Publications

The Global Early Adolescent Study (GEAS) is a research initiative that aims to understand the gender socialization process and the factors that influence this process in the early period of adolescence (10-14 years). As part of evaluating the effectiveness of the Spirit of Youth (SETARA) intervention program, this study also explores how these two things can be transformed through the provision of comprehensive reproductive health and sexual education. 

SETARA curriculum is a three-years (7th to 9th grade) program, and thus GEAS Indonesia will be conducted loingitudinally from 2018 to 2021 to evaluate SETARA. Eighteen schools in three cities in Indonesia (Bandar Lampung, Denpasar and Semarang) were selected to participate in the GEAS. This study is the first study in Indonesia that focuses on sexual and reproductive health during early adolescence.  This study utilizes the latest survey developments using smartphone technology to collect, analyze and disseminate information related to the health and well-being of adolescents. The GEAS is currently being conducted in 10 countries across five continents working in collaboration with universities and local research organizations with the aim of increasing local capacity. This survey has been carried out by local data collectors who will conduct interviews at least every year.

In Indonesia, the GEAS is undertaken in collaboration with Rutgers WPF, the Center for Reproductive Health, Faculty of Medicine, Public Health and Nursing, Gadjah Mada University (UGM), and the Indonesian Family Planning Association (PKBI) with the support from John Hopkins University (JHU), the Karolinska Institute and The World Health Organization (WHO). Financial support is provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation through a grant to Rutgers Netherlands. 

On this occasion the writing team would like to express their deepest gratitude and appreciation to all research participants; schools; stakeholders and government at the central and regional levels who have allowed and supported us to collect the data in the field and provide valuable input during the process of disseminating research results. 

Furthermore, we are also very grateful to the team of assistant researchers (coordinators, young researchers and data collectors) in the field for their participation and cooperation during this research assuring that it runs smoothly. We also thank Robert Blum, Miranda van Reeuwijk, Carroline Mureau, Anna Page, and Anna Kagesten for their continuous assistance and support during this study implementation. 

It is our hope that this report will provide the greatest benefit to all stakeholders involved to support and help youth in Indonesia and the world to realize a better future through improving health and well-being in the early period of their development. 

Prof. dr. Siswanto Agus Wilopo, SU., M.Sc., Sc.D
Center for Reproductive Health
Faculty of Medicine, Public Health and Nursing 
Gadjah Mada University  

English Version Swahili Version

English Version Amharic Version

English Version Bahasa Indonesian Version

The Global Early Adolescent Study (GEAS) assesses the formation of gender norms and their relation to health and behavioral outcomes during adolescence. In Kinshasa, the study also evaluates the impact of Growing Up GREAT! (GUG!), a multi-level intervention that works with young adolescents, their families and other community stakeholders to shift norms about society and gender towards improved health. This report outlines the methodology, and cross-sectional and longitudinal findings of the second year of the study.

The GEAS took place in a working-class neighborhood in Shanghai. In 2010, the population of Zhabei District (now incorporated into Jing’an District) was 830,476, and home to Shanghai’s largest proportion of urban poor and internal migrants. The Zhabei district is divided into 9 sub- districts.

There are a total of 30 secondary schools serving nearly 16,000 children between the ages of 11 and 15 located in the Jing’an district. There are two main types of secondary schools covering Grade 6 to Grade 9: public schools and private schools. Public secondary schools enroll students who live around the school according to proximity and provide tuition waivers based on the national nine year mandatory education policy. Private secondary schools enroll students who live scattered in the whole district or even the whole city, and students pay tuition fees ranging from USD $2,400-13,000 per year. There is income disparity between the two types of schools, with poor children more likely to attend public school than private schools. Adolescents were selected from public schools in two less-developed sub-districts of the Jing’an district.

Achieving Gender Equality by 2030: Putting Adolescents at the Center is a report based on the analysis and recommendations of a global coalition of adolescent health experts. It proposes that the world will never achieve the United Nations fifth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG5), which aims to “achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls” by 2030, “by focusing on girls and women alone and excluding boys and men.”

This report argues for a broader set of indicators for tracking progress on achieving SDG5 that would include, among other things:

• Tracking the percentage of both boys and girls who at the community level feel that they can ask for help when needed since there appears to be a strong relationship between voice and empowerment

• Tracking the percentage of boys and girls who feel safe in their neighborhood, as safety and security is a critical factor in the healthy development of both boys and girls; for example, the new study on adverse childhood experiences found a third of children reported a persistent fear of physical harm

Additionally, it argues that to achieve sustained gender equality, research, policies and programming should be grounded in a ‘life-course framework,’ which would “recalibrate the planning of interventions for specific age groups and enhance the potential impact of development programming.”