Paper details
| Paper authors | Kate Pincock, Nicola Jones, Workneh Yadete, Fitsum Workneh |
| In panel on | Coping strategies of affected people in a resource-constrained environment |
| Paper presenter(s) will be presenting |
In-Person / |
Abstract
Between 2020 and 2022, civil war in northern Ethiopia claimed the lives of over half a million people and displaced over 2.5 million, with many still waiting to safely return home. More recently, since 2023 Amhara region, home to an estimated 40 million people, has been experiencing protracted conflict between the government and ethno-nationalist rebels. While the impacts of humanitarian crises on livelihoods, material loss and psychosocial wellbeing are well established, adolescent girls face further age- and gender-specific risks and protection challenges, including exposure to sexual and gender-based violence and a loss of educational and work opportunities. However, research on what works to support girls in navigating these environments has largely focused on the role and impacts of programming rather than girls’ own strategies. Attending to the latter, however, can offer nuanced insights into what kinds of assistance are effective and feasible given local evolving realities.
This paper presents findings from a longitudinal mixed-methods study, Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence (GAGE) exploring adolescent trajectories in Ethiopia since 2016. Drawing on fieldwork in Tigray, Afar (2023-4) and Amhara (2025), the paper explores conflict impacts on adolescent girls and young women, and their strategies for coping and recovery during active hostilities, amid displacement and the consequent peace process. Invoking Vigh’s work on social navigation, we discuss the dimensions of protection and risk that are inherent to girls’ strategies, including child marriage, distress migration for work, and small business creation (e.g. selling local alcohol), and consider implications for gender- and age-sensitive humanitarian interventions.
