Theme 3: Exploring Lives of the Excluded Youth amidst COVID-19

Thematic lead: Manoa Muchanga
Peer Reviewer: Phinith Chanthalangsy (UNESCO ROSA)
Lead Organisation: University of Zambia (UNZA)

Background

COVID-19 effectively put a stop to learning in schools and working in the informal sector. The internet and social media are full of stories of how the young are successfully responding to the pandemic but not much is known on the marginalized young people and how their exclusion status is further aggravated by COVID-19. Particular attention will be paid to the gender factor in understanding the types of exclusion.  By documenting selected life stories of the excluded (in school and out school), this piece of research aims to provide a more nuanced understanding of exclusion among the youth amidst COVID-19. Using a biographical approach, the researchers will be able to come up with a profile of the excluded youth and their survival and resilient mechanisms such as social movement-building, and/or strategies to obtain assistance from existing institutions/originations.

Download the final report and infographic

Key Research Questions/Objectives

The overall objectives of the study are to:

• Understand the concept of exclusion among the young in Southern Africa
• Document, through life stories (using biographical approaches), how excluded youth are living, surviving amidst COVID 19
• Document how the needs of the excluded youth are being addressed by government, their partners and other development stakeholders
• Recommend how to address the needs of the excluded youth amidst such a crisis.