Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence (GAGE) is a ten-year mixed-methods longitudinal research and evaluation study managed by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) running, between 2015 and 2025. It follows the lives of 20,000 adolescents in six low- and middle-income countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. By interviewing these teenage boys and girls – as well as their siblings, teachers and other community members – GAGE is generating the world’s largest country dataset on adolescence. 

GAGE’s mission is to generate evidence on ‘what works’ to enable adolescent boys and girls to emerge out of poverty, exploring what strategies are most effective in transforming their lives at specific junctures in their adolescence. Embedded in this mission is a strong focus on the most vulnerable adolescents, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals’ (SDGs) commitment to ‘leave no one behind’. In this way, GAGE’s results will support policy and programme actors to more effectively reach adolescents by focusing on their needs at sub-national, national, and international levels.

A holistic approach to understanding what works to support boys’ and girls’ development and empowerment throughout their adolescence and into adulthood is at the core of GAGE’s conceptual framework. In particular, by paying attention to the ways in which gender norms shape young people’s day-to-day experiences and expose them to different risks and opportunities. 

GAGE is committed to ensuring that international and national actors use evidence to improve the policies aiming  to reach poor adolescent girls, and has been successful in achieving high-level policy and programming change. 

In 2021, GAGE evidence was used to inform the development of the Ethiopian Ministry of Health’s first ever National Plan on Adolescent and Sexual Reproductive Health. It also contributed to improving the effectiveness of UNICEF’s Jordan Hajati Cash for Education programme, including the funding and distribution of tablets for the most vulnerable refugee and host community families – reaching 20,000 adolescents – to promote access to online and blended learning during school closures and gradual school returns. 

The programme elevates young people’s voices. In June 2023, GAGE began a series on their podcast titled “Young people’s voice, agency and civic engagement”, in which adolescents and young people discuss their experiences of participation, civic engagement, activism, resistance, and leadership in relation to disability, climate change, conflict, gender justice, and human rights. Placing emphasis on young people’s own stories and voices, the podcast delves into the factors and circumstances that enable young people to speak up and act on the issues that matter to them. 

The programme draws attention to the plight of adolescents within emergency contexts. Amidst the humanitarian crisis taking place in Gaza, GAGE has been advocating for the inclusion of Gazan adolescents. The legacy and ongoing impact of violence and insecurity has been extensively documented by GAGE; from the poor mental health of young people experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder, to the lack of livelihood opportunities for them. On top of this, restrictive gender norms accentuate young girls’ social isolation from their peers, as well as making them vulnerable to child marriages. Given the impact of the conflict on young people, GAGE advocates for their inclusion and meaningful participation within peace processes in order to find more sustainable and actionable solutions.

The programme encourages young people to learn new skills e.g. involving around 200 young people in participative research in MENA to explore the role of peer groups. A range of photo stories have been co-created with adolescents living in Jordan which allow them to share what life is like in camps, having been displaced from their homes in Syria and Lebanon. 

The programme promotes young researchers, and encourages them to publish in academic journals. The programme is able to claim that around half of its outputs have southern co-authors.

You can follow the GAGE programme on X @GAGE_programme