.
the incidence of mortality.
Maternal mortality among adolescents is caused by
1.7.6 Sexually transmitted
including HIV/AIDS
Jasei
several inter-linked factors - susceptibility to medical
complications (as the body has not yet reached full
Sexual behavioural patterns indicate low levels of
maturity), lower utilisation of health services such as
contraceptive use, even for first sexual encounter for
boys with commercial sex workers. Such a scenario
ignorance and lack of information.
is conducive to the spread of STDs, including HIV/
affected state of Maharashtra HIV has reached 60
In the most
However, there is a paucity of adequate age
percent in Mumbai's sex workers. A study conducted
specific data related to the transmission of STDs and
among sex workers in Calcutta confirmed that the
HIV/AIDS in India, and the issue of STDs among
prevalence of STDs and HIV was one percent and 90
adolescents has been largely ignored by policy makers.
percent respectively.
AIDS.
With the spread of HIV/AIDS, this has been changing,
Significantly, only one percent
used condoms on a regular basis (Mehta 1998:
and there is an increasing recognition of young people
Page : 15). There are clear linkages between STDs
as a vulnerable group (both due to sexual behaviour,
and HIV, with STDs increasing the vulnerability to HIV,
and in young girls, susceptibility to the HIV infection)
and any strategy for HIV/AIDS must address the inter
and of their potential as a ’force for change'. Young
relations between the two.
people between the ages of 10 and 25 years make up
50 percent of all new infections. In India the epidemic
continues to shift towards women and young people
(India Responds To HIV/AIDS, UNAIDS, 1999).
Information and knowledge about HIV/AIDS is critical
for inducing preventive behaviour. The government
has recognised this and the National AIDS Control
Organisation is actively working to spread AIDS
Information on adolescents in India segregated by sex
of AIDS training into the curriculum. Further, India's
available is from clinical sources, which hide the low
National Aids Control Programme in its second phase
access and utilisation of health services by females.
of implementation (1999-2003) has identified certain
Smaller studies provide some indication of the high
a
Ml
awareness in schools and colleges through integration
and age among remains scarce, and the little data
challenge areas. One of the challenges recognized is
incidence of STDs and RTIs, especially among
a need to go beyond high-risk groups and address
adolescent females (for example, in a study among
behaviour change in the general reproductive age-
tribal girls in Maharashtra, 10 percent of girls were
group which includes young people. The challenge lies
found to be suffering from syphilis), but they are
in developing a behaviour change programme that fully
unrepresentative of the national scene (MOHFW
covers the at risk' population. As indicated earlier,
Country Paper, 1998). The epidemiological survey of
HIV/AIDS in India is limited.
Estimates indicate that
there have been about 3.5 million persons with HIV
knowledge of STDs and RTIs is extremely poor
among adolescents, but the desire to learn more is
high, particularly among adolescent boys.
infection in the year 1999. In certain areas, such as
the North-East and certain high-risk groups, the
Knowledge on HIV/AIDS and STDs will be ineffective,
incidence of infection is higher.
unless adolescents are equipped with the social skills
Young people are vulnerable to contracting STDs due
to negotiate sexual behaviour and understand the
to the early onset of sexual activity, low contraceptive
importance of preventive behaviour. Various studies
use and likelihood of partner change. The gender
and surveys have highlighted the critical need for Life
dimensions of RH are apparent, with young women
Skills® education, especially for adolescent girls.
being biologically and socially more vulnerable to
Despite the controversial nature and sensitivity of
STDs and HIV/AIDS. For commercial workers, this
represents a major health risk which is increased by
sexual health education, reviews of programmes
across the world present strong evidence of
Life skills are defined by WHO as abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour to enable individuals to deal with the demands
and challenges of everyday life'. Life skills aim at promoting mental well-being and competency in young people.
15
education translating into lower risk behaviour.
❖
Address the wider social context of
■
Finally, HIV prevention strategies depend on the twin
vulnerability - in particular, invest in girls'
,
elements of care and support for those living with
education and work in the area of gender
;
HIV/AIDS. For young people, this would include the
roles
provision of youth friendly services, and the need to
Address the needs of adolescents who are
directly involve young people as peer counsellors and
infected
in the development of these services. Confidentiality,
gender sensitivity and accessibility are prerequisites for
such ARH services.
HIV/AIDS prevention programmes have been most
successful with young people as they prove to be
the group most receptive to messages about safer
sex behaviour. Addressing the needs of this group
and directing prevention programmes towards them
is a very good investment. It is important to invest in
general education as it is to promote condom use.
There is a need to involve men and ensure that male
sex behaviour is matched with what is safe and
acceptable to women ("Young People and HIV/AIDS"
- Paper by Dr.Peter Piot, UNAIDS at Executive Board
Special Event : Panel Discussion on Adolescent
1,8 Drug abuse
Adolescents and youth, with their penchant for
experimentation and exploration of new ideas and
activities are especially vulnerable to drug abuse, and
form the majority of drug users world wide. In India,
it is estimated that most drug users are between the
age group of 16-35, with a bulk of them in the 18-25
age group (Table 7). This group should, therefore, be
at the heart of any drug demand reduction
programmes.
In India, in the North Eastern states,
drug abuse among young people has become a major
problem, threatening the social fabric and structures
of society.
Table 7: Age-wise break-up of drug users
Reproductive Health, 13 June, 2000, Geneva)
No. of abusers
%
12-17
778
4.54
Reflect the rights of young people in national
18-23
2373
13.86
policies - to deny these rights in the area of
24-30
5178
30.25
HIV/AIDS can be fatal
31-45
6041
35.30
Expand access to small-scale projects which
46-60
2142
12.51
equip young people with the knowledge and
61 +
600
3.5
skills to protect themselves from HIV and
All India
17112
100
Suggested policy actions :
enable them to adopt responsible sex
Age group
*
Source: MOHFW Country Paper, 1998
*
behaviour
Though the actual age of first use of drugs varies,
Increase investment in education and life-
studies reveal that a considerable number begin taking
skills training so that young people are
drugs below the age of 18 (Chart 6), and sometimes
empowered to go through life in a healthy
as young as 5,6 or 7 years. The use of drugs and
way
lifetime habits are formed during this age, and can lead
to gradual increases in the intensity of drug use and
addiction from alcohol or cannabis to ’hard' drugs.
16
v
curtail the problem. However, as with STDs and HIV/
Chart : 6 : Age at first use (of drugs)
AIDS, treatment, prevention and rehabilitation of drug
users requires a culturally sensitive, easily accessible
Age At First Use (Cannabis)
health care system, capable of responding to the
120
Mln 7 yr Max 38 Yrs
Std. Dev. = 4.84
Mean=20
N=365.00
100
80
60
o
Integration of
awareness of drug abuse and its consequences in the
curriculum, reinforced by life skills education to
40
negotiate and withstand peer pressure and reduce
20
♦
individual needs of adolescents.
0
risky behaviour can be identified as effective strategies.
1.9 Violence against women, sexual
abuse and trafficking of girls
Data Source : RASDATC ALL CITIES
Age At First Use (Alcohol)
The incidence of adolescent rape (10-16 years)
400
Min 5 yr Max 50 Yrs
Std. Dev. = 5.86
Mean=20
N=885.00
350 300 ■
250 -
200 -
I
adolescent rape. Dowry killing is a particular form of
100 -
-
50 -
♦
India). Alcohol abuse, in both domestic and non
domestic settings, appears to be the main cause of
J®
150 -
o
increased by 26 percent between 1991 and 1995 (in
violence reported to be more common in India than
0 -
3-8
8-13
13-18
18-23 23-28
28-33 33-38 38-43
43-48 48-53
elsewhere in the region (South Asia). ('The South
Data Source : RASDATC ALL CITIES
Asia Conference on Adolescents,' UNFPA CST for
CASA, 1999).
Age At First Use (Hallucinogens)
The issue of violence against women has become a
8
♦
£
I \
Mln 14 yr Max 28 yrs
Std. Dev. » 3.30
Mean *= 18
N -17.00
o
major global campaign, attaining greater recognition
since the Fourth World Conference on Women.
Violence against women is another culturally sensitive
0
issue, as it is embedded in social and power relations.
24.J6
26-29
Data Source : RASDATC ALL CITIES
Within it, the issue of violence against girls is a cause
for concern. Violence against women and girls can be
Source: UNDCP, RASDATC, 1997
Drug abuse is linked to other socio-economic factors
such as literacy, economic background, unemployment
and gender. The highest risk groups are male, illiterate
and semi-literate youth from rural communities.
Street children constitute another major risk group,
and several interventions to curtail drug abuse among
this group have been initiated.
J
identified as one of the most pervasive form of the
violation of human rights. However, like practically
every other sphere, data and information on violence
against girls is inadequate and prevents a greater
understanding of the magnitude of the problem. Even
reported cases, most well-documented for rape,
would be an under-estimate of the actual magnitude
due to the large number of unreported incidents.
Drug use has two major side-effects - it increases the
Nevertheless, the available data indicate that a high
risk of contracting HIV/AIDS, and it is linked with
incidence of rape occurs in the 10-16 year age group,
higher crime rates and anti-social behaviour. These
and the trend has not shown any significant changes
reasons provide a strong case for serious efforts to
in the past few years (Table 8).
17
w
Table 8 - Victims of rape by age groups
Age
Year
% share of child rape victims
of total rape victims
Group
Below 10 years
10-16 years
1991
1099
2630
35.8%
1992
532
2581
26.5%
1993
634
2759
27.8%
1994
734
3244
30.2%
1995
747
3320
29.5%
% change in 1995
2.7%
1.9%
low levels of education
and skills, and the trends
of
globalisation
and
liberalisation.
Trafficking is another area
where lack of reliable data
and information prevents
an accurate estimate of
the problem. Difficulties in
over 1994
obtaining
Source: CSO,Women and Men in India 1998 and MOHFW 1998 page :38.
data
are
augmented by the nature
of the problem - the
Sexual abuse also appears to be prevalent in India, but
illegality, wide dispersal and spread across several
due to the absence of data and studies, this cannot be
countries, and the social stigma involved. Various
However, the available data
estimates, however, point to the existence of a
present a disturbing picture. For instance, a study by
thriving sex trade involving women, girls and children.
NIMHANS, Bangalore (1994) revealed indicators of
The Central Social Welfare Board survey in 1991
Indian girls suffering from abuse, usually by persons
indicates that 40 percent of the population were
known to the victims. According to government
inducted when they were less than 18 years old. The
conclusively verified.
statistics about 35 percent of cases of sexual assault
National Commission for Women, which is actively
are against minors and a Fifth of the rapes registered
working- to combat the problem, suggests that these
in India are of girls aged 10 to 16 years. (NGO
figures may be rising. According to a study by the
Country Report on the Beijing Plus Five, 2000). The
Centre of Concern for Child Labour (1998), out of
problem of violence against women and girls, which
nearly 9 lakh prostitutes in the country, about 30
constitutes a violation of human rights and inflicts
percent are below 14 years.
severe mental and physical injuries to the victims, has
not been adequately examined and analysed.
particular, the health system along
In
with the law
enforcement agencies in India need to be sensitised
on the handling of this problem. The importance of
education in this regard need not be overemphasized.
The problems of young girls in prostitution, and the
demand for young girls is linked to the social and
cultural conceptions relating to virginity (it is
commonly believed that sex with a virgin is a cure for
STDs, including HIV/AIDS) and gender relations. For
young girls, this results in a variety of problems. For
Domestic violence is sensitive....to women's
education..... Yes, education empowers women.
But it also changes the dynamics in households and
thus changes norms.
(UNDP, Human Development Report, 2000)
certain communities with a history of community
based prostitution, e.g. the Bedias and Bancharas and
religion-based prostitution, the exploitation of girls is
routine and part of the ritual of 'growing up’.
For
young girls, lack of negotiation powers increases their
Related to violence against women is the continued
persistence of trafficking of women and children in
vulnerability to HIV/AIDS. Aside from this, trafficking
results in loss of freedom and also a host of other
India. Trafficking is a complex problem, the causes of
physical and emotional problems.
which can be traced to poverty, migration, tourism,
18
*
Attempts to redress the problem of trafficking are
rates based on the NSSO Survey 1998® indicates
complicated by the need for regional and international
significantly greater progress in the achievement of
co-operation. Countries in the South Asia region are
literacy of the 15-35 age group, which has been the
now taking action to reduce the incidence of
focus of the National Literacy Mission (NLM 1999:
trafficking, and it is also a priority for the SAARC
6). The NLM was also awarded the UNESCO
Decade of the Girl Child (1991-2000).
NOMA Literacy prize in 1999 for its efforts, among
others, to promote womens equality. These efforts
1.10 Literacy and education
have been responsible for the increase in female
The benefits of education, for the individual and the
literacy by 11 percent between 1991 and 1997
overall development of the nation, are well-known.
compared to a corressponding 9 percent for males
The positive links of womens education with lower
in the same period (Department of Education
fertility, child mortality and other social development
Annual Report 1999:88).
indicators have also been well established.
In this
However, the gender divergence in educational
context, education and literacy should be a prime
achievement is a persisting problem. The gross
concern for policy makers.
enrolment ratio (GER) for girls lags behind boys for
An overview of the literacy situation of Indian
all ages, but declines at the middle levels (Table 10).
adolescents reveals a picture of steady progress in
However, sex differences in enrolment in middle
literacy, but wide gender disparities prevail. The
classes are still conspicuous as shown by Chart 7. It
literacy levels of the adolescent age group are a
is contended that girls' access to education is linked
measure of the overall progress in the education
to factors such as sibling care, mobility, increase in
sector since independence. However, reforms of the
domestic responsibilities, lack of female teachers and
education sector, the need to address problems of
sanitation facilities in school and early marriage.
access, quality of schooling, and incentives to increase
While the gap between male and female enrolment
enrolment and retention rates are still required.
appears to have stabilised in recent years, it also
At the same time, the progress achieved in increasing
literacy rates should not be undermined. The literacy
needs to be reduced. To a large extent, this can be
achieved by greater understanding of the competing
Table 9: Percentage of literates by age and sex
1981
1971
1961
Age
1991*
group
10-14
15-19
Male
Female
Male
Female
Male
Female
Male
Female
54.4
28.4
59.8
38.1
66.8
44.8
77.0
68.8
63.4
37.7
66.1
43.3
75.3
65.8
52.0
23.8
* Due to the conceptual change in the definition of literacy, the 1991 figures are not strictly comparable with those of
previous years.
Source: CSO, Youth in India 1998, page :44.
<3)
The literacy figures cited by the National Literacy Mission are based on the NSSO Survey 1998 53ra Round. The NSSO survey
is of fewer households than the Census on which the 1991 literacy figures are based. Therefore, a comparison may be subject
to question. It may be more useful to consider the NSSO data as a sign post of change, rather than a concrete indicator.
19
Table 10: Gross enrolment as percentage to the total
population by age and sex
interests of household work, paid labour and
female education. For example, provision of
day care for siblings can have a significant
Year
Age group (6-11 years)
impact upon the school attendance of
adolescent girls (Greene 1997:12). Gender
Male
Age group (11-14 years)
Female
Male
Female
1970-71
95.5
60.5
46.5
20.8
1980-81
95.8
64.1
54.3
28.6
overall gender-sensitive education policy,
1990-91
114.0
85.5
76.6
47.0
these groups also require special attention.
1991-92
112.8
86.9
75.1
49.6
1992-93
95.0
73.46
72.5
48.94
1993-94
90.04
73.1
62.1
45.4
females and 96.55 for males, while for the
1994-95 p
114.8
92.6
79.0
55.0
age group (11-14 years) it has been 62.09,
1995-96 p
114.5
93.3
79.5
55.0
1996-97 p
98.7
81.9
70.9
52.8
1997-98 p
97.7
81.2
66.5
49.5
1998-99 p
100.86
82.25
65.2
49.08
gaps are magnified in scheduled castes and
scheduled tribe communities, and within an
For India, overall, the Gross Enrolment Ratio,
for SCs, has been 87.57 for the age group
(6-11 years), with the ratio being 77.95 for
with the ratio being 50.96 for females and
72.12 for males.
Further, the Gross
Enrolment Ratio for STs in the age group
(6-11 years) at the all India level has been
85.09, with the ratio for females being 73.22
and that for males being 96.89, while for the
age group (11-14 years) it is 52.20, with the
p - Provisional
Source: MOHRD, Selected Educational Statistics 1998-99.
ratio for females being 40.48 and that for
Chart 7 : Enrolment in middle classes (VI-VIII)
males
being
63.37
(Department
of
Enrolment in Middle Classes (VI-VIII)
Education, Annual Report 1999-2000).
300
250
Simultaneously, the momentum on enrolment of males
200
must be maintained, and the perceived decline in male
c
enrolment ratios in the past few years should be
5
prevented. Educational attainment also varied widely
according to regions.
Kerala, for instance, has an
overall higher level of literacy, and enrolment than
Rajasthan. Gender disparities between regions are
particularly evident. As an illustration, while in Kerala,
150
J? 100
50
0
195051
196061
197071
198081
I—♦— Girls
199091
199596
199798
199899
Boys"!
Source : MOHRD,Annual Report 1999-2000,
Department of Education
girls enrolment in the 11-14 age group was 93.24
percent (only slightly behind male enrolment at 97.15
If enrolment can be increased, the next major
percent), Rajasthan lags behind on female enrolment
challenge is to keep children and adolescents in
More telling is the gap between
school, that is, to maintain the retention rates.
males and females - male enrolment is almost double
Unfortunately, high drop-out rates remain a consistent
at 78.57 percent.
feature of the Indian educational system, particularly
at 33.60 percent.
20
for girls (Table 11). According to the Annual Report
constraints are the main reason for non-enrolment,
1999-2000, gender disparities are conspicuous with
while for girls the main reason is the attitude of
regard to enrolment and retention rates. The
parents. The reason of’child not interested in
enrolment rates for girls at the primary and upper
studies' was the least mentioned for urban females,
implying unmet demands for education
Table 11: Drop out rate (percent) at different stages of school education
Primary (l-V classes)
Year
1970-71
Middle (l-VIII classes)
(NSSO
1998, pages : 33,35). Such findings
Secondary (I - X classes)
strengthen the need to place
Girls
Boys
Girls
Boys
Girls
Boys
adolescent interventions in societal
70.92
64.5
83.40
74.60
NA
NA
and
familial
contexts
and
to
1980-81
62.50
56.20
79.40
68.00
86.60
79.80
recognise divergences between the
1990-91
46.00
40.10
65.13
59.12
76.96
67.50
demands
1992-93
44.30
43.83
62.40
56.10
75.87
68.55
1994-95 p
37.79
35.18
56.53
50.02
73.78
67.15
73.04
NA
1996-97 p
1998-99 p
39.37
38.35
51.89
52.77
66.82
41.22
38.62
60.09
54.4
NA
P: Provisional
Source: CSO, Women and Men in India 1998, page : 47; MOHRD, Selected Educational
Statistics 1998-99
of
adolescents
and
parents.
1.11 Work force partici
pation rates
Work Force Participation Rate
should not be applicable to the
younger adolescent age group (10-
14 years). However, despite constitutional and legal
primary stages has increased significantly in 1998-99
provisions
[Child
Labour
(Prohibition
and
as compared to 1950-51. But disparities still persist as
Regulation) Act, 1986], children continue to be
girls account for only 43.5 percent of enrolment at
employed and occupied in work. According to the
the primary stage and 40.5 percent at the upper
1991 census estimates, of about a total of 200
primary stage. The report points out that drop-out
million children in the age group of 5-14 years, some
rates for girls are much higher than that of boys at
11.28 million children are child labourers. However,
both these stages.High drop-out rates are not related
NGO estimates of child labour in India range from
to financial constraints alone, as they occur despite
40 million to over 100 million
huge subsidies by the state, with 77 percent students
Paper of the UN System in India on Child Labour,
provided free education at the primary level (NSSO
1998). Child Labour constitutes a violation of
1998, page : 22). Among the reasons cited for drop
children's rights, and also results in injurious and
(Common Position
outs: child not interested in studies, financial
long- term effects on the health and education
constraints, parents not interested in education, and
status of children®. A comparative study of working
participation in other economic activities were most
children and school children in India showed that
frequently mentioned (in that order). While this
working children are more likely to be of lower
finding presents pointers for improvement in the
height and weight.
education system, the reasons for non-enrolment and
childrens health was considerably inferior to non
retention are adequate justification for gender
working school children (ILO 1996).
sensitive policies.
In the case of males, financial
In a similar study, working
Gender
differences can also be perceived in the composition
®Child Labour is being referred to as an adolescent issue as it affects many children in the 10-14 age group. Moreover,
both the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the ILO Convention on Child Labour define children as under
the age of 18 years, which includes almost the entire adolescent group (based on the WHO definition).
1
of child labour, with girls working mainly as domestic
The increase in the numbers attending educational
labour, and boys in construction, fields etc (which has
institutions
has
not
reduced
of
level
the
unemployment among youth in India, with data
implications for their exposure to hazards).
confirming the much higher unemployment rates
Estimates of the number of children employed are
among this age group (Chart 8).
Overall, the
Such 'invisibility' is greater for girls,
unemployment rates were almost three times as high
as they mainly work in the domestic sector. One of
for adolescents as that among persons aged 15 and
the first priorities for action should, therefore, aim to
over. Unemployment rates also differ among urban
make child labour a more visible issue.
and rural adolescents, particularly in terms of status.
difficult to obtain.
For instance, the decline in rural unemployment is less
Data availability also hinders a comprehensive analysis
for daily status than for urban adolescents (as
of the older adolescent age group (15-19 years).
opposed to usual and weekly status) reflecting the
Official statistics are available for the 15-29 age group,
prevalence of underemployment among rural
but the Census data is not dependable for an
adolescents (ILO, Visaria 1998).
estimate of the number of unemployed. Also, the
Census has tended to underestimate the number of
Chart 8: Incidence of unemployment among youth
women workers, preventing a comprehensive analysis
Incidence of unemployment among youth
of gender and age-wise distribution of employment. If
the alternate data of the NSS is used, prior to 1987-
9K
88, data was not compiled by five-year age groups,
I":
I
I
-a.*-
6.9
from the period of 1987-88 and 1993-94 is the main
6 —
5 c 4 —
•5 3-
source of reliable information on adolescent
O'
which thus does not permit a comparative analysis
o
over time and age group. An analysis of the NSS data
7.8
i.8
1
5
5,95.6
4.8
2.9
LA
I 21 —o -L
employment patterns.
F
M
F
M
15-19 15-19 20-24 20-24
M
15-24
Age group
Labour Force Participation rates (LFPR) of the 15-19
F
15-24
M
15+
F
15+
age group are relatively high, with more than half of
I □1987-88 □ 1993-94 I
the male population engaged in productive activity.
Source: ILO, Visaria: Unemployment among youth in India,
1998.
The last survey period of 1993-94 witnessed a decline
in the LFPR, which can be attributed to the increase
in numbers attending an educational institute® (Table
The state of underemployment is even more marked
12).
for young women, particularly in urban areas. In
Table 12 : Labour force participation rates (usual status) of youth
15-24
20-24
Age group :
15-19
Year
Males
(M)
(F)
1987 -88
58.1
1993-94
54.7
15+
young
surveys,
urban
women
displayed
a
willingness and an interest
M
F
M
F
M
F
35.3
88.3
41.5
71.9
38.3
86.1
43.1
as tailoring (ILO, Visaria
30.7
86.5
40.6
69.6
29.7
85.5
42.2
1998). It is also plausible
Females
in work (in addition to
their domestic duties) such
Source: ILO.Visaria: Unemployment among youth in India, 1998
that the interest displayed
®No detailed breakdown of the type of educational institution was available, otherwise it may have been a revealing exercise
to gauge the perceived importance of different types of institutions (NFEs, vocational training courses, universities and colleges
etc.) and would also be helpful in formulating education policy (to link it with employment opportunities).
focus on linking jobs with skills acquired or
in supplementary activities is related equally to a
performance capacity, and not formal
desire for economic gain.
qualifications.
A general data survey suggests that high rates of
(iv) Slow growth of the economy until the
unemployment is a major issue for adolescents. Some
1980s - Economic growth is critical for the
of the reasons for higher unemployment include (ILO,
expansion of economic and employment
Visaria 1998).
opportunities. The links between the slow
growth of the economy in the 1980s and
(0
the
Lack of
Lack of training for work
prevalence
of
high
adolescent
unemployment illustrate the importance of
experience and training forms a severe
macro level policies to sustain specific
hindrance for urban youth, with the majority
micro/macro
of urban unemployed constituting of new
level
interventions for
particular age groups.
entrants to the labour force and those
The
seeking work for the first time,
problem is less acute in rural areas where
the dominance of agriculture permits the
inclusion of rural adolescents into the family
(v)
Quality of education and the employability
of the educated - The close relation
between
and
work
force
participation has already been mentioned
earlier.
farm without any formal training.
education
Education, or the learning of basic
skills, is undoubtedly important for
Acceleration of population growth and
employment and productivity.
mortality decline - This appears to be a
questions can be raised about the quality of
classic case of mismatch between supply and
the education of young unemployed and
demand. While population growth and
their "capacity for the type of work they
fertility trends have increased, the numbers
aspire for". The educational system must
entering the work force, at the other end,
respond to this challenge of improving the
declining mortality rates have reduced the
output (in terms of quality of education,
However, as declines in
skills learned, performance in examinations
mortality are a welcome development, this
and so on) of the educational system, and
cannot really be raised as a policy concern.
crucially, recognising the need for practical
(iii) Expansion of education - With the increase
skills (along with the traditional emphasis on
(ii)
recruitment rate.
in
numbers
institutions,
educational
attending
the
nature
of
resulted
in
the
theoretical knowledge).
work
opportunities sought has also changed, and
has
However,
problem
of
In sum, unemployment is a critical area for
intervention by policy makers. The urgency of
unemployment of graduates. Adequate
changing the present situation is based on the
vocational training is a possible solution to
understanding of the potential negative implications of
this problem, but with the continued links
unemployment - of frustration and deviant behaviour.
between formal education and salary
The costs of such anti-social behaviour are high. The
structures, the demand for vocational
solution lies mainly in forging closer ties between
training remains low. Altering the structure
education and employment opportunities and
of unemployment would require a policy
productivity.
23
1.12 Conclusion
Some questions :
The problems of adolescents are multi-dimensional in
❖
nature and require a holistic approach. From the
*:• How sensitive are the governments policies to
What are the UN Systems interventions?
analysis of the status of adolescents in India, the
invisibility of adolescents in
the needs and concerns of adolescents?
policy and service
delivery emerges as the most critical problem. Yet, it
❖ What is the extent of the government's
is evident that adolescents have unique and serious
concerns and needs that should be addressed
programmatic focus on adolescents?
❖
What are the initiatives taken by non-
separately. The first step should be a concerted effort
governmental organizations?
to increase the level of data and information on
adolescents, which would serve the dual purpose of
The above mentioned issues and questions can be
providing a tool for advocacy, and to suggest
examined against a background framework of the
directions for future policy. Policies and programmes
major demographic, socio-economic and reproductive
for adolescents cannot exist in isolation, and their
health characteristics defining the situation of
success will be dependent on the extent to which
adolescents in South Asia :
they are embedded in the social, parental and familial
intervention settings.
An encouraging sign of change
9
Large and rapidly growing adolescent
populations
is occurring post-ICPD. The increased attention to
adolescent issues needs to be sustained and
Improved levels of literacy
integrated into the overall development planning
process.
Some issues :
e
Low levels of educational achievement
©
Persistence of gender disparity in school
enrolment
Inadequate data availability
V
Scarcity of age and gender disaggregated data
<•
Adverse sex ratio
High labour force participation and
unemployment rates
Gender disparity in labour force
»> High female adolescent mortality rates,
specifically maternal mortality rates
Unmet nutritional needs
participation rates
e
Persistence of early marriage
e
Persistence of early childbearing
a
High and increased adolescent fertility
High adolescent fertility
Low knowledge of family planning methods
Shorter birth intervals and unplanned
Vulnerability to STDs, HIV/AIDS and drug
births
abuse
a
Poor nutrition and unsatisfactory antenatal
Sexual victimization
care
Child labour and unemployment
24
• Higher risk of infant and maternal
mortality
• Lack of information and services
•
and violence
• Low use of contraceptives and high
unmet demand for family planning
Lack of protection against sexual abuse
• Large number of missing women
• Inadequate efforts to promote RH and
family planning
• Early onset of pre-marital sex and
induced abortion
•
Lack of policies on adolescents
(’The South Asia Conference on Adolescents,'
UNFPA CST for CASA, 1999)
25
Section Two : ADOLESCENTS AND THE UN SYSTEM : AN OVERVIEW
2.1
Introduction
2.2 Who are adolescents?
While strategies for adolescents can be traced back
If you cannot be put in a pigeon-hole they tend to
to the 1970s and 1980s, the International Conference
leave you out.
on Population and Development, (ICPD), 1994, was
- J.B. Priestley
largely responsible for emphasizing the special needs
of adolescents and placing adolescents firmly on the
UN policy agenda. The UN system has responded to
the Programme of Action outlined in ICPD by
renewing efforts and interventions for adolescents
across the policy and programme spectrum. Several
organisations have formulated detailed strategies on
adolescents and youth, and have integrated adolescent
activities into all programmes. However, with a few
exceptions, the focus on adolescents is not yet clearly
defined within the UN system, with adolescent
concerns being merged with youth or children. A
separate, distinct emphasis on adolescents can be
discerned mainly in the reproductive health
programmes, or in examining the issues relating to
adolescent girls. Although both reproductive health
and the needs of adolescent girls are vital issues, for
a holistic framework for action on adolescents, a
wider gamut of interventions incorporating different
sectoral goals is required. A major area of
intervention is the need for information expressed by
all adolescents at all major conferences and
Declarations.
It may be worthwhile, in the
development of a comprehensive UN system strategy,
Programmes of the UN system rarely demarcate
adolescents in the spectrum between childhood,
adolescents and adulthood.
In most cases, although
programmes are directed at and benefit adolescents,
they are not mentioned explicitly. Adolescents are
usually included in the categories of children or more
often, youth. However, if adolescents are to be given
policy priority, then this substitutability of definitions
(of youth, adolescence, and childhood) must be
replaced by a distinct focus on adolescents as a group.
At the lower end of the adolescent group, the 10 -
15 year group are in the danger of being left out, as
they do not fall under the categories of "child" (unless
as defined by the Convention on the Rights of the
Child, but for operational purposes, policies are usually
directed at those under 10 years) or "youth". Unless
a separate label of adolescents is created with defining
criteria for identification, policies will not be directed
at this target group. Creating this label may also
stimulate mobilisation around the concept of
adolescence, a process which has not yet taken root
in India.
2.3 Adolescents and the UN system
to note the observation of the adolescents of South
Asia: "We greatly lack proper and correct information
and guidance, especially related to our bodies'
physiological and psychological changes." (The South
Asia Conference on Adolescents, UNFPA CST for
CASA, 1999)
The traditional invisibility of the adolescent age group
in policy and programmes is gradually changing with
most UN organisations actively encouraging activities
directed towards this target group.
Innovative
programmes and a variety of approaches are being
adopted, and adolescents are being projected as a
26
*
priority theme for activity by several organisations for
2.4 Overview of programmes on ado
the ongoing as well as the next programme cycle.
lescents
The marked increase in activities after ICPD is
indicative of the impact and the influence of UN
Activities related to adolescents: A summary
description
conferences on the work of UN organisations. In
India, international directives have been strengthened
by the declarations and the outcomes of the South
Asia conference on adolescents organized by UNFPA
in July 1998. The distinction between adolescents and
youth is still blurred but there is a growing awareness
of adolescents as a separate group, and several
organisations are adopting the WHO definition of
adolescents.
Almost all the UN organisations in India are working
with adolescents, but they differ in the emphasis
placed on adolescents and on the issues covered in
the programmes. Essentially, one categorisation of the
work of UN organisations can be in terms of direct
and indirect activities relating to adolescents. As the
terms imply, direct activities refer to those
programmes and projects in which adolescents (or
children and school students) are mentioned explicitly,
in the objectives, in the target group, as participants
a
or in the outcome. Conversely, indirect work with
adolescents refer to activities in which adolescents
form part of the target group or are affected by the
programmes, or in which adolescents are integrated
into the overall programme®.
a
®Programmes in which there is a recognition of the concerns of adolescents, and a focus on adolescents is mainstreamed into
all activities, can also be classified as direct activities. However, for the purpose of classification, if there is no explic it mention
of adolescents (but it is assumed that their needs and concerns are incorporated), they are classified as indirect activities. For
example, adolescents are mainstreamed into all UNICEF activities, but those programmes which do not explicitly mention
adolescents are placed in the indirect category.
27
Table 14 provides broad details of the direct and indirect activities of each UN organisation0. Further details of projects and programmes will be provided in the maps of the
individual organisations which are going to be a part of the IAWG - P&D website (linked to the main UN system website : www.un.org.in)
TABLE 14® Activities on adolescents by UN organizations.
UN ORGANISATION
DIRECT ACTIVITIES
FAO
The "Youth against Hunger" campaign promotes activities that
INDIRECT ACTIVITIES
(i)
Research and training on population and development dynamics
aim to raise awareness of environment and food security issues
in fishing communities looks at the dynamics of adolescent
(through school orchards, horticulture projects and information
populations.
dissemination) and to encourage the participation of youth and
(ID
Programmes on food quality and safety affect vulnerable
adolescents in solving the problems of world hunger.
adolescent consumers.
(iii)
Adolescent girls are major beneficiaries of programmes for the
elimination of micronutrient includes planned programmes for leprosy
patients).
(iv)
Studies on food insecurity and vulnerability information and
mapping systems (FIVIMS) examine indicators affecting adolescents
such as child birth, early pregnancy and so on.
ILO
(i)
0
ILO is committed to the elimination of child labour (which
ILO's general programmes for worker rights would affect working
The details of programmes are based on the interviews with the focal points at each organisation, and the information provided by them.
® The length of programme details is not necessarily an indication of the intensity or level of support for adolescents. Each organisation has provided different types of information (for instance, some
have provided information on projects, others on programmes) and the number of programmes also differs from organisation to organisation, therefore, they cannot be compared.
a
4 f
•
c
♦ a > <
a
• a
♦ w * > f
1
* * » 4
C
•
(ii)
<
«
4
t
t €
r * v « r
e e
includes adolescents) through its International Programme
adolescents, particularly in the older age group. Its emphasis on separate
ILO's Programme for Youth Employment highlights and analyses
programmes for women would also affect adolescent girls.
issues of youth unemployment. Past activities include a study
on youth unemployment in India.
(iii) The ILO-SAAT office supported a programme for
Women's Entrepreneurship by the NGO MAMTA which
aimed to increase the entrepreneurial skills of adolescent girls.
UNAIDS
(0
The World AIDS Campaign for three successive years, 1997
UNAIDS' emphasis on high-risk groups would indirectly affect
('Children Living in a World with AIDS'), 1998 ('Force for
adolescents, for example, the children of commercial sex workers.
Change - Campaign withYoung People') and 1999 ('Listen,
Learn, Live!') focused on raising awareness among youth and
adolescents about HIV/AIDS and on strengthening AIDS
programmes with children and young people.
(ii)
Young People Talk Al DS, now called 'Students Talk Al DS' is a
nationwide campaign to educate and mobilise youth as also
school students around the issue of HIV/AIDS.
(iii)
UNAIDS is actively working to integrate the issue of HIV/AIDS
and Reproductive Health education into the school curriculum.
(iv)
UNAIDS is working with the government to reactivate and
energise a Task Force on Youth.
8:
_____
•
*
CO
UNCHS
The programme for improvement of slums in Hyderabad would also benefit
adolescent slum dwellers.
Oi)
The Forum on 'Safer Cities' would benefit vulnerable adolescents, mainly
(iii)
The 1999 World Habitat Day Forum on’Cities for All' provided a platform
street children.
for the ’voices' of the poor, including adolescents.
UNCTAD
(i)
UNCTAD is increasingly concerned about the issue of
0)
like women, children and adolescents raise awareness on these issues.
child labour and is planning to initiate activities in India
(*>)
on this issue.
UNCTAD's studies on the impact of globalisation on vulnerable groups
Projects on Trade, Investment, Environment and Development in the
manufacturing sector affect adolescents, many of whom are employed in
low-skills manufacturing industries.
UNDCP
(i)
Youth and adolescents are the main focus of the Community
(iv)
The DAPC (Drug Abuse Prevention Centre) grant for innovative NGO
Wide Drug Demand Reduction programme in the Northeast
projects can be used for adolescent projects,for example, it provided funds
where the percentage of adolescent drug users is perceptively
for a project (completed ) on street children.
higher than the rest of the country.
00
UNDCP supported efforts to reduce risk taking behaviour
related to drug abuse, HIV/AIDS and STD among street children
in four metropolitan cities.
(iii)
The Community Wide Drug Demand Reduction programme in
India targets adolescents and children both in and out of school.
> > c
v 4
w e r e
I
•
<
«
<
ear
* e ~
«
<
e
(v)
A sub-programme of the nationwide community drug demand
reduction programme aims to use sports to divert attention away
from drugs and induce behavioural change among youth.
UNDP
(i)
(ii)
The school health programme will concern itself with the health
(i)
Concerns of adolescents such as health, education, early
problems of older school going children from deprived families and
marriage, child labour and so on are addressed in an integrated
address the issue of absence from school due to poor nutrition.
manner by the Community Based Pro-poor initiatives.
(Programme yet to be signed).
As the sub-programmes develop, it is possible that a separate
Activities in the HIV/AIDS programme include the rehabilitation of
focus on adolescents will evolve.
children (including adolescents) of commercial sex workers.
(iii)
The Health Programme will include a separate focus on support for
children with disabilites and their integration into the education
system.
(iv)
The SCOPE project attempts to address the special needs and
vulnerabilities of adolescent girls.
M
The sub-programme on Community Adoption and Monitoring
Programme for Schools (CAMPS) strives to provide students with
_0
the technical know-how and training to assess the environmental
status of their localities.
UNESCO
(i)
The HIV/AIDS programme places emphasis on peer education for
adolescents, and HIV/AIDS education for adolescents in formal,
o
non-formal and adult literacy schools
c
2
(i)
UNESCO promotes the involvement of youth volunteers
and adolescents in nation-building activities.
(ii) Youth are actively involved in the activities for the International
00
Year for the Culture of Peace.
The peer based approach to adolescent and reproductive health
education for in-school and out-of-school youth promotes sexual and
(iii) Youth initiatives are being prepared in all thematic areas of
RH education and the participation of young people in RH activities,
(iii)
UNESCO work.
The GOI-UN system joint programme on education aims to provide
life skills education for adolescent girls.
UNFPA
(0
Population and Development Education Programmes in schools, in
(0
education, and in Vocational Training Programme along with
(ii)
(ii) The Integrated Population and Development Projects and the District
an integration of adolescence education in schools aim to increase
Reproductive Health Projects covering a total of 39 districts examine
awareness of population and development issues among adolescents.
issues of access to and quality supply of reproductive health services to
The Reproductive Health sub-programme supports NGO
adolescents.
initiatives for adolescent health. For example, CARE is running a
OiO
The Haryana Integrated Womens Development Programme impacts
upon the health and status of adolescent girls.
the Higher Education system, in post-literacy and Continuing
(iii) UNFPA's advocacy initiatives attempt to create an enabling environment
programme on adolescent health in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh.
for building public support on the issues of adolescent empowerment,
The media module developed as part of advocacy initiatives to
including health and education. Most of the initiatives for adolescents
sensitise the media includes a half-day session on adolescents.
are pilot initiatives. For example, initiatives to sensitise parliamentarians
on reproductive health and population issues include fostering awareness
of adolescent health needs.
UNHCR
0)
The India Office follows the guidelines of the UNHCR Policy
Guidelines for Refugee Children and Adolescents and the Machal
study on the Impact of Armed Conflict on children (UNHCR
runs on a case-by case, not a programme basis).
10
(i)
As part of its overall health care for refugees, UNHCR provides health
services and access to health care for adolescents.
(ii) Refugee adolescents also benefit from vocational training courses
provided by UNHCR.
(ii)
A special school for refugee children and adolescents has been
established in Delhi as part of UNHCR's policy to provide education
to all refugee children and adolescents.
UNIC raises awareness about issues of concern to the UN, including
UNIC
the role of adolescents mentioned in the ICPD.
UNICEF
(i)
The HIV/AIDS programme attempts to provide adolescent health
0)
capacity of communities (including adolescents) to plan and achieve
education, including AIDS prevention education.
(ii)
convergence on services for the child, which includes adolescents.
The Reproductive and Child Health programme directly relates to
improving the health status of adolescents, particularly in the Safe
(ii)
(iv)
One of the major goals of the Childhood Development and Nutrition
The Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation programme works to
strengthen strategic planning, and the capacity to monitor progress
increase outreach to adolescent girls through ICDS.
on women's and child rights (which includes adolescents).
Provision of safe water and sanitation through the Child's
reduce the drudgery of fetching water from long distances for young
girls, and sanitation in schools will help young girls realise their
basic right to education.
The Primary Education programmes encourage the establishment of
community schools which target adolescent girls.
(vi)
(iii)
programme is to reduce malnutrition among adolescent girls and to
environment, sanitation, hygiene and water supply programme will
M
The Advocacy and Information for Child Rights programme advocates
attention towards the rights of the girl child.
Motherhood and the Community Action for Health projects.
(iii)
The Community Convergent Action programme builds the
UNICEF is committed to the elimination of child labour.
(vii) The Child Protection programme facilitates collective action to
eliminate child trafficking and prostitution, which affects many young
adolescent girls.
UNIFEM
(i)
(ii)
Sensitisation, research, documentation on trafficking and
(i)
prostitution aims to help reduce the problem of trafficking and
also benefit older adolescent girls and assist them in attaining economic
prostitution of young adolescent girls.
independence and self-reliance.
The Violence against Women campaign highlights violence against
(ii)
increase the participation of young people and advocate for policy,
(ill)
based workers in South Asia.
(Hi) The HIV/AIDS and Gender programme aims to sensitise womens
(iv)
By educating young people on artisan lifestyles and incorporating the
artisan lifestyle into the ICSE curriculum, UNV hopes to increase
awareness on alternative value systems and artisan lives among
young people.
(ii)
UNV stresses adulthood work (i.e. education on health, employment
and career counselling) to help young people prepare for adult life.
£
The Human Rights programme raises awareness on issues of women's
rights, and thereby, also of adolescent girls.
viewed as particularly vulnerable to HIV infection.
(i)
Establishing a South Asian Network of Home Based Workers would
include a large number of adolescent girls, who are employed as home
change and behavioural change.
organisations to HIV/AIDS issues. Young adolescent girls are
Efforts to engender the 2001 Census also direct attention towards
the girl-child.
children and adolescent girls. The campaign actively seeks to
UNV
Entrepreneurial Skills and Vocational training programmes for women
(i)
UNV promotes and encourages the spirit of volunteerism among youth.
WB
(i)
The Reproductive Health Programme in the next phase (2000-2003)
(0
The HIV/AIDS programme focuses on high-risk groups, but
adolescents will be indirect beneficiaries.
will specifically focus on adolescents, with the conscious inclusion of
boys.The current RH programme, with capacity-building, and the
development of IEC strategy also focuses on adolescents.
GO
Adolescents have been a clear focus of the IPP VIII projects, and have
benefited from adolescent workshops, awareness generation (on
family planning, contraceptives etc.), and vocational training.
(iii)
A major goal of the Women and Child Development programme is to
improve the health and nutritional status of adolescent girls through
activities such as supplementary feeding, access to health care and so on.
WFP
(•)
The success of the Adolescent Girls scheme in Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh,
in improving KAP (Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices) among
adolescent girls on health and nutrition issues encouraged the
government to introduce the Adolescent Girls scheme in the ICDS.
00
The Adolescent Tribal Girls scheme aims to improve the KAP on
nutrition and health, improve the quality of services provided through
the ICDS and empower adolescent girls.
(iii)
WFP's support to ICDS includes a major component to improve
the health and nutrition status of adolescent girls.
WHO
(i)
Sensitisation through Intercountry Orientation Training for
Professionals in Adolescent Health is part of WHO's overall
(i)
A focus on adolescent health is integrated into all WHO
programmes.
strategy to increase the focus on adolescent health.
(ii)
Adolescent health needs are specifically addressed through the
Reproductive Health & Research, Child Maternal & Adolescent
Health and Development programme.
(iii)
The Women, Health and Development Programme addresses the
health needs of adolescents as part of the life-cycle approach.
(iv)
The Tobacco Free Initiative works to reduce and prevent tobacco use
by adolescents.
(v)
WHO is actively working to implement a situational analysis of
the health of adolescents and to develop national strategies on
adolescents. Along with UNICEF, UNAIDS, UNFPA, UNDCP,WHO has
developed a framework on adolescent health.
WSP
WSP supports the Rajiv Gandhi Mission to provide school sanitation facilities
in all rural schools. This will help increase awareness of sanitation among school
students, and through them, the wider community. Provision of school
sanitation facilities will also encourage parents to send girls to school and enable
them to realise their basic right to education.
2.5
Sector
wise
categorisation
Of
approach is being adopted by most organisations.
programmes
Table 15 attempts to make such broad demarcations
to identify the areas of work on adolescents
A brief overview of programmes and activities related
(indicated by’X') by different UN Organisations. This
to adolescents reveals an overwhelming tendency for
classification is not based on rigid criteria, but is
all programmes to be clustered around health issues,
mainly for the purposes of obtaining an overall idea of
particularly reproductive health issues. This is not
the programme focus of UN organisations. Clearly,
surprising, as the biological and physiological changes
health (mainly reproductive health) emerges as the
that characterise this stage of life are the most visible,
main sectoral focus. The prominence of education
most immediate need of adolescents. Perhaps, more
activities can be attributed to the inclusion of
importantly, addressing the health needs of
population education (which is also related to health).
adolescents is critical for improving the general
Similarly, some of the economic activities, although
reproductive health status of the country and for
separated and classified as economic activities, are
reversing population trends. ICPD also highlighted the
part of the RH and Life Skills programmes. Greater
health aspects of adolescent concerns, and their
emphasis needs to be placed on other issues such as
importance in this sphere. Nevertheless, other areas,
improving the quality of education, linking education
such as education, employment, political and social
and employment, fostering economic independence
empowerment are also important, and are being
and so on.
addressed by UN organisations. It is also sometimes
Indeed, this was expressed by all UN
organisations, and any future strategies could reverse
difficult to demarcate interventions into sectoral
this skew towards health-related programmes.
strategies as, increasingly, a holistic and multi-sectoral
Table 15 : Areas of adolescent - related interventions by UN organizations
ORGANISATION
FAO
HEALTH
x
X
UNESCO
UNFPA
UNHCR
7
X (workers rights, employment)
X
X
x
7
7
7
7
x
7
7
7
X
x
7
X
Information
UNIC
UNICEF
X
UNIFEM
X
x
x
X
7
7
UNV
WB
WFP
WHO
WSP
OTHER
X (shelter)
UNCTAD
UNDP
ADVOCACY, LAWS AND POLICIES
7
UNCHS
UNDCP
ECONOMIC
ISSUES
x
X
ILO
UNAIDS
EDUCATION (including
population education and
creation of attitudinal
change)
7
7
7
x
x
7
7
x
7
x_
X
7
37
2.6 Funding and resources for adolescents
To identify and analyse the level of funding for
adolescents is a difficult task as there are very few
programmes that are devoted exclusively to
adolescents. Even where activities are directly related
to adolescents, the programmes also incorporate
other objectives and target groups such as women,
enabling environment for them. There is no obvious
link or correlation between the level of inputs and
the impact of policies and programmes. For example,
advocacy efforts, such as the sensitisation of
Parliamentarians, may not require vast sums of
resources, but the resultant shift in policy focus
towards adolescents may have an enormous impact.
scheduled caste and scheduled tribes (SC/ST). The
Bearing this in mind, it should suffice to note that
individual breakdown of funding levels for adolescents
adolescents' concerns are being addressed in the
is not available. Funding levels for activities, therefore,
overall programme framework of most organisations.
range from over USD $100 million for some
Examining and analysing the actual levels of funding
organisations to USD $10,000 for other organisations,
for adolescents should not be used as a measure of
but this is not an accurate indicator of actual funding
commitment to adolescents.
for adolescents, as it includes funding for general
determine the level of commitment to adolescent
programmes.
issues,
It could also be argued that the actual level of
resources invested is an insufficient indicator of the
commitment to adolescents, or even of the expected
impact on the target group.
One of the most
important areas for work on adolescents is in the
creation of an enabling environment for the
empowerment of adolescents and an improvement in
their status.
The creation of such an enabling
the
UN
system
However, in order to
could
formulate
a
comprehensive monitoring and evaluation system on
adolescents (which includes criteria such as
investment of resources, personnel and expected
outcomes).
2.7 Geographical outreach, target groups
and partners
Direct and indirect interventions relating to adolescents
cover a wide range.
environment should also form a part of a wider
strategy for the development of society.
In this
context, all pro-active programmes, for instance, on
gender and women's empowerment would also
benefit adolescents.
Target groups - from adolescent girls, adolescents
in slums, school children, adolescents in rural
areas, to street children, all aspects of adolescent
life are covered.
On the other hand, activities
exclusively for adolescents cannot exist in isolation,
and must be embedded in the context of societies
and families. Raising awareness and providing services
•> Geographical locations - while studies and
advocacy work on adolescents are relevant to
all parts of the country, specific programmes and
projects also cover the entire country. Usually,
for adolescents will prove ineffectual unless they are
programmes are linked to the problems of
accompanied by a recognition that empowerment and
adolescents prevalent in that region.
independence for adolescents also requires a change
instance,the drug demand reduction programme
in status and the role of adolescents within family and
society. For this reason, many NGO initiatives also
devote significant levels of resources to involving
parents and encouraging community participation on
adolescent activities.
Furthermore, the level of inputs and resources cannot
be taken as a measure of the commitment of the
For
;
in the North-East is in response to the high
concentration of drug users in the region, while
thejointGOI-UN system education programme
targets areas with low female (and by implication,
adolescent girls) literacy.
<• Partners - most of the activities relating to
adolescents are in partnership with governments,
NGOs and other bilateral donors. Almost all
government ministries and organisations, from
organisation to adolescents and the creation of an
38
i
to broaden the scope of activities to other
NCERT, Nehru Yuva Kendra to the Department
of Education are involved with some activities
sectoral issues relating to adolescents. Some of
for adolescents. Bilateral donors such as DFID,
the
USAID and SI DA are actively involved with
themselves
adolescents. A number of NGOs are working
priorities
(in
by
identified
adolescents
various conferences
and
declarations) include improved quality and access
to improve the status of adolescents as the
snapshots show in the concluding section of the
to education, water and sanitation, linkages
profile.
between education and employment and
protection of adolescents' rights. These issues
2.8 Issues for consideration
and concerns should be addressed in a
The mapping of the different UN organisations raises
comprehensive framework of activities for
several issues that need to be addressed in order to
adolescents.
formulate a joint UN system strategy on adolescents.
Moreover, an improvement in the status of
A few main ones are detailed:
adolescents, and investing in adolescents as the
*
Conceptual clarity (adolescents, youth or young
key to future development requires a broad,
people) - As already mentioned, interpretations
multi-sectoral and holistic programme approach.
of the concept of adolescence vary within the
Some NGOs which commenced with a narrow
UN system. Although most organisations follow
focus on adolescent health have now expanded
the WHO definition, there is no universal
into other areas such as vocational training,
definition of adolescents adopted by all
employment and development of entrepreneurial
organisations. Invariably, a focus on adolescents
skills.
is subsumed within that of youth or children and
programmes directed at adolescents must
there is no demarcation between children,
recognise that they are not working in isolation,
adolescents and youth. Furthermore, there are
and changes in their status are dependent on
many overlapping definitions, for instance, the
changes in perceptions and attitudes in the
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
overall social environment. This is especially
Perhaps,
most
importantly,
any
defines children as persons below the age of 18
relevant for adolescents as they are not entitled
years, which includes the age group spanned in
to legal independence (upto the age of 18 years),
the WHO definition of adolescents. A consensus
and are dependent on adults for the protection
on the definition and the concept of adolescence
of their rights.
is required in order to develop a coherent joint
However, adopting a holistic approach to
UN system strategy on adolescents.
adolescent activities may present a dilemma for
Developing a wider sectoral focus - The focus of
9
to
policy makers and programme managers. The
is
need for a favourable enabling environment is
overwhelmingly in the area of reproductive
indisputable, and justifies the mainstreaming of
health and population issues. Population
adolescent activities into all programmes and
education dominates programme direction in the
activities.There is a need to combine a separate
area of education. Although the evident lacunae
focus with a mainstreaming of adolescent
in reproductive health services for adolescents
concerns into all programmes.
programmes
related
adolescents
justifies this emphasis, it is also equally important
Development of a Monitoring and Evaluation
•1*
(M&E) framework - A comprehensive M&E
Establishing a database on adolescent issues and
the status of adolescents in the country.
framework for analysing activities relating to
Sensitisation of policy makers on adolescent
adolescents, including investment of resources
issues
(funding, technical support, personnel) and
Capacity-building of communities to increase
evaluation criteria (of outcomes) would help
understanding of the separate psycho-social and
raise awareness on adolescent issues and ensure
emotional needs of adolescents
that there is a consistent focus on this target
Mobilisation of communities and youth
group in all programmes and activities.
I
organisations around adolescent issues.
2.9 Suggested strategies for joint UN
Campaigning
system interventions
participation of youth in development planning.
for the
involvement
and
Advocacy to increase access to education and
Recognition of and action on the issues detailed above
health care facilities for adolescent girls.
would facilitate the implementation of an effective,
Formulating
coherent joint UN system strategy. Several strategies
comprehensive
national
programme of action on adolescents.
based on the status and the needs of adolescents in
the country have been suggested for joint UN system
a
(ii)
Information Dissemination - Lack of information
interventions. Selection of a strategy should be based
for adolescents was a recurring theme of
on an awareness of the existing resources and
discussion in most UN organisations, and was
capacity of the UN system. Interventions should be
identified as one of the most important issues
directed in those areas in which the UN system has
for adolescents.Information on reproductive
a comparative advantage and where there is a
health issues, education and career is vital for the
potential to make the maximum impact. Given the
development of adolescents. Information should
limited resources of the UN system, it may be more
be both easily accessible and presented in an
pertinent and effective to focus on the creation of
'adolescent-friendly'
specific programmes that can serve as a model for
information
replication across the country. Some of the strategies
preparation of materials for distribution in
suggested include:
schools to the use of multi-media channels, and
(0
Awareness generation and advocacy - although
manner.
dissemination
Ideas
ranged
for
from
popular music concerts.
there has been an increase in awareness of
(iii) Life Skills Education - This is related to the need
adolescent issues, especially since ICPD, there is
for information by adolescents, particularly on
no comprehensive national strategy and
reproductive health issues, drug use, alcohol and
focus on adolescents. Greater awareness of the
tobacco use. While information on these issues
separate needs of adolescents, of the problems
is essential to raise awareness among adolescents,
associated with this transition period between
they must also be equipped with skills and
still
childhood
and
is
essential.
abilities to utilise this information for preventive
Adolescents as a group require separate policy
behaviour, and to enhance their own decision
focus, and need to be differentiated from
making skills.
activities for youth and children. Awareness
dissemination initiatives would be composed of
generation and advocacy work could be on :
two parts - information (for example, population
adulthood
Therefore, any information
education) and Life Skills development (to
comprising a significant section of the population,
Life Skills education
employment will become a major issue as these
would also incorporate suggestions for gender
adolescents enter the workforce. Already,
sensitisation of adolescent boys.
adolescents have identified career counselling and
promote empowerment).
provision of employment opportunities as areas
(iv) Addressing the nutritional needs of adolescents
of concern. A strategy that links the education
- adolescence is a period of rapid growth, and
system to the creation of employment-related
correspondingly, high nutrition needs. As the
skills and training for the job market is urgently
nutrition intake during this period affects future
patterns of health (particularly for adolescent
girls, whose nutritional intake can have inter-
generational effects), it is essential to increase
support
for
adolescents.
special
nutritional
care
of
Several UN organisations are
already working in this area.
M
required.
2.10 Conclusion
The increase in activities for adolescents is an
encouraging trend, but it needs to be refined and
focussed further to place adolescents as a major
priority issue for all UN organisations. The main issue
Elimination of child labour - several UN
is the adoption of a universal definition of adolescents
organisations, and the Inter Agency Working
by all UN organisations. Conceptual clarity should
Group on child labour are already working on
lead to greater understanding of the unique needs and
this issue.
concerns of adolescents. The UN system could then
(vi) Creating linkages between education and
formulate innovative pilot programmes and initiate
public debate on adolescent issues.
employment opportunities - With adolescents
h)
V
Section Three : REVIEW OF GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND PROGRAMMES
3.1 UN Conferences related to
reproductive health and population policies, in India.
adolescents and India's commitments
The other UN Conferences and Conventions, which
also relate to adolescents have had a similar influence
Governments in collaboration with non
governmental organizations, are urged to meet
the special needs of adolescents and to
establish appropriate programmes to respond
to those needs (ICPD- Programme of Action,
paragraph 7.47)
on the policy process. India has signed and ratified all
the major conferences and conventions, which
provides a useful advocacy tool for increasing policy
attention towards adolescents. Table 16 provides
details of the different conferences and the
The ICPD has clearly had a great influence in changing
commitments that are important for adolescents.
the content and direction of policies, especially
Table 16: UN Conferences/Conventions and issues related to adolescents
Conference/Convention
Issues
General Issues from conferences and conventions
relating to youth and adolescents
Improving education and training
Expanding employment opportunities
Health for all and sustainable population
development
Eliminating hunger and poverty
Protecting the environment
Sustainable development
Equality for girls and young women.
Increasing youth participation and protection
of youth rights
Tolerance and respect for all
Supporting youth in trouble
Convention on the Rights of the Child
Child defined as a young person up to the age
(CRC) (1989)
of 18.
Right to survival and development
Right to participation
Principle of non-discrimination
Protection from trafficking
Freedom of expression and access to
information and ideas
Protection from all forms of violence and
abuse, including sexual abuse
Health for all and access to health services
Right to education for all
C
Protection from economic exploitation and
9
forced labour
9
Protection from illegal drugs and dangerous
substances and from being exploited in the
production and sale of drugs
9
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
(Relating to adolescent girls)
of Discrimination Against Women (1981)
Protection from commercial sexual
Participation in decision-making
Equal access to education and training, in an
environment free of the stereotyped images
%
of the role of women and men
<
Access to employment opportunities, with
protection from discrimination and support
services to combine work and family
responsibilities
❖
Access to health services
Access to financial credit
Consent and choice in marriage, and in
decisions on the number and spacing of
e
children
United Nations Conference on Environment
Principle 21: "The creativity, ideals and courage
and Development (UNCED) (1992), Brazil
of the youth of the world should be mobilised
to forge a global partnership in order to
9
achieve sustainable development and ensure a
better future for all."
Entire chapter on contribution of youth and
participation of youth in decision-making.
Sustainable
development
and
youth
participation in decision-making
*>
Youth as guardians of the future
World Conference of Human Rights, Vienna
Youth rights
(WCHR) (1993)
Right against intolerance and racism
World Health Summit, Alma Ata,(1977)
J
<•
Health for all
Access to health services and information
Reduction in maternal mortality
Reduction in nutritional anaemia
Reproductive health care
*
V
t
World Summit for Children (1990)
See CRC
V
World Conference on Education for All (1990)
*:•
International Conference on Population and
Development (ICPD) (1994), Cairo
World Summit for Social Development
(WSSD) (1995), Copenhagen
*!•
❖
V
Fourth World Conference on Women
(FWCW) (1995), Beijing
❖
Second United Nations Conference on Human
Settlements (UNCHS) (1996), Istanbul
World Food Summit (1996), Rome
❖
V
Access to education
Improved access for girls
Learning through adolescence and adulthood
Empowerment of people
People-centred development
Elimination of hunger and poverty
Employment opportunities
Social integration
Sustainable development
Mainly relating to adolescent girls, although it
recognises the needs and interests of young
men.
Access to education about sexual and
reproductive health
Sensitisation of boys to gender equality
See CEDAW
By 2005, majority of world's population will
live in cities, and 40 percent of these will be
children.
Adequate shelter for all (includes issues of
privacy, space and security for young people).
Right to food security
Participation of youth in decision-making and
enhancing food production (FAO's campaign
on Youth Against Hunger)
Elimination of hunger
International Conference on Nutrition (1992),
Rome
Reduction in nutritional deficiencies
Healthy diets and food security
World Congress Against the Commercial Sexual
Exploitation of Children (CSEC) (1996), Stockholm
Child prostitution
Trafficking
Sale of children for commercial and sexual
purposes
Protection of vulnerable children and support
for recovery and social integration of child
victims
*:•
e
Special focus on adolescents
Right to information about their sexuality
make responsible decisions
Reproductive and sexual health needs
Integrated and multi-sectoral approach, with
the participation of youth
*
♦
*
<1
t
Source: Commonwealth Youth Programme, Global commitments to youth rights, London: Commonwealth
Secretariat, 1997.
S>
e
f
The conventions and conferences, particularly the
ICPD, the CRC and FWCW have been instrumental
in increasing programmes and policies for adolescents.
However, the variations in the definition of the child,
The age of criminal responsibility is raised to
12 years if the child is found not to have
attained the ability to understand the
consequences of his/her act.
❖ The age of sexual consent for girls is 16 years.
and related to this, adolescents, dilute the emphasis on
adolescents and their concerns as shown in Chart 9.
While the Census defines children as below 14 years,
the CRC below 18 years, the Constitution considers
child labour to relate to those below 14 years, hence
creating confusion on where childhood ends and
adolescence begins. Similarly, the Situational Report
❖ Juvenile Justice Act, 1960 (amended in 1986)Juvenile is a child who has not completed the
age of 16 years in the case of a boy or the age
of 18 years in the case of a girl.
❖ Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1978 - Child
means a person, if a male has not completed 21
years of age and if a female, has not completed
18 years of age.
on the Girl Child in India, as part of the follow-up
action on the Beijing Conference, defines adolescence
as the period between 13-19 years. A standardised
definition, which the government is currently in the
process of deciding on through the Law Commission,
would facilitate uniformity and greater understanding
of the different needs across the age spectrum.
❖ Factories Act, 1948 - A child below 14 years of
age is not allowed to work in any factory. An
adolescent between 15 and 18 years can be
employed in a factory only if he obtains a
certificate of fitness from an authorised medical
doctor. A child between 14 and 18 years of age
cannot be employed for more than four and
half hours.
*;• Article 45 of the Constitution - States shall
endeavour within 10 years from the
commencement of this Constitution, for free
and compulsory education for all children till
the age of 14 years.
Chart 9 : Variations in definitions
ft ■ ii Hit—
jOr rapiraft «■
❖ The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation )
Act, 1986 - Child means a person who has not
completed his 14th year of age.
L----- - ------ F-
-
4-
4-
4-
u-----R Fftw
ii
atHtf ingwim mi
lUilH'll
. Hi i mu
y»i
__________
cum
❖ The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956
(amended in 1986) - The amended Act
provides enhanced penalties for offences
involving children and minors. It continues to
prohibit prostitution in its commerciaiisedTorm
without rendering prostitution per se as an
offence.
Variations in definitions notwithstanding, the
The challenge now is to translate these provisions
government has initiated several laws that protect the
in law for adolescents into de facto programmes
rights of children and adolescents as provided in the
and policies. The following section will review
Constitution. (See Box below) :
some Government plans and policies to examine
Illustration of some acts related to children and
whether and how they address adolescents.
adolescents
*> Criminal Law (Indian Penal Code) - Child
under 7 years is not responsible for offences.
45
3.2 Some government plans and policies
injunction to "treat humanity as an end withal, never
as means only". These discrepancies need to be taken
3.2.1 Ninth Five Year Plan (1997-2002)
into account in the formulation of the Tenth Plan.
3.2.2 National Youth Policy (2000)
Ninth Five Year Plan and Adolescents :
There is no Government policy specifically on
❖
universalizing nutrition supplementary feeding
expanding the adolescent girls' scheme
❖
assessing health needs
adolescents. The policy which comes closest to
articulating the needs of adolescents is the National
Youth Policy 2000, which provides a comprehensive
overview of youth issues and concerns.
The Ninth Five Year Plan (1997-2002) outlines the
development plans and policies of the government,
and reflects the government's approach to different
needs and concerns. Adolescents are mentioned
mainly in reference to women and children (the Plan
cites the 1991 Census definition of children as those
between 0-14 years), health concerns and as part of
the youth policy.
Both the 1986 Youth Policy and the current policy
view youth as a vital resource to be nurtured for the
development of the country. Whereas the previous
youth policy tended to be more based on a top-down
policy approach, the current policy places the
participation of youth as primary stakeholders, as the
central tenets of government philosophy. The policy
also moves beyond outlining the positive attitude of
Specific mention of adolescents in the Ninth Plan
the state towards youth to formulate goals and policy
include the Ninth Plan's commitments towards the
recommendations that have attempted to incorporate
child, to universalise nutrition supplementary feeding
the ICPD guidelines.
with a special emphasis on Adolescent Girl, to expand
confining itself to policy for youth on important but
the adolescent girls scheme and to assess the health
atypical activities such as sports, it highlights several
needs of adolescents in the RCH programme.
areas of concern for adolescents and youth in the
Nevertheless, adolescents continue to be a sub-group
country today and emphasizes an inter-sectoral
of women, children or youth and there appears to be
approach. Encouraging the participation of youth in
no move to consider adolescents as a separate
national development planning and in the policy
category. The expansion of the scheme for adolescent
making process ensures that youth policies are
girls is mentioned in terms of the underlying rationale
grounded in a realistic assessment of needs. By placing
- "...in preparation for their productive and
responsibilities along with privileges for youth, it
reproductive roles as confident individuals not only in
provides a space for the contribution of youth to
family building but also in nation building" (Planning
communities and to social development.
Commission, Government of India 1998 ). There is a
areas of empowerment, gender equity and an inter
danger that adolescents are seen as 'human capital' in
sectoral approach hint at a move towards a rights
relation to their productive role alone. At the same
approach and a people-centred approach to
time, this cannot be conclusively determined as the
development. The elements of participation, access and
Ninth Plan explicitly makes a commitment to human
leadership-building have been clearly delineated as
development, which is centred on the basic
objectives of the policy to support these guiding
recognition of human beings as people, or Kant's
principles.
Furthermore, instead of
The thrust
46
Vi
comparison with the previous youth policy, and its
National Youth Policy and Adolescents :
•:*
•i*
inter-sectoral approach
recognition for the need for multi-dimensional
distinction between age of adolescence and age
interventions, the Policy still requires further
of maturity
elaboration on issues relating to adolescents. Aside
nutritional requirements
from health, adolescent concerns on education,
educational needs
culture, employment and a range of other sectoral
issues differ from the youth in the 20 plus group. The
However, despite these thrusts, the rationale for the
Policy fails to make adequate allowances for these
youth policy still talks of youth "as a positive force
different needs, and consequently, the need for
for national progress”, suggesting that the distinction
different
between human capital and human development is
implementation of policies, of the modalities of co
not yet fully articulated.
operation between different ministries and of the
priorities.
Details
on
issues
of
formulation of monitoring and evaluation criteria are
By changing the definition of youth to 13-30 years, the
also absent from the Policy.
National Youth Policy, 2000 can enable the
Department of Youth Affairs and Sports to become
the nodal ministry for adolescents. The Youth Policy
actually makes a distinction between the age of
3.2.3 National Plan of Action on Children
(1992) and SAARC Decade of the Girl
Child (1991-2000)
adolescence (13-19) and the age of attainment of
While the National Youth Policy is moving towards an
maturity (20-30 years), marking a shift towards
increased focus on adolescents in general, an increase
distinguishing between these different phases.
By
in the attention to adolescent girls had already begun
marking the age of adolescence, the policy facilitates
with the National Plan of Action on Children 1992,
advocacy efforts on the work on adolescents in
and strengthened by the South Asia Association of
government programmes. However, the discussion on
Regional Co-operation (SAARC) Decade of the Girl
population projections specifies the 10-19 age group,
Child (1991-2000). In the National Plan of Action for
in contradiction to the earlier definition of 13-19
Children, there is a separate section on adolescent
years. Such divergences suggest that the definition
girls. Mainly traditional concerns related to adolescent
and the concept are yet to be firmly established in
girls are raised, such as nutrition and health, literacy
government thinking.
and numeracy and the provision of home based skills.
Within the youth policy, adolescents are given a
special focus in health, in recognition of their unique
needs in this sector. The Policy even goes as far as
to state "that it is necessary to target the adolescent
There is no mention of the empowerment of
adolescent girls, although it expresses the need for
appropriate measures which would raise the age of
marriage.
as the most important segment of population,
In the National Plan of Action for the SAARC Decade,
addressing, in particular, their nutritional requirements.
the problems of adolescent girls are given separate
It is also important to recognize that a large section
mention, with an emphasis on a holistic policy
of adolescents are outside the formal educational
approach.
system and hence it is necessary to reach out to
adolescent girls in the Plan of Action was in relation
them effectively."
to safe motherhood, raising doubts about the actual
Despite these improvements in the Policy in
However, the only other mention of
move away from sectoral concerns. Similarly, in the
47
*
SAARC Follow Up Report on the Girl Child, an
it could have far reaching implications for adolescent
analysis of the situation of adolescent girls is limited
health and well-being.
to issues such as child bearing, mortality and mean age
3.2.5 Health Policy (Draft 1999)
of marriage although adolescence as a period of
Health Policy and Adolescents :
growth is highlighted.
adolescent girls as a ‘special group'
3.2.4 National Population Policy (2000)
❖
health care of adolescent girls
nutritional needs of adolescent girls
National Population Policy and Adolescents
inclusion of adolescents the category of under
Population issues cannot be viewed in isolation and
will be influenced by the content of other policies and
served population
programmes, particularly on health (including STDs
mention of adolescents in information, nutrition,
contraceptive use, STDs and other population
related issues
and RH) and nutrition. The draft Health Policy 1999
expresses concern for the health care of special
groups, and includes adolescent girls under this
developing a health package for adolescents
category, but limits itself to their nutritional needs.
Further, it appears that adolescent girls' needs are
The National Population Policy 2000 devotes
conflated with those of pregnant women and children,
considerable space to adolescent concerns while
instead of viewing adolescent girls as a distinct group
discussing strategic themes, and operational strategies.
with their own separate needs. The NGO Country
There is also recurrent mention of adolescents in
Report on Beijing Plus Five, 2000 points one of the
information, nutrition, contraceptive use, STDs and
other population related issues. This is in keeping
with the critical role that adolescents play in
primary shortcomings in government policy on
women's health: a lack of age-profiling of health needs
of female persons. According to the Report, the focus
of health services for women has viewed women as
determining population size. The Policy, based on past
mothers which has led to a neglect of other
experiences of population growth and demographic
transition, aims to reduce fertility levels to
population groups such as adolescent girls (except as
mothers).
replacement level by 2010. Twelve strategic themes
have been identified to achieve this goal, of which
reaching
under-served
populations
is
one.
Adolescents are included in this category, which is a
3.2.6 National Nutrition Policy (1983)
National Nutrition Policy and Adolescents :
❖ adolescent girls as a ‘specially vulnerable group'
redress the nutritional problems of adolescent
recognition of their invisibility in earlier policies.
girls
Although the special requirements of adolescents are
explicitly mentioned, the overwhelming emphasis is on
developing a health package for adolescents. Another
The National Nutrition Policy 1983, identifies
adolescent girls as a specially vulnerable group.
It has an extensive section on reaching adolescent
significant aspect of the policy is its stress on
girls to redress their nutritional problems, but
enforcement of the law, mainly the Child Marriage
Restraint Act. If the Policy is translated into practice,
the
concern
appears to
stem
mainly
from
their importance as mothers and housewives.
■Zi.-
48
W'
Clearly, policies need to examine adolescent girls and
boys as individuals, and not only in their roles as
mothers, housewives and breadwinners.
commitment to universalization of primary i
education
*:• vocational courses at the higher secondary level
3.2.7 National AIDS Policy (2000)
National AIDS Policy and Adolescents :
interventions for age group 18-40 years
Another major area of importance for adolescents is
education. The National Education Policy 1986 (with
modifications undertaken in 1992) reflects a
With an estimated 3.5 million persons infected with
commitment to the eradication of illiteracy,
HIV, the Prime Minister has declared HIV/AIDS as the
particularly in the age group of 15-35 years. This
’single most important health issue in the country.'
includes the older adolescent group. Similarly, there
The National AIDS Policy 2000 is therefore, a crucial
is a commitment to universalisation of primary
health strategy.
education, which would also capture younger
Adolescents form a large section of the sexually active
adolescents. However, as there is no separate category
component
of the national
population, with their sexual activity beginning even
when they are as young as 10 years. Also, there is a
higher prevalence of unprotected sex, especially during
of adolescents mentioned in the Policy, there is a
danger that the unique needs of adolescents will be
subsumed under the category of adults, youth and
children.
their first sexual encounter. Experimentation, peer
group pressures and lack of information make
There are also provisions for vocational courses at
adolescents particularly vulnerable to STDs, including
the higher secondary level, and general mention of
HIV. Recognising this, UNAIDS global AIDS campaign
issues related to higher education, which would in one
has been devoted to young people for the last three
years. In this context, it is surprising that references
way or other, address the employment, and education
needs of older adolescents. The Policy talks about
’vocational courses for children' at the higher
to adolescents are conspicuously absent from the
National AIDS Policy. The Policy outlines interventions
secondary level, which reverts us once again to the
issue of defining adolescents.
for the age group 18-40 years and also the
vulnerability of women and children. Adolescents
need to be included, for instance, in the reference to
women, children and other socially weak groups for
improving health education, legal status and economic
prospects.
The Education Policy does have an explicit focus on
youth as the 15-35 age group, and also speaks of non-
formal and need-based vocational programmes for
youth who have completed primary education, or are
drop-outs. Population Education is included as a way
to motivate youth about family planning and
Programmes which relate directly to adolescents such
responsible parenthood. The policy addresses youth
as University Talk AIDS and the NYKS are described,
as a category and speaks of opportunities being
but ’adolescents' are not explicitly mentioned even in
the description of target groups.
3.2.8 National Education Policy (1986,
modified in 1992)
National Education Policy and Adolescents :
provided to involve them in national and social
development.
In general, it appears that adolescents are not
addressed as a separate category and seem to be
subsumed under the provisions for youth and
secondary and higher secondary education.
eradication of illiteracy in the age group 15-35
years
49
the
separate government department for addressing the
Empowerment of Women (Draft - 1996)
needs and concerns of adolescents and for
3.2.9
National
Policy
for
National Policy for the Empowerment of Women
and Adolescents
elimination of discrimination against girls
❖ nutritional needs
❖ protection against trafficking and prostitution
While youth is one category under which adolescents
tend to be subsumed, the concerns of adolescent girls
are invariably in relation to women and their role as
future mothers and housewives or perceived as the
Girl Child. The Draft National Policy for the
Empowerment of Women (1996) includes a section
implementing programmes in this regard can be
identified as positive indicators.
3.3 Government Programmes for
Adolescents
There are no comprehensive national policies and
programmes addressing all the multi-dimensional
needs
of
adolescents
including
not just
reproductive health and sexuality needs and
problems but also education, employment,
empowerment, food security and nutrition. Existing
national programmes are limited in size and scope,
on the elimination of discrimination against the Girl
Child.
There are issues here, which concern
adolescent girls, such as nutrition, violence, protection
addressing only some aspects of reproductive
health. They are mostly isolated in nature, that is, i
not inter-related, and targeted at youth (20-30
of rights and protection against trafficking and
prostitution. Any interventions directed at the girl
child would undoubtedly have an impact on
adolescent girls, and they have benefited from the
increased attention and policy commitment to this age
group. But, as has been repeatedly mentioned, the
reason for distinguishing adolescents as a category is
years). Interventions targeted specifically at
adolescents (10-19 years), including both married i
and unmarried adolescents, are few. The role of
adolescents is hardly recognized in the formulation,
monitoring and evaluation of national programmes.
('The South Asia Conference on Adolescents,'
UNFPA CST for CASA, 1999)
based on their unique physical, psychological and social
needs. While a sub-set of these would be covered by
Adolescents have been included almost as 'subsidiary
other categories, there are some needs which require
target groups' in most youth programmes. After the
an explicit and separate focus on adolescents as a
ICPD, there has been a reorientation towards
category.
adolescents, but there is still a paucity of programmes
In conclusion, although there are few policies that
mention adolescents as a separate category, the
recent population and youth policies suggest a gradual
that directly target adolescents. The problem is
compounded by the division of programmes into
different ministries and departments, with little vertical
or horizontal coordination. The result is a diffusion
shift towards recognising the separate and unique
needs of adolescents in government policies. Much
of efforts and achievements in relation to adolescents.
remains to be done, however, before adolescents are
Although all departments and ministries are in some
placed at par with other groups in the policy agenda.
manner administrating programmes that affect
Till adolescents are included in every dimension of
adolescents, only three departments, the Department
policy, their needs and concerns will not be
of Youth and Sports Affairs, the Department of
successfully addressed. The formulation of a specific
Women and Child Development and the Department
policy on adolescents as also the creation of a
of Family Welfare are actively working to integrate
50
adolescents into their programmes.
Of these, the
only explicit mention of adolescents is in the Support
high, but it still hides the burden of work of girls, who
are primarily occupied in domestic responsibilities.
to Adolescents under ICDS run by the Department
Employment and economic opportunities are seen as
of Women and Child Development and to a certain
part of the wider problems of the country, and
extent,
the
adolescent
component
of
the
several schemes such as Support to Training cum
Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) Programme of
Employment Programme for Women (STEP), Setting
the Department of Family Welfare.
Even in these
up Employment and income Generating Training cum
programmes however, the actual level of commitment
Production Units for Women, Construction/Expansion
to adolescent issues cannot be ascertained adequately,
of Hostel building for Working Women with a Day
and a lack of comprehensive evaluation of these
Care Centre, Vocational T raining, the Integrated Rural
schemes makes it difficult to judge their impact.
Development Programme and the Development of
Details of some of the major programmes are given
Women and Children in Rural Areas (which have now
below. Government initiatives and schemes, although
been integrated into the Swarna Jayanti Gram
moving towards a more holistic approach are still
Swarozgar Yojana or SGSY) also include adolescents as
quite stratified in terms of programming, and can be
part of their target group. However, a few schemes
divided into the broad areas of health, education and
which are aimed specifically at the youth include:
economic development and employment. These
reorienting the Indian educational system towards
programmes are both at the national and state level,
vocational training; an Apprenticeship Training Scheme,
and are also in collaboration with multilateral and
TRYSEM
(Training
of
Rural Youth
for
Self
bilateral donors.
Employment). These have not had a significant impact
3.4 Economic Development
on the problems of youth unemployment and
Economic Development schemes and Adolescents:
Support
to Training
cum
Employment
economic development. The Vocational Guidance and
Education scheme was run through employment
exchanges which assisted those who approached
Programme for Women (STEP)
Construction /Expansion of Hostel building for
them and did not reach out to youth in schools and
colleges. The Apprenticeship scheme on the other
Working Women with a Day Care Centre
hand, places the onus on employers to pay stipends
Integrated Rural Development Programme
Training of Rural Youth for Self Employment
to apprentices in their industries, and it is doubtful
whether employers have been willing to train
(TRYSEM)
apprentices by giving these stipends.
Vocational Guidance and Employment Scheme
Similarly, the
success of TRYSEM has also been limited. A survey
Youth unemployment is a major problem that needs
indicated that of the trained beneficiaries of the
to be addressed adequately by policy makers. Under
programme, about 48 percent were employed.
the Indian constitution, children under the age of 14
Furthermore, trainees mentioned a range of
years are prohibited from working, but for older
inadequacies in the training, from inadequate training
adolescents, education and careers are increasingly
infrastructure, unsatisfactory training facilities and not
cited as a major priority. Work force participation is
enough practical training (Visaria 1999: 27-30). Also,
51
WH-
r)os6
poo
a
more significantly, TRYSEM is targeted at youth above
quality and content of education. A better match
18 years, ignoring the needs of the 15-18 year group,
between education and employment opportunities is
who form a major portion of the youth work force.
also urgently required.
The economic and employment programmes require
Substantial resources are being devoted to improving
a major reform to make them more effective,
the education situation for children and adolescents,
participatory and to take into account the needs of
especially adolescent girls in India through a variety of
the 15-18 year age group.
schemes encompassing non-formal education, adult
Those in the 10-14 age group may be identified as
literacy classes, community management of schools,
distance education, vocational training and skills
younger adolescents. Under the action plan of the
building.
National Policy on Child Labour (1987), National
Child Labour Projects (NCLPs) have been set up in
different areas to rehabilitate child labour and those
may be said to include a section of the adolescent
population. A major activity undertaken under the
Relevant linkages between education and
other factors are also being considered, for instance,
the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has
schemes that encourage the education of tribal girls
through educational complexes, hostels, and financial
incentives (Singh 1999: 245). The Department of
NCLP is the establishment of special schools to
Education seeks to provide financial assistance to
provide non-formal education, vocational training,
eligible voluntaty organizations to improve the
supplementary nutrition etc. to children withdrawn
enrolment of adolescent girls belonging to rural areas
from employment. So far 92 child labour projects have
and weaker sections. Preference in providing
been sanctioned in child labour endemic states under
assistance is given to hostels located in educationally
the project. (Note one limination of child labour,
backward districts, particularly those predominantly
Ministry of Labour). The scheme will be an ongoing
inhabited by SCs/STs and educationally backward
during the Ninth Five Year Plan period.
minorities (Department of Education, Annual Report
1999-2000). Further, the scheme for Water and
3.5 Education
Sanitation Facilities in all schools by the Rajiv Gandhi
Education programmes and Adolescents :
Drinking Water Mission will remove barriers that deny
*!• Rajiv Gandhi Drinking Water Mission
adolescent girls their basic right to education.
%•
Lok Jumbish
Lok Jumbish
Mahila Samakhya
<•
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
access to education till 14 years of age
equity in access to education
Part of the problem of employment and economic
❖ camp approach
opportunities for adolescents is linked to the
gender equity
shortfalls of the education system. The directive of
Two innovative schemes, in collaboration with the
the Constitution to provide free and compulsory
Swedish and Dutch governments, Lok Jumbish and
education for all citizens up to the age of 14 years has
Mahila Samakhya have achieved considerable success
not resulted in universal literacy. On the contrary,
in improving access to education for girls.
literacy rates, particularly among girls continues to be
low, and high drop-out rates are common. The Ninth
Lok
Jumbish (People's Movement for education for All)
which begun in 1992, aims to encourage education for
Plan recognises the current problems of the education
all through peoples participation and mobilisation. Set
system, and has advocated a reform to enhance the
in Rajasthan, it runs through a multi-dimensional
Besides mention may also be made of the Sarva
approach, focusing on access to education for children
Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) which expresses a commitment
up to 14 years. It has set up innovative management
to the goal of Universalization of Elementary
the
of
Education. It has set the objective of providing quality
elementary education to all children in the age group
communities and the voluntary sector. One of its main
of 6-14 years by 2010. There will be a special focus
objectives is to pursue the goal of equity in access to
on girls, children belonging to SC/ST communities and
education. Gender issues thus constitute a major
low female literacy blocks. Having a clear district focus,
component of the programme. It deploys the camp
it seeks to emphasize on retention and achievement
out of their
rather than on mere enrolment. It seeks to make
homes and address their educational needs as also
education relevant by initiating curricular reforms to
their life experiences. The Mahila Shikshan Vihar and
promote life skills. It also aims at organizing "Back to
Balika Shikshan Shivir for adolescent girls are two of
School Camps" for out of school children in the 10-
the Lok Jumbish programmes. Over 3,000 girls have
14 years age group.
incorporating
approach to draw women and girls
*
principle
decentralization as also forging partnership with local
structures
obtained a high level of primary education through
their camps between 1997 and 1999. It aims at using
3.6 Health
education as an instrument for empowerment and
Health schemes and Adolescents :
social change.
Adolescent Girls' Scheme
❖
Mahila Samakhya Programme
❖ education as a tool for empowerment
❖
postponing marriage
❖
provision for vocational training
Population Education
❖ Young People Talk AIDS
❖
Balika Samriddhi Yojana
❖
Reproductive Health Programme
The discussion on the status of adolescents has
The Mahila Samakhya programme was initiated in
1989 by the Department of Education, MOHRD, and
aims to create an enabling environment for women's
empowerment through facilitating community
transformation. It seeks to increase the participation
of women and girls in both formal and non-formal
educational institutions. The Mahila Shikshan Kendras
offer a unique learning opportunity to adolescent girls
and young women, supporting them in delaying their
highlighted the unique health needs of adolescents,
especially adolescent sexual health. The major health
issues such as high infant mortality rates, high fertility
and maternal mortality rates are largely related to the
health, status and empowerment of adolescent girls.
Not surprisingly, the main schemes related explicitly
to adolescents are in the area of health: Adolescent
Girls Scheme in the ICDS, Population Education and
Reproductive and Child Health.
marriage and providing them with vocational training
women's groups for community mobilisation and uses
3.6.1 Adolescent Girls Scheme (part of
ICDS)
education as a tool for empowerment and social
The AGS is a part of the Integrated Child
change. The programme has expanded its coverage to
Development Services Scheme (ICDS), which was
among other things. The programme thus organises
large parts of the states of Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka,
Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Assam
initiated by the DWCD in 1975-76 to address health
and nutritional concerns intended to facilitate a
and Kerala.
w
53
4
holistic development of children. A special
The overall schemes for adolescents has been further
intervention under ICDS was devised during 1991-
divided into two sub-schemes- AG1 (Girl to Girl) for
92 for adolescent girls in the age group of 11-18
girls between 11-15 years of age and AG2 (Balika
years. The AGS is one of the few government
Mandals) for girls between 11-18 years of age. Both
schemes that is explicitly for adolescents. The
schemes essentially include skills training and
programme was initiated as a follow-up to the
supplementary nutrition, but differ in their scope and
success of the WFP pilot programme in Madhya
criteria for selection of girls for the schemes. AG1 is
Pradesh, but was given special impetus following the
an income-based programme with girls selected from
SAARC Decade of the Girl Child (1991-2000).
families with incomes less than Rs 6,400 per annum,
whereas AG2 is open to all families (although
The scheme fills the gap in services for adolescents,
as government schemes previously covered children
preference is given to poorer families).
(0-6 years), mothers and school going children. An
The AG1 scheme provided hands on learning at the
innovative measure is the move to focus on school
Anganwadi centre, education, health check-ups and
drop-outs, thereby covering groups which are more
supplementary nutrition. A major thrust of the
marginalised.
programme is to prevent teenage pregnancies.
The main objectives of the scheme are:
The AG2 programme is much broader and more
(i) to improve the malnutrition and health status
of girls in the age group of 11-18 years;
comprehensive, and is implemented through Balika
(ii) to provide literacy and numeracy skills
through non-formal education
are selected in each area, with a potential for
(iii) to train and equip adolescent girls to improve
or upgrade home based skills and to enable
them to run child care centres at a later
stage
(iv) to promote awareness of health, hygiene,
nutrition and family welfare issues and to
encourage girls to marry at a later age, after
18 years.
to
Mandals or Girls' Clubs throughout the country. Girls
leadership and learning, and then through a
participatory programme involving the families of the
selected girls, activities and vocational skills training are
identified which in turn will be of future benefit to the
girls. The component of supplementary nutrition is
retained to provide an incentive for participation by
these girls.
(Department of Women and Child Development
1998: 38)
Both the AG1 and AG2 schemes combined have so
far been introduced in 507 selected blocks and has
All these objectives clearly cover a variety of issues
reached 3.91 lakh adolescent girls.
and are an indication of efforts to address the
impact of the programme is doubtful and cannot be
needs of adolescent girls in an integrated manner.
ascertained conclusively. Also, it has been noted that
However, the skills provided to upgrade home
the inclusion of adolescent girls in a programme for
based skills do not provide girls with a wide variety
lactating Mothers and Children has been arbitrary
of choices for independent income generating
(MOHFW Country Report ;46).
activities.
However, the
According to the Child Welfare Division, Department
of Women and Child Development, this nation-wide
<
54
€
Ki
intervention aiming at empowerment of adolescent
has now entered its fourth phase (1998-2001), will be
girls under the ICDS is poised for a huge expansion
discussed here.
covering 2000 CD blocks during the remaining ninth
plan period in the country. It is estimated that 12.8
lakh adolescent girls from the deprived sections of the
society will be benefitted under the scheme. Under
ICDS III project in the states of Uttar Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan
covering a total of 1003 blocks, state specific AG
Schemes have been introduced. In addition, the
guidelines for implementation of AG Scheme are.
under revision to extend the coverage of the scheme
with content enrichment, to strengthen the training
component particularly in vocational aspects aimed at
empowerment and enhanced self perception,
convergence with other programmes of similar nature
in education, rural development, employment and
The National Population Education Programmme
(NPEP) was introduced in India in 1980 with the aim
of institutionalizing Population Education in the
existing education system of the country. Being
implemented in the school education sector, the
Project has
completed three
phases
of its
implementation. However a mid-term evaluation study
of it indicated certain significant gaps in terms of
inadequate coverage of contents relating to population
education themes such as responsible parenthood,
population-related values and beliefs and status of
women. The elements of Adolescence Education
were almost absent. The study pointed out the
inadequacies in the secondary teacher education
courses.
health sectors. These can be encouraging indicators of
adolescent related inter-sectoral interventions.
In view of the needs of post-ICPD
(1994)
developments and the experiences of previous phases
3.6.2 Population Education
Population Education projects in India with UNFPA
framework of Population Education has been
assistance have been implemented for over two
reconceptualized. It reflects six basic themes focusing
decades. The National Policy on Education in 1986
on the critical population education and development
made specific mention about Population Education
issues. These
and its importance was furthered in the revised policy
*
of implementation of the NPEP, the theoretical
❖
document in 1992. Five out of the ten co-curricular
education. The major innovation of the approach to
of women
❖ Adolescent reproductive health
❖ Family - socio-economic factors and quality of
the population education programme is that it is being
life
conceived as a comprehensive programme with
Health and education - key determinants of
linkages among all three sectors, that is, school, higher
education and adult and continuing education. Inter
sectoral coordination among these education sectors
Population and sustainable development
Gender equality and equity for empowerment
areas stipulated in the policy document have been
identified as the major components of population
are :
population change
❖
Population distribution, urbanization and
migration.
aims at not only maximizing the use of resources but
also at establishing better linkages between the
With a view to facilitating the introduction of
education sectors and health delivery services. Since
adolescent reproductive health in school education, it
adolescents are mainly covered by the school system,
has been reconceptualized as Adolescence Education.
the project 'Population Education in Schools' which
Its framework covers three major components :
55
J
V
process of growing up, HIV/AIDS and drug abuse.
The project is implemented through the National
Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT)
at the national level and SCERTs at the state levels.
Population Education has achieved acceptability in the
school education system and state governments have
contributed considerably in this respect. In the
education. The scholarship amounting to Rs. 300 for
grade one to Rs.1000 for the tenth grade is given as
a postal or bank investment which the girl can claim
only when she is 18 years old and provided she is
unmarried.The programme is thus not a direct health
programme but attempts to change discriminatory
attitudes towards girls in health care and education.
current phase of the project, efforts are being made
It is too early to determine the impact of this scheme
to reach out to a wider target group; therefore, sub
but it is a positive move towards explicit ’life cycle'
projects have been taken up with the National Open
based interventions for the girl child. In the early
school (NOS), Central Board of Secondary education
1990s, similar schemes were initiated in several states,
(CBSE), National Coucil of Teacher Education (NCTE),
including Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and
Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) and Navodaya
Karnataka.
Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS). A sub-component of the
project on ’peer education' is being implemented by
UNESCO.
Among the more well-known are Haryana's ’Apni Beti,
Apna Dhan' scheme. It is the Department of Women
and Child Development (DWCD) which took the
3.6.3 Young People Talk AIDS
The scheme of ’Universities Talk AIDS’ (UTA) is run
through the NSS and has now been expanded into
the’Young People Talk AIDS' programme. This scheme
taps into youth and their potential as educators for
HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness.This scheme has
now been redesigned and is called ’Students Talk AIDS'
to reflect the inclusion of school students as part of
initiative in October 1994-’Our Daughter Our Wealth'
scheme, which has two main strategies: to recognize
and honour mothers of girl children with a token
monetary award at the birth of a girl child; and a long
term monetary investment for each girl child, which
she can claim when she turns 18 provided she is
unmarried. The scheme is being implemented in all
districts of the state, in urban and rural areas.
the programme. State AIDS control cells are also
Although, the above discussed financial incentives
running similar education programme in schools and
based on marriage and education criteria may reverse
colleges, thereby reaching a large number of
to an extent the prevalent gender discrimination,
adolescents even in rural areas. However, studies on
more sustained results would be required to further
the quality and impact of these programmes are
attitudinal and social change.
limited.
3.6.5 Reproductive Health Programme
3.6.4 Balika Samriddhi Yojana
Health-related indicators suggest that low mean age of
The DWCD launched the Balika Samriddhi Yojana, in
marriage and high fertility levels contribute to
1997, to raise the status of the girl child born in
reproductive health problems such as high maternal
families born below the poverty line. The mother of
mortality rates and high infant mortality rates in India.
a new born girl child receives a grant of Rs. 500 at
As a consequence of this, adolescent girls are also
her birth as also a scholarship for her school
provided services such as safe motherhood and family
56
I
u
government's
Despite such objectives and plans, the actual extent of
Reproductive Health (RH) programme. However, the
commitment to adolescents has not been extensively
Ministry of Health now plans to include a special
evaluated and cannot be conclusively determined.
Post Cairo, the
There is little mention of adolescents in the RH
government has shifted to a target-free programme
programme literature and, significantly, adolescent
(in relation to family planning) and has now adopted
health needs are not even mentioned as one of the
the Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) programme
main highlights of the programme. The reproductive
initiated in 1997. Components of RCH care include:
health needs of married adolescents, especially girls,
maternal care, including safe motherhood and
need a special focus. According to the Ministry of
nutritional services, prevention of unwanted
Health and Family Welfare, the recognition of 'married
pregnancies, safe abortion services, prevention and
adolescents' as a special group would make it easier
treatment of STD/RTI, reproductive health services for
to evolve special programmes and services for them.
adolescents, child survival and nutrition and so on.
Clearly, much needs to be done before Adolescent
planning
services
under
the
component for adolescent girls.
Within the RCH programme, adolescent girls have
been recognised as a distinct group with unique
needs, and a committee of experts has been asked to
Health is fully integrated into the RCH programme.
Also, with structural changes in programme
implementation and the greater role of Panchayati Raj
formulate a comprehensive service package. The
concept of RCH - as a need based, client-centred and
demand-driven service programme lends itself to the
Institutes (PRIs) in service delivery, the impact of
social attitudes and the priority given to adolescent
inclusion of adolescent health needs. As a result,
health issues need to be taken into account in a more
specific mention is made of improving outreach to
community driven programme.
previously left out groups such as urban slums, tribals
and adolescents. Furthermore, indicators used for the
categorisation of districts
- crude birth rates, and
3.7 Social Development
Social Development programmes and Adolescents:
female literacy rates necessitate an examination of
❖
Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan
adolescent issues.
❖
National Service Scheme
Funding for the RH programme is in collaboration
Programmes relating to juvenile justice and
with donors like the World Bank which is planning a
street children
major thrust on adolescents in its next programme.
Currently, the objectives of the Adolescent Health
programme are:
*:•
❖
To
implement
❖
Gujarat Bicycle Scheme
Haryana Integarted Women's Empowerment
and Development Scheme
the
RH
knowledge
of
J
adolescents.
The Department of Youth and Social Affairs involves
To create awareness in the community
youth (including adolescents) in promoting social
regarding the special health needs of the
change and has also established activities to promote
adolescent.
their development and growth. While there are a
To improve the self
health care and health
number of programmes such as adventure sports
seeking behaviour of adolescents.
(MOHFW , Country Paper, 1998)
and awareness camps, the two main government
Wt
■
K/
programmes are the Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan
Justice; Village Adoption and Life Style Education. The
(NYKS) and the National Service Scheme (NSS).
programme
'Universities Talk AIDS’ (mentioned
earlier) is also run by NSS volunteers.
3.7.1 Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan
In general, NSS programmes can be divided into
(NYKS)
’regular
programmes'
and
’special
camping'
The NYKS is an autonomous organisation and the
programmes. The regular programmes require
largest grassroots organisation of its kind in the world
students to volunteer for two years and to be part of
with 8 million out-of-school rural youth and a
community service activities such as health awareness
network of 0.16 million youth clubs. The NYKS
activities, adult education, constructive work in slums,
family welfare and AIDS awareness campaigns and so
objectives are:
on. The special camping programme is essentially
❖
To ensure the participation of rural youth in
regarding short-term camps on specific themes such
nation building activities.
as ’’Youth Against Famine",
To develop their values and skills so that they
Harmony" and so on.
become productive and responsible citizens of
(CSO 1998: 67)
’’Youth for Social
a modern nation.
❖ To pursue self-sufficiency in resources.
•:*
Like the NYKS, the NSS has a remarkably large
outreach but its impact is not so well documented.
To utilise the
NYKS network for the
development and promotion of programmes in
the priority sector of employment generation,
literacy and family welfare - especially for
women.
❖ To network with other Govt. Departments for
implementation of their programmes."
(CSO 1998: 68)
Through its youth clubs, NYKS carries out social
campaigns, health awareness camps and mobilisation
of rural youth for socio-economic development
work in villages. While it is a powerful force and
network for mobilisation, there still appears to be
a gap in addressing the issues related to youth health
and sexuality.
3.7.3 Juvenile Justice and Street Children
Related Programmes:
Adolescents can be said to be subsumed in the
provisions of the two programmes implemented by
the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment :
Integrated Programme for Juvenile Justice (earlier
called Scheme for Prevention and Control of Juvenile
Social Maladjustment in 1986-87) and Integrated
Programme for Street Children (earlier called Scheme
for Welfare of Street Children, initiated in 1992-93).
The former is aimed at ensuring an effective
implementation of the Juvenile Justice Act, 1986, under
the purview of which adolsecent boys till the age of
16 and adolescent girls till the age of 18 are included.
Some of the features of this programme include a
3.7.2. National Service Scheme (NSS)
training orientation and sensitisation of judicial,
The NSS was launched nation-wide in 1969 with the
administrative, police and NGO personnel responsible
aim of assisting the self-development of student
for implementation of the Juvenile Justice Act, 1986.
volunteers through community work. NSS work has
Under the second programme, a wide range of
been divided into five focal areas - National
support services are provided to street children
Integration and Social Harmony; Literacy; Gender
(including young adolescents) such as shelter, nutrition,
58
'W
health care, sanitation and hygiene, safe drinking water,
programmes for adolescents and it would not be
education, recreational facilities and protection against
possible to mention them all, but a few merit specific
abuse and exploitation.The programme offers financial
mention either due to their innovative features or
assistance to state governments/UT administration,
their success.
local bodies and educational institutions in this regard.
Gujarat Bicycle Scheme
Till February 1999, around 102 centres were being
run by voluntary organizations for the welfare of
street children.
A salient feature has been the
provision of a child help line operational in cities such
as Mumbai, Delhi, Calcutta, Hyderabad, Patna, Chennai
etc. by a network of NGOs.
This scheme offers older adolescent girls (16-17 year
old girls) bicycles after completion of their tenth
standard. The scheme is less important in terms of
its offer, but is noteworthy due to its symbolism.
Empowerment is signified by individual mobility
provided by the bicycle, which is also a reward for the
In both these programmes, however, the category of
girls' accomplishments. Part of the success of the
’adolescents' needs to be explicitly addressed.
scheme is due to the relative mobility of girls in
3.7.4 Media
In addition to the regular programmes for adolescents,
the government has also used the media, mainly radio
and television, to reach out to youth. For instance,
Gujarat, and it is doubtful if the scheme would
succeed in an area where women have less physical
mobility.
Haryana
Integrated
Women's
Empowerment and Development Scheme
the Government owned All India Radio network has
a Youth voice station (Yuvavani) which broadcast
Developed in collaboration with UNFPA, it is a
programmes relating to adolescent issues ranging
comprehensive and multi-dimensional programme for
from sexuality, to career choices and personality
women's (and girls' ) empowerment and education.
development. These programmes were well received,
and some had to be extended due to high demand.
The success of the two most popular serials, Jeevan
Saurabh and Dehleez, were attributed to "their
developing a sense of ownership in the target
audience by encouraging letters and questions...These
radio programmes and follow-up activities addressed
There is a specific component for adolescent girls
who are provided Life Skills Education and information
on basic health, sanitation, reproductive health and
women's rights. The programme is now in its second
phase of implementation. There are provisions for
initiatives for both adolecsent girls and boys. The life
skills development programme for adolescent girls is
an important need of providing accurate information
directed towards girls in the age group of 12-18 years
in a confidential manner to youth" (Singh, 1999,
who have never been to school or are school
page : 247).
dropouts. It enables them to achieve their self
3.7.5 State schemes
development and encourages them to join Jagriti
Mandalis (women's groups)
once they are 18 years.
While the central government has initiated schemes
for adolescents, some of these that have had a
significant impact on adolescents have been state run
schemes.
Most states also have their particular
Short duration (2 or 3 days) camps for adolescent
boys aim at providing them with appropriate family life
education and sensitise them to gender issues.
59
< i
3.8 Conclusion
suggestive of a certain degree of reinforcement of
already existing gendered biases. What government
In concluding this section, it can be pointed out that
policies and programmes need to work towards, in
policy and programmatic initiatives need to address
one way or the other, is initiating attitudinal and
adolescents more explicitly. This would also mean not
behavioural changes.
viewing them merely as assets whose productive and
reproductive potentialities need to be at best tapped
and regulated.
Instead, the human development
approach needs to be more strongly articulated.
It must be noted that programmes should focus on
gender equity, which by definition includes males. At
present, there is a skew in programmes towards
adolescent girls.
Given the prevalent gender
Furthermore, the government's policy and programme
discrimination in the country, this is perhaps justified.
package requires a greater sensitivity to the socio
However, there is cause for concern for adolescent
cultural milieu in which it is operationalized. It must
boys - of their vulnerability to STDs, their
necessarily address the dominant norms, values and
employment in hazardous industries and other
ideologies- for example of patriarchy, of son-
concerns. The challenge is to formulate gender
preference, of public-private dichotomy - which
sensitive programmes which address the needs,
members of the society adhere to at large. In principle
concerns and perceptions of both adolescent girls and
though many policies and programmes speak of the
boys. Also in India, where prevalence of early marriage
ideal of gender equity, in practice, however, for
is a feature, identifying the issues of ’married
example, their growing emphasis on mothering and
adolescents' is also an important concern meriting
householding activities for adolescent girls, is
adequate policy and programme interventions.
60
Table I 7 : Below is a summary of some government programmes on adolescents
MINISTRY/DEPT
HEALTH
NEHRUYUVA
Establishment of Health Awareness
Training in Self Employment
The
KENDRA
Units to generate awareness, educate
Projects (TSEP) to equip
Training Programme aims to
SANGATHAN
and adopt Health and Family Welfare
youth
with
identify youth leaders and
programmes (including adolescence
generating skills.
EDUCATION
ECONOMIC ISSUES
income
Vocational
organisations, youth coordinators) etc.
Activities include lectures, plays,
immunisation and sterilisation qamps to
increase
training
programmes provide youth
Establishment of Old Age
with greater potential to
Day Care centres through
enter now trades.
Youth Development Centres
youth.
forum for addressing problems such as
HIV/AIDS
Empowerment
Educational
complexes and
hostels
tribal girls
61
on
between senior citizens and
Youth Awareness Drives provide a
and
awareness
deve’opmenc issues.
bridging the generation gap
child bearing and so on.
Justice
Leadership
would provide a platform for
awareness on issues of
adolescence,gender, early marriage and
Ministry of Social
Youth
imbibe
education) among the masses through
the active participation of youth (youth
OTHER ACTIVITIES
for
I
HEALTH
MINISTRY,OEPr.
Rajiv Gandhi Drinking
Piov.sion of safe drinking water and
Water Mission
sanitation facilities in ail schools in India.
OTHER AC TiViTIGS
ECONOMIC ISSUES
EDUCATION
Department of
Provisions for equal
Previsions for vocational
Education
access to educational
training to adolescent girls
Manila Samakhya
facilities
Programme
adolescent g rls
for
and young women at the
Mahila Shikshar Kendras
and young women
of
Provisions for improving malnutrition
AG I scheme and Baltka
Encouraging adolescent
Women and Child
and health status of girls n the age
Mandals promote
girls to marry at a later
Welfare
group of 11-18
training besides providing
Department
skills
Adolescent Girls
supplementary nutrition
Scheme
facilities.
Department of Health
Provisions for maternal care, neluding
and Family Welfare
safe motherhood and nutrition facilities,
RCH Programme
prevention of unwanted pregnancies,
safe abortion facilities.
62
__
age. after 18
e
I
I
j
HEALTH
MjNISTRY?DEPT.
I
EDUCATION
Department of
Establishing camps for
Education
addressing education
(Govt. Of Rajasthan)
needs of women and
Lok Jumbish
adolescent girls
ECONOMIC ISSUES
OTHER ACTIVITIES
Programme
Govt, of Haryana &
Information provided on basic health,
-Life Skills Develop
UNFPA
sanitation and reproductive health
ment Programme for
Haryana Integrated
adolescent girls: for
W o m
personal, physical and
e n
5
Empowerment
&
Development Project
mental development.
- Short duration camps
for adolescent boys:
provision for family life
education and sen
sitisation co gender
issues.
63
I
k/
Section Four: NGO ACTIVITIES AND PROGRAMMES ON ADOLESCENTS AT A GLANCE
4.1
Introduction
The following account of the activities and
There are a large number of NGOs in India working
on a diverse range of issues, which makes an analysis
of the work of NGOs on adolescents a difficult task.
There are only a few NGOs
programmes of different randomly selected NGOs is
presented as snapshots. These snapshots in turn have
been grouped vis-a-vis special areas of focus.
which are exclusively
working on adolescent issues. However, many NGO
programmes have an adolescent component built into
4.2 On reproductive health
FPAI
them. What is a characteristic feature of most of
these programmes is that they all have, in one way or
As the country's leading voluntary family planning
the other, recognized the special needs of adolescent
organization, the Family Planning Association of
girls. However, an increasing number of NGOs are
India (FPAI), which promotes population, family life
beginning to address adolescent boys as well. This
and sex education programmes to develop
section of the Profile shall only briefly describe the
responsible attitudes among youth, has increased its
activities of some NGOs working on adolescent
programmatic thrust on adolescent reproductive
issues in India, since a detailed description of all
health. Activities under the Comprehensive
NGOs in this respect is beyond the scope of this
Reproductive Health Services include introducing
Profile.*0
adolescence education in schools and the
introduction of special men's clinics. FPAI has joined
NGOs adopt a variety of approaches and techniques
combining private, community and government
resources and adapting programmes to best suit their
area and population.
a UNICEF collaborative project with the Mumbai
Municipal Corporation to empower adolescent
girls by enhancing their negotiating skills. Other
initiatives include a series of radio broadcasts on
The NGO programmes, like government programmes,
various aspects of adolescent health and an
can be divided into sectors such as health, education,
adolescence guidance series at local colleges.
employment and income generation and so on.
However the description of NGO programmes below
CARE
shows that an increasing number of organizations are
CARE India in collaboration with UNFPA and the
moving towards holistic programmes. Though the
Government of India, has facilitated a project on
sector of health, specifically sexual and reproductive
adolescent girls' health in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh
health, enjoys the commitment of most NGOs to a
- ’Improved Health Care for Adolescent Girls in
direct involvement with adolescents, many have
Slums of Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh'. CARE deploys
expanded their scope of activities to address
the strategy of peer educators to sensitize
adolescents in other areas as well, such as
adolescents on health issues. CARE trains medical I
empowerment and general competence, income
staff and community health workers on adolescent
generation, sexual abuse and violence. NGOs are
health issues, who in turn train adolescents to
increasingly beginning to make perceptible linkages
become peer educators. The outreach strategies
among these various sectors.
for adolescent girls have been the mainstay of the
^This section of the profile does not claim to be a comprehensive or an exhaustive account of NGOs working on
adolescents.
64
*
project. A characteristic feature has been the
organization of Adolescent Girls Groups (AGGs)
with a skill-building component. The project
encourages the involvement of adolescent boys,
husbands of adolescent girls, parents, teachers and
community leaders. Information about sexual and
reproductive health is imparted through specially
prepared
IEC
(Information
Education
CINI
The Child in Need Institute, popularly known as
CINI, provides health care to women and children
in rural and urban areas in the South 24 Parganas
district as also in and around the city of Calcutta.
Its adolescent health programme targets both in
school and out-of-school adolescent girls and boys
&
through health sensitisation sessions, peer
Communication) material that enables adolescents
education for students and health awareness camps.
to clarify the myths and misconceptions in this
Additionally, CINI conducts a clinic that provides
regard. Besides, adolescent girls and boys receive
reproductive health services to both married and
counselling and referral services through the
unmarried adolescent girls.
network of Youth Friendly Services (YFS).
CHETNA
MAMTA
Chetna, based in Ahmedabad and in Jaipur, aims at I
improving the health and nutritional status of
Mamta, Delhi uses non-formal education as an
entry point to address adolescent health needs
marginalised women, adolescents and children. For
this purpose, it uses the strategies of health
through clinics, counselling services, information,
education camp and mela (fair). Chetna organizes
capacity-building programmes with advocacy and
yuvati shibirs or residential camps, enabling
research on advocacy issues. It stresses on delaying
adolescent girls to discuss and share their
marriage and child-bearing and views dissemination
problems and life experiences. The participation of 1
of health education to adolescent girls as an
parents is also encouraged. The organization also i
important step in preparing them for womanhood.
aims at addressing the needs of adolescent boys by |
It is, however, increasingly advocating a holistic
approach towards adolescent issues. Mamta is
currently looking at policies and programmes on
adolescents in the country, in ten states, with
support from UNFPA and MO HEW.
including them in its training modules and health !
awareness activities at the Health Centre. It has, in
addition, also undertaken an action research project
on reproductive and sexual behaviour of adolescent
boys and girls in urban slums. That health issues
cannot be dissociated from extra-health concerns
SRED
such as gender sensitivity is a promising claim of
the organization.
Society for Rural Education and Development
(SRED) in Tamil Nadu focuses on providing safe,
DEEPAK CHARITABLE TRUST
legal and confidential abortion services to
Deepak Charitable Trust, Baroda, has its current
adolescents. In offering medical support to
project focus on adolescent boys and girls. Besides
unmarried pregnant adolescents, it works towards
involving a Family Life Skills Education Programme
ensuring social acceptability on the part of the
with adolescents, it aims at providing counselling |
family and the wider community. Further, sexual
services to married adolescents and imparting
violence remains an important focus for the
health awareness, including reproductive child
organization._____________ _____ _______________
health care.
65
e
K/
health and family life education. Organizations such
SWAASTHYA
Swaasthya, New Delhi, undertook the Adolescent
as Sakshi, Delhi, Delhi Samvaad, Delhi and
NIMH ANS, Bangalore, in collaboration with others,
Sexual Behaviour research in 1996 (with the
support of The Rockefeller Foundation) whose
findings reiterated the vulnerability of adolescents
to HIV.The study identified a need for community
based
intervention
adolescents'
sexual
are developing ways to respond to and prevent
abuse.
Delhi Commission for Women has set up
the Crisis Intervention Centre with the help of five
organizations for rehabilitating rape victims and
programme addressing
health
concerns. This
programme focuses specifically on adolescent girls
in Tigri Resettlement colony in New Delhi.
TARSHI
Snehi is one of them.
4.4 On street children
YWCA
Among the major programmes are the multi
TARSHI (Talking About Reproductive and Sexual
purpose services offered by the YWCA, India. Both
Health Issues), Delhi, operates a telephone helpline,
in Bhopal and Delhi, the ’ASHA' project focuses on
offering free and confidential information,
working with street children to improve their
counselling and referrals on sexuality and
health, education and general social status. The
reproductive issues to adolescents. Basic sex
target group being street children the project
information, conception and contraception are
components include non-formal education,
among some of the main concerns of adolescent
counselling, vocational training, rehabilitation and 1
callers. Infact, the organization's paper at the
advocacy.
seminar on ‘Role of
Voluntary Agencies in
DON BOSCO SHELTER
Mobilising Adolescents in Reproductive and Child
Health Programmes', 1998, cited basic sex
Don Bosco Shelter, Mumbai/Delhi organizes street
information as the first concern of most adolescent
fairs once a month, which serve as health centres |
male callers.
for street children where they can consult donors, j
1......................
This also provides a strong linkage between ,
hospitals and street children, emphasizing the need
PARIVAR SEVA SANSTHA
for street-based instead of centre-based health
Parivar Seva Sanstha, with its family planning clinics
interventions.
in large parts of the country, runs a Family Life
Education Project which offers structured
knowledge
on various
reproduction, sexuality,
aspects
of health,
4.5 On education
M.V.F & COVA
contraceptive and
interpersonal relationships. Among the various
groups covered are school children, including
adolescents.
M.V. Foundation, Andhra Pradesh started the Mahila
Shikshan Kendra (M.S.K.) for adolescent girls, the
first of its kind in India in 1992. Girls from 11 to
18-19 years live in the M.S.K. for a 3-5 year term,
4.3 On sexual abuse and violence
completing basic education (V standard onwards).
Sexual abuse and violence against adolescent girls
Girls, who have been victims of sexual abuse, early :
is a matter of concern that is being addressed by
marriage, family violence etc. are either encouraged
several organizations. This issue would also be part
to join mainstream residential schools for higher ;
of the work of organizations on reproductive
education or
to go back home equipped with
66
4
literacy, life skills and economically self - sustaining
options. The curriculum of M.S.K. and environment
at the residential camps facilitate among the girls
on awareness of the role & status of women,
UVCT is increasingly moving its thrust towards life |
skills for young adults.
I______________________________________________ i
There seems to be virtually no participation of
adolescents in credit and savings programmes. Even if
decision making abilities and powers for selfexpression Mention may also be made of
Confederation of Voluntary Agencies (COVA) in
Andhra Pradesh, which facilitates an extensive
networking with both government and non
government
bodies
at
all
levels
enabling
communities at the grassroots to link up with
ongoing programmes on vocational skills combined
with basic literacy at the wider level
they were participating, these would need to be
supplemented by entrepreneurship development
programmes (EDP). One such example is the EDP run
by Mamta.The organization had realized that for the
success of its vocational skills training programme,
linkages were required with other skills such as
marketing, finance, contact building and overall
business management. The EDP combined these skills
with vocational skills training and credit facilities.
KATHA & ANKUR
Adolescent reproductive health programmes may
Katha and Ankur work in the slums of Delhi and
incorporate a skill-training component. Two examples
have been implementing educational programmes
can be cited- Society for Educational Action and
for adolescent girls for over ten years. Ankur
Research in Community Health's (SEARCH) ’Youth
facilitates a rights-based approach for empowering
Life Education and Personality Development
adolescent girls. Katha, on the other hand, aims at
Programme' for adolescent girls and boys from the
empowering tnem by mainstreaming them into the
tribal population in rural Maharashtra; Rural Women’s
education system and equipping them with income
Social Education Centre's (RUWSEC) wide range of
generating skills.
programmes for married and unmarried adolescent
4.6 On income generation
girls and boys in rural Tamil Nadu who are factory
workers, school adolescents and drop-outs.
SEWA
SEWA focuses on womens income generation by
organizing work on skills such as chikan
embroidery work, and their groups also include
adolescent girls. Sewa emphasizes on income
generation as the key to women's empowerment.
Besides, Sewa's health education programme has a
component for adolescent girls (’Know Your Body1).
UVCT
I Urivi Vikram Charitable Trust (UVCT), Delhi aims
i at providing career guidance to school-going
4.7
On
-general
competence
&
empowerment (gender equity)
ADITHI
Adithi,
Bihar,
advocates
adolescent
girls'
programmes, which include awareness-building
through non-formal education, income-generation
and self-development. Adithi operates through its ;
non-formal education centres and the Balika
Kishori Chetna
Kendras
(unmarried girls'
awareness centres). It started these kendras in 20
| youngsters (project : Prerana). Its projects, Shakti
villages with the support of UNICEF. The kendras '
I and Sahara, facilitate vocational training programmes
emphasize gender equity. The curriculum at these
for school drop-outs in an attempt to prevent
i them from taking recourse to anti-social activities.
centres include legal literacy, health and sex
education, information about government schemes
67
for girls and how to benefit from them as also how
allied services, literacy and support services for i
to deal with sexual harassment, and abuse. A unique
vocational training, recreational and social activities. :
feature would be efforts at sensitizing adolescent
RUWSEC has integrated into the life skills
girls to the adversities of the patriarchal system.
approach an explicit gender analysis and a training
The kendras also provide life skills education to
focus. It thus advocates a comprehensive approach,
teach girls several coping mechanisms. The centres
aiming at addressing the adolescent in his or her
also retain a component of income-generation
totality.
activities that serve as an incentive for parents to
SUTRA
send their daughters to the kendras. The kendras
have experimented with various ventures like goat
The Society for Social Uplift Through Rural Action
rearing, poultry, candle-making, applique work and
(SUTRA) in Himachal Pradesh aims at working
vegetable gardening. These interventions aiming at
towards challenging gender norms. SUTRA's work
giving girls control over assets thus enables them
revolves around mahila mandals (women's groups),
to enjoy greater authority in the family and the
panchayats (local governing councils) and yuvati
larger community and is, hence, an important part
sangathans (adolescent girls' groups). The yuvati
of the empowerment process.
shibirs or camps for adolescent girls are residential
camps focussing on a rights based approach which
Adithi works with adolescent boys through its
Balak Vikas Kendras (boys' learning centres). The
target group includes young adolescent boys (9-16
years) not attending school. The main objectives of
the programme deserve mention - encouraging a
personality development in boys that is not
misguided by prevalent social prejudices and
stereotypical gender role biases as also arousing in
them a sensitivity to the need for doing away with
such social ills as dowry and female infanticide.
Adithi stresses on the importance of involving boys
in programmes that promote gender equity.
issues such as dowry, eveteasing, legal issues, and
reproductive health. Yuvati shibirs, targeting
unmarried adolescent girls between 12 and 22
years aim at meeting certain objectives : an
understanding of the status of women, a sensitivity
to the patriarchal system and ensuring an ability to
cope with its consequent injustices. Further, it aims
to disseminate information about legal, health and
other issues pertaining to women. SUTRA also 1
uses the strategy of Sahyogins (village-based |
activists) to convince family members of the !
usefulness of allowing their daughters to attend
RUWSEC
The key features of RUWSEC's (Tamil Nadu)
adolescent programme include enabling adolescents
to cope with the physical and emotional changes of
adolescence; facilitating the self-development of
adolescents with responsible decision-making
capabilities, and advocating such attitudinal
facilitate their empowerment. Girls discuss different
and
behavioural patterns that can ensure egalitarian and
humane gender relations. RUWSEC's project
activities for both adolescent girls as well as boys
these camps. In addition, SUTRA's newsletter, Yuva
Sathin, tries to raise awareness about gender
stereotypes propagated in textbooks used in the
government primary schools.
CEDPA
Many Indian NGOs working on an empowerment
model base their programmes on the Centre for
Development and Population Activities' (CEDPA)
’Better Life Options Programme'. This programme
include life-skills education workshops, health and
68
is a global initiative to expand life options for girls
Centre, Chanmoli,Uttar Pradesh, Adarsh Sewa Samiti,
and, by doing so, challenging gender inequity. The
Muzaffarpur and SPARSH in Haryana.
programme addresses the needs of adolescent girls
at three different levels- non-formal education, skills
and vocational training, family life and reproductive
health, and educational services. Recognizing that
the success of the programme for adolescent girls
and fostering gender equity is not possible without
Other projects based on the CEDPA Better Life
Options Programme seeking to increase the selfesteem of adolescent girls through a comprehensive
programme covering empowerment, education, skills
training and family life education (and involving the
community) include:
community awareness and participation, the
programme actively encourages the involvement of
Gujarat State Crime Prevention Trust (GSCPT) - It
parents, community members and boys. The
uses vocational training to introduce girls to issues of
success of the programme has led to its expansion
family life education, especially reproductive health
to include adolescent boys.
education. The programme also focuses on building
the capacities of girls for political participation and
leadership.
PRERANA
The CEDPA model has been successfully used by
NGOs such as Prerana
in its adolescent
programmes. The latter aims at creating an enabling
environment for adolescents to develop their full
potential, their self-esteem and ability, to contribute
to family, community and societal development. The
Satya Shodhan Ashram- Supported by UNICEF, this
programme takes initiative among the Bedia
community to prevent the girls from entering
commercial sex trade which is perpetuated in the
guise of dance. The organization is actively involved in
an advocacy to apply the Labour Act to this situation.
’Better Life Demonstration Project for Girls and
Bharatiya Grameen Mahila Sangh (BGMS)- In addition
Young Women aged 12-20 years was started in
to providing intensive inputs to adolescent boys and
1990 and the NGO has taken the innovative step
girls in villages in and around Indore, in Madhya
of developing a parallel programme ’Better Life
Pradesh, it has now graduated to becoming a
Development Project for Boys and Young Men'.
Resource Centre for the whole state, identifying
Prerana undertakes innovative programmes which
potential partners and building up their capacities to
help change the perception of the community on
take up adolescent programmes. BGMS has also
adolescent issues. For example, by providing girls
started sensitisation programmes for the Wardens of
with video training, instead of training in traditional
tribal girls' and boys' hostels, to reach out to as many
skills, it has increased the confidence of girls and
adolescents as possible.
improved their position within the community. It
has increased the demand of adolescent boys for
POPULATION COUNCIL
such training The parallel programme for boys,
In its Gender, Family and Development Programme,
started in response to this, aims at making boys
the Population Council explicitly focuses on
and young men partners in empowering girls and
adolescents by documenting programmes on
challenging gender roles of men and women.
adolescent girls, sharing lessons learned and
Prerana's networking efforts have enabled the
also undertaking research to understand adolescent
influencing policy to address adolescent needs. It is
implementation of similar projects in other parts of
parents' experience of first pregnancy, their
the country: Sevagram Vikas Sansthan in Bharatpur,
attitudes regarding delaying first and second births,
Rajasthan, Uttranchal Youth and Rural Development
the information needs of adolescent parents and
69
the role of family members in reproductive
indicator for initiating socio-cultural change by
decision-making. It primarily operates on the
challenging the compulsions of unequal and unjust
premise that reproductive health and gender issues
social structures. But, then, it would also be important
are inextricably linked.
to accomodate the
4.8 Conclusion
needs and perceptions of
adolescent boys as 'adolescents' instead of merely
focussing on them vis-a-vis the concerns of adolescent
These are just a few examples of organizations
girls. What also deserves mention is the problem of
working with adolescents, but these provide a glimpse
viewing 'health' only in terms of its sexual and
of the scope of their activities. An encouraging trend
reproductive connotations. There is the need to look
has been the increased recognition by NGOs of the
at health in all its dimensions - as physical, emotional
unique needs of adolescents and a move to
and social well-being. Such a conceptualization of
accomodate their special needs. This has meant a
health is an integral component of the Life Skills
growing recognition of adolescents as a separate
approach (WHO) with its increasing focus on thinking,
target group instead of categorizing them under other
social and negotiating skills. It would be more
groups like women or children. Another trend has
meaningful for NGOs to integrate this approach into
been the move towards holistic and integrated
their adolescent-oriented activities and programmes.
projects and programmes for adolescents as
organizations are increasingly beginning to discover
the interlinkages between adolescent issues such as
health, education and so on. Furthermore, some
NGOs have realized the importance of involving
adolescent boys in their programmes, specifically with
a view to mobilizing their support for improving the
status of adolescent girls. This is surely a positive
However, to meaningfully address adolescents and
their needs, the promising claims that many NGOs
make need to be effectively operationalized in
practice. In doing so, many organizations do face
constraints such as lack of resources. It is here that
the importance of joint efforts and collaboration with
national and international partners can be emphasized.
7°
adults. In this regard, the importance of defining
General Conclusion
adolescents in terms of age specific criterion becomes
The profile has raised certain issues which maybe
grouped broadly into three categories:
e
cs
Health
Gender
very crucial.
A complementarity in adolescent oriented initiatives
-
Reproductive health concerns
of various sectors such as health, education,
-
Sexual activity and behaviour
employment etc. needs to be emphasized. Also of
-
Nutritional needs
importance, alongside, is a complementarity in
-
Drug abuse
adolescent related interventions of different
-
Vulnerability to STDs & HIV/AIDS
government departments/ ministries and organizations
-
Discrimination
of the UN.
-
Invisibility
-
Patriarchy
-
Violence
-
Male involvement
Education -
Any policy or programme directed towards
adolescents requires a sensitivity to the given socio
cultural
Drop-outs
-
Child labour
-
Non-formal education
Gender
biases
and
discrimination highlighted, in one way or the other,
Illiteracy
-
environment.
throughout the Profile, bring out the very significance
of social and cultural change - a change in behaviour
and attitudes, norms, values and ideologies of the
society at large. Any provisions for adolescents, in
The Profile has therefore suggested certain indicators
order to be meaningfully realized, must be able to
that can guide initiatives being undertaken for
address the wider gamut of socio-cultural inequalities
adolescents:
within which issues and concerns of adolescents are
•:*
Increased conceptual clarity
embedded. Accordingly, a gender sensitive budget
Adequate database with age and gender
analysis can be made an important part of policy and
disaggregated data
programming efforts undertaken by the government
Establishing multi-sectoral linkages
and the UN system.
Policy sensitivity
Further, it may be meaningful to link up the issues
Programmatic focus
relating to adolescents with the priorities of the
Facilitating an enabling and supportive
United Nations Development Assistance Framework
environment
(UNDAF) : promotion of gender equality and
Encouraging participation and involvement of
adolescents
L______ _ ______________ -__
An overview of the UN System's interventions
strengthening of decentralization. Gender justice and
participatory governance, the strategic themes for
UNDAF in action, can surely impact on the needs and
and
of government policies and programmes for
concerns of adolescents.
adolescents suggests an urgency to address
The human development approach needs to be
adolescents more explicitly and completely in their
strongly integrated with all adolescent related
own right. They need to be mainstreamed as a
interventions. Ensuring the rights, needs and
separate group instead of being subsumed under
perceptions of adolescents as individuals in themselves
policy and programme provisions for children and
gains considerable importance.
71
A decent standard of living, adequate nutrition,
Resource constraints in the implementation of
health care, education, decent work and protection
provisions for adolescents is of considerable
against calamities are not just development goals
importance, particularly in the voluntary sector. This
they are also human rights
human development
brings into light the significance of achieving a synergy
is essential for realizing human rights, and human
in the efforts of the government, UN System and
rights are essential for full human development.
NGOs. However, it deserves mention here that the
(UNDP Human Development Report, 2000)
voluntary sector is one aspect of and is surely not
In policies and programmes related to adolescents
there has been a noticeable skew towards adolescent
coextensive with the notion of 'civil society'. This
Profile has focussed only on the voluntary sector. The
other possible areas of civil society may also be
girls. Given the situational analysis of adolescents in
explored.If civil society is taken to be inclusive of the
India where there is widespread gender discrimination,
private and corporate sector, the media, women's
this may be identified as an encouraging trend.
groups, youth organizations etc., then, synergizing the
However, the importance of addressing the needs and
adolescent-related interventions of the government,
concerns of adolescent boys, in their own right,
UN system and civil society as a whole would be of
cannot be ignored. Many NGOs are increasingly
bringing adolescent boys under the purview of their
considerable value.
activities and programmes.
72
■SO’
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